# Luke Duffy

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Irish trade unionist and politician (1890–1961)

For other people of the same name, see [Luke Duffy (disambiguation)](/source/Luke_Duffy_(disambiguation)).

Luke Duffy Senator In office 18 August 1944 – 22 June 1949 Constituency Industrial and Commercial Panel Personal details Born (1890-03-26)26 March 1890 County Sligo, Ireland Died 3 August 1961(1961-08-03) (aged 71) Dublin, Ireland Party Labour Party Spouse Mary O'Donovan ​ (m. 1920)​ Children 4

**Luke Joseph Duffy** (26 March 1890 – 3 August 1961) was an [Irish](/source/Irish_people) [trade unionist](/source/Trade_union) and [Labour Party](/source/Labour_Party_(Ireland)) politician, who served for five years as a [senator](/source/Seanad_%C3%89ireann).[1]

Born in Gurteen, [County Sligo](/source/County_Sligo) in 1890, Duffy's first job was as a draper's apprentice in Moon's of Galway.[2] By 1910, he was an active member of the local branch of the Irish Drapers' Assistants Association (IDAA), and he was elected branch secretary in 1911. In the following years, he was vice-president and trustee of the Trades Council, secretary of the Volunteers and of the Galway City [Gaelic Athletic Association](/source/Gaelic_Athletic_Association), and active in the [Irish National Foresters](/source/Irish_National_Foresters). In 1914, he chaired the IDAA's annual conference in Dublin. Sacked from Moon's for union activity in 1916, he was appointed Munster organiser of the IDAA. A few years later, he was elected as general secretary of the renamed [Irish Distributive and Administrative Trade Union](/source/Irish_Distributive_and_Administrative_Trade_Union). In 1933, he became general secretary of the [Labour Party](/source/Labour_Party_(Ireland)).

In 1944, he was elected by the [Industrial and Commercial Panel](/source/Industrial_and_Commercial_Panel) as a member of the 5th [Seanad](/source/Seanad_%C3%89ireann).[2] He was re-elected in 1948 to the 6th Seanad, but resigned when appointed to the board of the newly established [Industrial Development Authority](/source/IDA_Ireland) (IDA), by [Daniel Morrissey](/source/Daniel_Morrissey), Minister for Industry and Commerce. This appointment was for a term of five years through 25 May 1954. He resigned from the Seanad on 22 June 1949 to accept this appointment and also relinquished his position as General Secretary of the Labour Party.[2]

In his appointment to the IDA, Duffy worked at developing strategies that would ultimately lead to attracting direct foreign investment into Ireland. The IDA was placed on statutory footing in 1950. Duffy spent the rest of his career in advancing the aims and objectives of the IDA. He retired from the IDA in 1960.[2]

In 1920, he married Mary O'Donovan from; they had two sons and two daughters.[2] Duffy died on 3 August 1961, in [Dún Laoghaire](/source/D%C3%BAn_Laoghaire), at the age of 71.[2]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-oireachtas_db_1-0)** ["Luke Duffy"](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Luke-Joseph-Duffy.S.1944-08-18/). *Oireachtas Members Database*. Retrieved 30 December 2019.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-dib_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-dib_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-dib_2-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-dib_2-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-dib_2-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-dib_2-5) Murphy, Angela. ["Duffy, Luke J."](https://www.dib.ie/biography/duffy-luke-j-a2814) *[Dictionary of Irish Biography](/source/Dictionary_of_Irish_Biography)*. Retrieved 16 March 2024.

## Sources

- John Cunningham, *Labour in the West of Ireland: working life and struggle, 1890–1914*, Athol Books (Belfast) 1995.

Trade union offices Preceded by John G. Gilloway General Secretary of the Irish Distributive and Administrative Trade Union 1922–1933 Succeeded by Michael Drumgoole Preceded by Cathal O'Shannon President of the Irish Trades Union Congress 1923–1924 Succeeded by William O'Brien Preceded by William McMullen President of the Irish Trades Union Congress 1929 Succeeded by Thomas J. O'Connell Preceded by Denis Cullen Treasurer of the Irish Trades Union Congress 1931–1933 Succeeded by Seán Campbell

