Daniel Florence Cohalan (December 21, 1865,

Middletown, Orange County, New York Middletown is the largest city in Orange County, New York, United States. It lies in New York's Hudson Valley region, near the Wallkill River and the foothills of the Shawangunk Mountains. Middletown is situated between Port Jervis and Newb ...

– November 12, 1946,

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

) was an American lawyer and politician of Irish descent.

Life

He was the son of Timothy E. Cohalan and Ellen (O'Leary) Cohalan. He graduated from

Manhattan College Manhattan University (previously Manhattan College) is a private, Catholic university in New York City. Originally established in 1853 by the De La Salle Christian Brothers (Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools) as an academy fo ...

in 1885. Then he studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1888, and practiced in Orange County. In September 1889, he removed to

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, practiced law there, and entered politics, joining

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was an American political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789, as the Tammany Society. It became the main local ...

. He was Grand Sachem of the Tammany Society from 1908 to 1911. On May 18, 1911, he was appointed by Gov.

John Alden Dix John Alden Dix (December 25, 1860 – April 9, 1928) was an American businessman and politician who served as 38th governor of New York from January 1911 to January 1913. A native of Glens Falls, New York, Dix attended Cornell University befor ...

to the

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the superior court in the Judiciary of New York. It is vested with unlimited civil and criminal jurisdiction, although in many counties outside New York City it acts primarily as a court of civil ju ...

, to fill the vacancy caused by the election of James Aloysius O'Gorman as U.S. Senator from New York. In November 1911, Cohalan was elected to succeed himself. On December 28, 1923, he tendered his resignation, to become effective on January 12, 1924, claiming that the annual salary of $17,500 was not enough to provide for his large family. He was a close associate of Irish revolutionary leader

John Devoy John Devoy (, ; 3 September 1842 – 29 September 1928) was an Irish republican Rebellion, rebel and journalist who owned and edited ''The Gaelic American'', a New York weekly newspaper, from 1903 to 1928. Devoy dedicated over 60 year ...

and was influential in many Irish-American societies including

Clan na Gael Clan na Gael (CnG) (, ; "family of the Gaels") is an Irish republican organization, founded in the United States in the late 19th and 20th centuries, successor to the Fenian Brotherhood and a sister organization to the Irish Republican Bro ...

. Cohalan was involved with the financing and planning of the

Easter Rising The Easter Rising (), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the aim of establishing an ind ...

in Dublin and was instrumental in sending

Roger Casement Roger David Casement (; 1 September 1864 – 3 August 1916), known as Sir Roger Casement, CMG, between 1911 and 1916, was a diplomat and Irish nationalist executed by the United Kingdom for treason during World War I. He worked for the Britis ...

to Germany in 1914. He was Chairman of the Irish Race Convention held in Philadelphia (22–23 February 1919) and active in the Friends of Irish Freedom (1916–1934). Cohalan strongly opposed President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

's proposals for the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

, on the basis that the

Irish Republic The Irish Republic ( or ) was a Revolutionary republic, revolutionary state that Irish Declaration of Independence, declared its independence from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in January 1919. The Republic claimed jurisdict ...

had been denied a policy of

self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...

at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. Cohalan broke with both

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 ...

and Irish-American leader Joseph McGarrity in late 1919 on Irish-American political direction. He died at his New York City home on November 12, 1946, and was buried at the Calvary Cemetery in

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

. State Senator John P. Cohalan (1873–1950) was one of his eleven siblings, and church historian Monsignor Florence Daniel Cohalan (1908–2001) was one of his nine children.

Life

References

Further reading