15 Facts About Alfie Byrne

Alfie Byrne was known as the "Shaking Hand of Dublin".

Alfie Byrne dropped out of school at the age of 13, and was juggling jobs as a grocer's assistant and a bicycle mechanic.

Alfie Byrne was a member of the Dublin Port and Docks Board, a significant position for a politician from the Dublin Harbour constituency.

Alfie Byrne was elected as MP for Dublin Harbour in a by-election on 1 October 1915, following the death of William Abraham, as a candidate of the Irish Parliamentary Party.

At the general election in 1918 Alfie Byrne was defeated by a Sinn Fein candidate, Philip Shanahan.

Alfie Byrne was elected as an independent TD supporting the Anglo-Irish Treaty for the Dublin Mid constituency at the general election to the Third Dail in 1922.

Alfie Byrne was an elected member of Seanad Eireann, for a six-year term from 1928.

Alfie Byrne vacated his Dail seat on 4 December 1928.

Alfie Byrne resigned from the Seanad on 10 December 1931 and returned to the Dail in 1932.

Alfie Byrne remained a TD until his death in 1956, representing Dublin North and Dublin North-East.

Alfie Byrne was elected as Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1930, serving in the post for nine consecutive years.

When, in 1935, Alfie Byrne became the first Lord Mayor of Dublin to visit North America in 40 years, he was granted the freedom of Toronto, and The New York Times hailed the arrival of a "champion showman".

Alfie Byrne improved relations between Dublin and the rest of the country.

In 1954, Alfie Byrne was elected as Lord Mayor for a record tenth time.

Alfie Byrne's funeral was the largest seen in Dublin for many years.