P. J. Ruttledge

Patrick J. Ruttledge (1892 – 8 May 1952) was an Irish politician.

Born in Ballina, Co. Mayo, he was educated at St Muredach's College there and later St. Enda's Rathfarnham, run by Padraig Pearse. After studying at Trinity College, Dublin, he qualified as a solicitor in 1918 and built up a practice in his home town.

During the Irish War of Independence he was active in the I.R.A. He was a close friend of Sean MacDermott, with whom he lived for some time. He also took part in local politics, becoming chair of Ballina Urban Council from 1919 to 1932 and chair of Mayo County Council from 1922 to 1926. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann in 1921 as a Sinn Féin Teachta Dála for Mayo North and West. He opposed the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 and joined the Republican forces and was seriously injured during the Civil War. He was re-elected to the Dáil again in 1923 for Mayo North and in a further ten elections until 1951. In 1926 Ruttledge was a founder-member of Fianna Fáil. He joined the cabinet of Éamon de Valera in 1932, serving as Minister for Lands and Fisheries, Minister for Justice and Minister for Local Government and Public Health, resigning in 1941 due to ill health. Ruttledge died in 1952 while still a member of the Dáil. He was described by the Irish Times as 'a gentle, kind and upright man'. He married Helena and they had one son Ronan died young and three daughters. A horsebreeder, he was a member of the Turf Club and won the Irish Derby with Mondragon in 1939.

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