Séamus Ryan
| Séamus Ryan | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Senator | |
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In office 5 December 1931 – 30 June 1933 |
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| Succeeded by | Raphael Keyes |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
6 December 1895 Kilfeacle, County Tipperary, Ireland |
| Died | 30 June 1933 (aged 37) Rathgar, Dublin, Ireland |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Political party | Fianna Fáil |
| Spouse(s) | Agnes Veronica Harding |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Séamus Ryan (6 December 1895 – 30 June 1933) was a member of the Seanad Éireann (Irish Senate) from 1931 to 1933 representing the Fianna Fáil party.
He was born at the family farm in the townland of Deerpark near the County Tipperary village of Kilfeacle in 1895. Early in his life he had been a supporter of the moderate Irish nationalist John Redmond, but family links made him increasingly sympathetic and committed to the Irish republican cause. Ryan married Agnes Harding from Solohead, County Tipperary in 1918. In that year they also opened a shop in Parnell Street, Dublin. It was the first of 33 outlets for the company they named The Monument Creameries after the famous monument to the Irish nationalist Charles Stewart Parnell located near their shop. During the Irish War of Independence the shop was a haven for members of the Irish Republican Army seeking refuge from British "Black and Tans" and later for Republicans during the post-Treaty conflicts. Among the Irish nationalists harboured within his Parnell Street shop was Seán Treacy who established a workshop where he put false bottoms on butter boxes to conceal dispatches and ammunition for IRA operations. Ryan transported the boxes by horse and cart to Kingsbridge Station. It was said he had "a face of such truly angelic innocence that no one could have guessed the subversive nature of his freight". Cash from the business funded the republican cause and later the new Fianna Fáil Party.
Ryan was a member, organiser and campaigner for the fledgling Fianna Fáil party. A self-made businessman, he was not representative of the party's core support base of labourers and farmers. But he was a generous donor and valuable advocate for their protectionist policies within business circles. In 1932 the De Valera Government enacted the Dairy Produce (Price Stabilisation) Act, in response to high import duties imposed by the British on Irish dairy products during the Anglo-Irish Trade War. The law capped the domestic price of butter. Senator Ryan assisted negotiations with retailers who were required to sell butter for a reduced price so that farmers were not disadvantaged. In 1927 He gathered an impressive twelve thousand pounds towards the establishment of the Irish Press a new national newspaper sponsored by Éamon de Valera that appeared for the first time in September 1931.
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