Cathal Crowe (born 1 October 1982) is an Irish

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 ...

politician who has been 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) for the Clare constituency since the 2020 general election.

Political career

Crowe was first elected to

Clare County Council Clare County Council () is the local authority of County Clare, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transportation, urban planning and de ...

in 2004 at 21 years of age, making him the youngest councillor in Ireland at the time. Reflecting on this in a 2019 interview, Crowe said "I was very green when first elected. I didn't own a suit at the time, I was finishing exams at UL and drove around on a scooter. With my first pay cheque from the Council I bought a PlayStation 2. For all the experience I lacked, I had huge hunger and desire to make things better for my community and the Council". In 2019, as the Mayor of

County Clare County Clare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern part of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council ...

, he gained attention as the first politician to decide to boycott the government's commemoration of the

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 ...

. He was a member of Clare County Council for the Shannon local electoral area from 2004 to 2020. Crowe went on to successfully contest three more elections to Clare County Council in 2009, 2014 and 2019, twice topping the poll by receiving the most

first preference votes A first-preference is a voter's most-preferred candidate. In certain ranked systems such as first preference plurality, ranked-choice voting (RCV), and the single transferable vote, first preferences for a candidate are considered most important ...

. Crowe was first elected to Dáil Eireann, the national parliament, in the 2020 general election and was re-elected in November 2024. Crowe is the Fianna Fáil spokesperson on Aviation, Road Transport, Logistics, Rail and Ports. In April 2025, he was announced as the Chairperson of the Oireachtas Committee on Education Youth. In March 2023, the political news website '' the Ditch'' reported that Crowe had not disclosed his ownership of two homes on a planning application to Clare County Council for permission to build a house. In addition, the same article reported Crowe had falsely claimed to have lived in his parents' house until 2012, when he had in fact bought and moved into a property in 2007. When questioned by RTÉ, Crowe rejected the allegation from ''the Ditch'' that he owned two homes and defended his use of the Irish form of his name on the planning application form. Further investigations by ''the Ditch'' revealed that Crowe had not declared EU payments in respect of farmland that he owns in County Clare, thereby breaching the rules for declaring sources of income on Dáil ethics returns. In June 2024, he urged the Irish government to contact the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

about the mythical crown of

Brian Boru Brian Boru (; modern ; 23 April 1014) was the High King of Ireland from 1002 to 1014. He ended the domination of the High King of Ireland, High Kingship of Ireland by the Uí Néill, and is likely responsible for ending Vikings, Viking invasio ...

returned to Ireland. In February 2025, the Vatican replied that it had no record of having it. In May 2025, Crowe caused controversy when he stated that the British Army "never retaliated by bombing or shooting the civilian population of Ireland" during a Dáil debate on the war in Gaza. He later apologised for the incorect statements.

Personal life

Crowe is the son of Michael, a retired fire fighter and Irene, a retired nurse. In 2013, he married Maeve Fehilly from Charleville, County Cork. The couple have three children together. Prior to being elected as a TD, Crowe was a primary school teacher in Parteen National School.

References

External links

Cathal Crowe's page on the Fianna Fáil website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crowe, Cathal Living people 1982 births Members of the 33rd Dáil Fianna Fáil TDs Members of Clare County Council Mayors of places in the Republic of Ireland Politicians from County Limerick Fianna Fáil local councillors Members of the 34th Dáil