HomeNationsIrelandGovernors-GeneralUa Buachalla, Domhnall (Donal Buckley)
Ua Buachalla, Domhnall (Donal Buckley)

Domhnall ua Buachalla = Donal Buckley

b. 2 Feb 1866, Maynooth, Co. Kildare
d. 30 Oct 1963, Dublin

Title: Seanascal Shaorstáit Eireann = Governor-General in and over the Irish Free State
Term: 26 Nov 1932 - 11 Dec 1936
Chronology: 24 Nov 1932, appointed, Commission passed under the Royal Sign Manual and Signet [1]
26 Nov 1932, took oath of office, 108 Rock Road, Booterstown, Co. Dublin [2]
11 Dec 1936, the office of Governor-General abolished in the Constitution of the Irish Free State according to the Constitution (Amendment No. 27) Act [3]
Names/titles: original name: Daniel Richard Buckley (baptized 6 Feb 1866 as "Daniel Ricardus"); began to use the Irish form of his name in 1901; also referred to in print as Dan Buckley, Donald Buckley, Donal Ó Buachalla and Domhnall Ó Buachalla
Biography:
Active all his life in the Irish language movement, and a member of the Irish Volunteers, Domhnall Ua Buachalla was imprisoned after the Easter Rising but released in 1917. Elected Member of Parliament for Kildare 1918, he participated in the meetings of first Dáil Éireann. Ua Buachalla voted against the Anglo-Irish Treaty and fought in the Four Courts in the Civil War. Captured and imprisoned in Dundalk Jail, he was released by the Republican troops in August 1922. Ua Buachalla was elected member of Dáil Éireann from the Fianna Fáil party in 1927, but lost his seat in the General Election of 1932. After the removal of James McNeill from the office of Governor-General, Ua Buachalla was appointed in his place until the post was abolished on the abdication of King Edward VIII. He did not live in the Viceregal Lodge but in a suburban house, did not appear in public, and took no part in social affairs. He was the oldest surviving participant in the 1916 Rising when he died in a Dublin nursing home on 30 Oct 1963.
Biographical sources: baptismal record in the Book of Baptisms, St Mary's Parish, Maynooth, Archdiocese of Dublin, Baptisms, 1857-1881, #486; "Domhnall ua Buachalla: Rebellious Nationalist, Reluctant Governor", by Adhamhnán Ó Súilleabháin (Sallins: Merrion Press, 2015); "A Dictionary of Irish Biography", ed. by Henry Boylan (Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 1998).; Sexton (1989),

[1] Sexton (1989). Appendix F. Commission passed under the Royal Sign Manual and Signet, appointing Donal Buckley, Esquire, to be Governor-General of the Irish Free State. The copy of the Commission in the Irish State Archives is dated 25 Nov 1932; however, according to Sexton (1989), an original in the British Archives was seen and found to be dated 24 Nov 1932.
[2] The Irish Times, No. 23,584, 28 Nov 1932, p. 7.
[3] Other references to the Office of Governor-General in statute law, orders-in-council, letters patent, etc. were abolished by the Executive Powers (Consequential Provisions) Act, 1937 (passed 8 Jun 1937, retrospectively effective 11 Dec 1936). See note.