Sean MacBride

Seán MacBride (1904-1988) was the son of Maud Gonne[?] and Major John MacBride[?], was born in Paris but was brought up in Ireland. He played an active role in the War of Independence and was an opponent of the Treaty.

He was imprisoned during the mid 1920's and was Chief of staff of the IRA from 1936-1938. However in 1939 he decided to take a more constitutional outlook.

In 1946 he founded Clann na Poblachta[?], a republican party based on socialist principles. He held the post of Minister for External Affairs between 1948 and 1951. During this time the Irish Free State left the Commonwealth and became a Republic. MacBride returned to the Dept. of External Affairs again between 1954 and 1957. In 1955, Ireland joined the United Nations. MacBride retired from the Dáil in 1958.

MacBride was a founder-member of Amnesty International and co-author of the UN Declaration of Human Rights. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1974.

Seán MacBride died in 1988.