Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Mr. Vincent had a distinguished career under the British colonial system which unfortunately I cannot go into. He refused a judgeship in the British courts because of the executions of the 1916 leaders. He was an Independent Member of this House from 1931 to 1934 having been elected in a by-election. He took the seat vacated by the death of the then Senator Patrick Kenny. Mr. Vincent was re-elected in 1931 for nine years but resigned in 1934 due to reasons of ill health. He was succeeded by Senator Patrick Lynch who had opposed Eamon de Valera at the famous west Clare or Clare by-election that elected Eamon de Valera to the first Dáil. Subsequently, Mr. Lynch took the anti-Treaty side, then he won the election during the period that Fianna Fáil was in government with the support of the Labour Party and was subsequently appointed Attorney General. That is the extraordinary background to the legislation I mentioned. The reason the Minister is repealing the legislation is that in 1932, finding the management and expense of the Muckross estate too difficult and expensive, Vincent and his parents-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. William Bowers Bourn, donated Muckross House and its estate of 11,000 acres to the Irish State as a memorial to Maud Bourn Vincent. The estate now forms part of the Killarney National Park. In 1937, the former Senator and gentleman that I am talking about left Ireland for Monaco where he lived for the rest of his life. He is now buried near Muckross House. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.