v t e « 4th Seanad « Members of the 5th Seanad (1944–1948) » 6th Seanad » Cathaoirleach Seán Goulding (FF) Leader of the Seanad William Quirke (FF) Administrative Panel Andrew Clarkin (FF) Seán Goulding (FF) Michael Hayes (FG) Denis Healy (FF) Michael Hearne (FF) James McGee (Ind) Thomas Ruane (FF) Agricultural Panel Patrick Baxter (CnaT) John Counihan (Ind) Daniel Hogan (FF) Edmund Horan (CnaT) Patrick Kehoe (FF) Dominick MacCabe (Ind) William O'Callaghan (FG) Timothy O'Donovan (FG) Patrick O'Reilly (FF) William Quirke (FF) Gerard Sweetman (FG) Cultural and Educational Panel Patrick Doyle (FG) Louis O'Dea (FF) Seán O'Donovan (FF) Patrick J. O'Reilly (Ind) James Parkinson (FG) Industrial and Commercial Panel Thomas Condon (Ind) Daniel Corkery (FF) James Crosbie (FG) Tadhg Crowley (FF) James G. Douglas (Ind) Luke Duffy (Lab) Peter Trainor Kelly (Ind) Seán MacEllin (FF) David Madden (FG) Labour Panel John Butler (FG) Thomas Hayden (Lab) James Johnston (Ind) John Thomas Keane (Ind) Thomas Kennedy (Lab) Sam Kyle (Lab) Peter Lynch (Ind) John Meighan (CnaT) Seán Ruane (Ind) Michael Smyth (Ind) James Tunney (Lab) Dublin University William Fearon (Ind) Joseph Johnston (Ind) T. C. Kingsmill Moore (Ind) National University Henry Barniville (FG) Helena Concannon (FF) Michael J. Ryan (Ind) Nominated by the Taoiseach Seán Campbell (Lab) Robert Farnan (FF) Thomas Foran (Lab) T. V. Honan (FF) Sir John Keane (Ind) Margaret L. Kennedy (FF) William Magennis (Ind) Liam Ó Buachalla (FF) Pádraic Ó Máille (FF) Margaret Mary Pearse (FF) Matthew Stafford (FF) Elected or nominated later 1945 Frederick Summerfield (Ind) 1946 Pádraig Ó Siochfhradha (Ind) Frederick Hawkins (Ind) Edward Pakenham (Ind) 1947 Joseph Warwick Bigger (Ind) FF: Fianna Fáil FG: Fine Gael CnaT: Clann na Talmhan Lab: Labour Party Ind: Independent

v t e « 5th Seanad « Members of the 6th Seanad (1948–1951) » 7th Seanad » Cathaoirleach Timothy O'Donovan (FG) Leader of the Seanad Michael Hayes (FG) Administrative Panel John Finan (CnaT) Patrick Fitzsimons (Ind) Seán Goulding (FF) Michael Hearne (FF) James McGee (Ind) Margaret Mary Pearse (FF) Jeremiah Ryan (FG) Agricultural Panel Patrick Baxter (CnaT) Robert Malachy Burke (Lab) John Counihan (Ind) Seán Gibbons (FF) William O'Callaghan (FG) Timothy O'Donovan (FG) Martin O'Dwyer (Ind) Patrick O'Reilly (FF) Martin Quinn (Ind) William Quirke (FF) James Tunney (Lab) Cultural and Educational Panel Michael Hayes (FG) Cecil Lavery (FG) Frank Loughman (FF) Liam Ó Buachalla (FF) Thomas J. O'Connell (Lab) Industrial and Commercial Panel Joseph Brennan (Ind) Denis Burke (FG) Andrew Clarkin (FF) James Crosbie (FG) Henry Morgan Dockrell (FG) Luke Duffy (Lab) T. V. Honan (FF) Peter Lynch (Ind) Frederick Summerfield (Ind) Labour Panel Richard Anthony (Ind) John Butler (FG) Seán Campbell (Lab) Michael Colgan (Ind) Andrew Fogarty (FF) Frederick Hawkins (Ind) Seán Hayes (FF) John Meighan (CnaT) J. T. O'Farrell (Lab) Seán Ruane (Ind) Michael Smyth (Ind) Dublin University Joseph Warwick Bigger (Ind) William Fearon (Ind) William Bedell Stanford (Ind) National University of Ireland Henry Barniville (FG) Helena Concannon (FF) George O'Brien (Ind) Nominated by the Taoiseach George C. Bennett (FG) Eleanor Howard (Lab) James G. Douglas (Ind) Denis Ireland (CnaP) Patrick McCartan (CnaP) James J. McCrea (Lab) Edward McGuire (Ind) Séamus O'Farrell (Ind) Edward Richards-Orpen (Ind) Edmund Sweetman (FG) Patrick Woulfe (Ind) Elected or nominated later 1950 Mary Davidson (Lab) FF: Fianna Fáil FG: Fine Gael CnaP: Clann na Poblachta CnaT: Clann na Talmhan Lab: Labour Party Ind: Independent

Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF WorldCat National United States People Ireland

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Luke Duffy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luke_Duffy) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luke_Duffy?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.