# Robert Malachy Burke

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Robert_Malachy_Burke
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Robert_Malachy_Burke.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Malachy_Burke
> Source revision: 1347106301
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

Irish activist and politician (1907–1998)

Robert Malachy Burke Senator In office 21 April 1948 – 6 December 1950 Constituency Agricultural Panel Personal details Born (1907-03-01)1 March 1907 County Galway, Ireland Died 20 September 1998(1998-09-20) (aged 91) Party Labour Party Spouse Ann Grattan

**Robert Malachy Burke** (1 March 1907 – 20 September 1998) was an Irish [Christian socialist](/source/Christian_socialist), philanthropist and politician. He was born into a landed [Church of Ireland](/source/Church_of_Ireland) family at Ballydugan, [Loughrea](/source/Loughrea), [County Galway](/source/County_Galway).

He was active (alongside his wife, Ann Grattan of [Belfast](/source/Belfast)) in a variety of organisations in the fields of community development, co-operativism, peace activism, religion, and politics. At Toghermore, [Tuam](/source/Tuam) (the birthplace of his mother, Ethel Maud Henry), where he came to live following his parents' separation, he established an innovative [co-operative](/source/Cooperative) farm.[1]

As a [Labour Party](/source/Labour_Party_(Ireland)) representative, he sat on [Galway County Council](/source/Galway_County_Council), but despite polling strongly in [Galway East](/source/Galway_East) at a number of elections, he was not elected to the [Dáil Éireann](/source/D%C3%A1il_%C3%89ireann).[2]

He was elected to [Seanad Éireann](/source/Seanad_%C3%89ireann) in 1948 for the [Agricultural Panel](/source/Agricultural_Panel), but resigned his seat on 6 December 1950.[3]

Following the death of his mother, Burke gifted his property to the Irish health authorities for use in the struggle against [tuberculosis](/source/Tuberculosis), and, early in 1951, he took up a position as a development worker with an Anglican charity in [Nigeria](/source/Nigeria). Alongside his wife, he worked during the next decades with various agencies in Africa, before the couple retired to Belfast. He died in 1998.[4]

## Sources

- John Cunningham, 'Bobby Burke: Christian Socialist', in J.A. Claffey (ed.) Glimpses of Tuam since the Famine, Tuam 1997, pp. 239–53.

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Devine, F. (2017). ["The Irish Transport & General Workers' Union in Galway, 1918-1930"](http://www.jstor.org/stable/44751642). *Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society*. **69**: 130–149. [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [44751642](https://www.jstor.org/stable/44751642).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-elecs_irl_2-0)** ["Robert Burke"](http://www.electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=1843). *ElectionsIreland.org*. Retrieved 21 July 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-oireachtas_db_3-0)** ["Robert Malachy Burke"](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Robert-Malachy-Burke.S.1948-04-21/). *Oireachtas Members Database*. Retrieved 13 April 2009.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-hist_4-0)** ["Death of Former Members: Expressions of Sympathy"](https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/seanad/1998-10-14/3/). *Houses of the Oireachtas*. 14 October 1998. Retrieved 8 January 2020.

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

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