Augustine Mary Moore Stack (7 December 1879 – 27 April 1929) was an

Irish republican Irish republicanism () is the political movement for an Irish republic, void of any British rule. Throughout its centuries of existence, it has encompassed various tactics and identities, simultaneously elective and militant and has been both w ...

and politician who served as Minister for Home Affairs from 1921 to 1922. He was a

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( ; ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish language, Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas, the parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The official Engli ...

(TD) from 1918 to 1927.

Early life

Stack was born in Ballymullen,

Tralee Tralee ( ; , ; formerly , meaning 'strand of the River Lee') is the county town of County Kerry in the south-west of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is on the northern side of the neck of the Dingle Peninsula, and is the largest town in ...

County Kerry County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...

, to William Stack, an attorney's clerk, and Nanette O'Neill. He was educated at the Christian Brothers School in Tralee. At the age of fourteen, he left school and became a clerk in a solicitor's office. A gifted

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

er, he captained the Kerry team to All-Ireland SFC victory in

1904 Events January * January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''. * January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system. * ...

. He also served as President of the

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...

's Kerry County Board.

Activism

He became politically active in 1908 when he joined the

Irish Republican Brotherhood The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB; ) was a secret oath-bound fraternal organisation dedicated to the establishment of an "independent democratic republic" in Ireland between 1858 and 1924.McGee, p. 15. Its counterpart in the United States ...

. In 1916, as commandant of the Kerry Brigade of the

Irish Volunteers The Irish Volunteers (), also known as the Irish Volunteer Force or the Irish Volunteer Army, was a paramilitary organisation established in 1913 by nationalists and republicans in Ireland. It was ostensibly formed in response to the format ...

, he made preparations for the landing of arms by Roger Casement. He was made aware that Casement was arrested on Easter Saturday and was being held in Tralee. He made no attempt to rescue him from Ballymullen Barracks. Stack was arrested and sentenced to death for his involvement in the Rising; however, this was later commuted to

penal servitude Penal labour is a term for various kinds of forced labour that prisoners are required to perform, typically manual labour. The work may be light or hard, depending on the context. Forms of sentence involving penal labour have included inv ...

for life. Imprisoned at HM Prison Dartmoor Stack was in the company of senior leaders of the rebellion:

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (; ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was an American-born Irish statesman and political leader. He served as the 3rd President of Ire ...

, Harry Boland and

Thomas Ashe Thomas Patrick Ashe (; 12 January 1885 – 25 September 1917) was an Irish revolutionary and politician. He was a member of the Gaelic League, the Gaelic Athletic Association, the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) and a founding member of th ...

. Stack was a leader of Irish Republican prisoners and led several

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance where participants fasting, fast as an act of political protest, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are ...

s (including one at Dundalk Gaol) in resistance to being treated as criminals. He was released under general amnesty in June 1917 and was elected as an abstentionist

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

MP for Kerry West at the 1918 Westminster election, becoming a member of the 1st Dáil. He was elected unopposed as an abstentionist member of the

House of Commons of Southern Ireland The Parliament of Southern Ireland was a Home Rule legislature established by the British Government during the Irish War of Independence under the Government of Ireland Act 1920. It was designed to legislate for Southern Ireland,Order in Coun ...

and a member of the 2nd Dáil as a Sinn Féin TD for Kerry–Limerick West at the 1921 elections. Stack, as part of his role as Minister for Home Affairs, was responsible for the creation and administration of the Dáil Courts. These were courts run by IRA in parallel and opposition to the judicial system being run by the British government. The IRA and Sinn Féin was highly successful in both getting the civilian population of Ireland to use the courts and accept their rulings. The success of this initiative gave Sinn Féin a large boost in legitimacy and supported their goals in creating a "counter-state" within Ireland as part of their overarching goals in the War of Independence.

Frank O'Connor Frank O'Connor (born Michael Francis O'Donovan; 17 September 1903 – 10 March 1966) was an Irish author and translator. He wrote poetry (original and translations from Irish), dramatic works, memoirs, journalistic columns and features on as ...

, later a republican colleague in the civil war, considered him a failure as home affairs minister for an unrealistic attitude to overseeing a ministry in constrained circumstances – a complaint many of his cabinet colleagues made. He opposed the 1921

Anglo-Irish Treaty The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty (), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain an ...

and took part in the subsequent

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. In the shadow republican government established in late 1922 he was appointed minister of finance. He remained secretary of Sinn Féin. He was captured on 14 April 1923 and went on hunger strike for forty-one days before being released along with approximately 15,000 Sinn Féin and IRA prisoners in July 1924.

Dáil

He was elected to the

Third Dáil Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

at the 1922 general election and subsequent elections as an Anti-Treaty Sinn Féin TD for the Kerry constituency. When

founded

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland. Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...

in 1926, Stack remained with Sinn Féin being re-elected to the Dáil at the June 1927 general election. He did not contest the September 1927 general election.

Personal life

In 1925, he married Winifred (Una) Gordon (died 1950), the widow of a

Royal Irish Constabulary The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the island was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom. A sep ...

district inspector, Patrick Gordon (1870–1912). Stack's health never recovered after his

and he died in a

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

hospital on 27 April 1929, aged 49.

Honours

At the time of his death a pamphlet was issued to commemorate his dedication to the cause of Irish freedom: "...Austin Stack, a man who bore and dared and suffered, remaining through it all and at the worst, the captain of his own soul...The force of England, of the English Slave State, might try coercion, as they did in many times. It made no difference. He went his way, suffered their will, and stood his ground doggedly, smiling now and again. His determination out-stood theirs because it had a deeper foundation and a higher aim. Compromise, submission, the slave marks, did not and could not exist for him as touching himself, or the Cause for which he worked and fought, lived and died."Coogan, p. 219-220 Austin Stack Park in his home town of Tralee, one of the Gaelic Athletic Association's stadiums, is named in his honour, as is the

Austin Stacks GAA Austin Stacks is a hurling and Gaelic football club based in Tralee in County Kerry, Ireland. Founded in 1917, the club has more All-Ireland Senior Football Championship medals and GAA All-Stars than any other Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA ...

Hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...

and

club.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stack, Austin 1879 births 1929 deaths All-Ireland–winning captains (football) Early Sinn Féin TDs Irish Republican Army (1919–1922) members Irish Republican Army (1922–1969) members Irish sportsperson-politicians Kerry County Board administrators Kerry inter-county Gaelic footballers Members of the 1st Dáil Members of the 2nd Dáil Members of the 3rd Dáil Members of the 4th Dáil Members of the 5th Dáil Members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Kerry constituencies (1801–1922) Ministers for justice of Ireland People from Tralee People of the Irish Civil War (Anti-Treaty side) Politicians from County Kerry Politicians imprisoned during the Irish revolutionary period Sportspeople from Tralee UK MPs 1918–1922