1. Patrick Belton was an Irish nationalist, politician, farmer, and businessman.
18 Facts About Patrick Belton
1. 2.
Patrick Belton was strongly anti-communist and he was a founder and leader of the Irish Christian Front.
3.
Supportive of Francisco Franco, Patrick Belton however opposed Eoin O'Duffy taking an Irish Brigade to Spain, feeling that they would be needed in Ireland to counter domestic "political ills".
4.
Patrick Belton attended the local national school and subsequently won a scholarship to King's College London.
5.
Patrick Belton became very friendly with Arthur Griffith and Michael Collins at this time.
6.
Patrick Belton was a prominent member of the Geraldines GAA Club in London, and he was for many years its president.
7.
On 31 August 1918, Patrick Belton was sentenced to six months imprisonment with hard labour for possessing arms and ammunition.
8.
Patrick Belton served his sentence in Mountjoy and Belfast jails.
9.
Patrick Belton was elected as a Fianna Fail Teachta Dala for Dublin County in the June 1927 general election.
10.
At the time of his dismissal from Fianna Fail, Patrick Belton had been a TD for only six weeks.
11.
Patrick Belton lost his seat in the general election of September 1927, in which he stood as an Independent.
12.
Patrick Belton joined Cumann na nGaedheal in 1933 and was returned as a TD for Dublin North at the 1933 general election.
13.
In October 1935, following the outbreak of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, Patrick Belton suggested the cause of the wars was down to "Jews", who were "there or thereabouts in Abyssinia, too".
14.
In November 1936, Patrick Belton travelled to Spain to arrange for a shipment of medical supplies to be purchased with funds raised from church-gate collections.
15.
Patrick Belton opposed Eoin O'Duffy's dispatching of the Irish Brigade in the Spanish Civil War, opposing the move on the grounds that he believed the battle against communism would be fought at home, not abroad.
16.
Patrick Belton became active in the licensed trade, opening a public house on Collins Avenue.
17.
Patrick Belton lost his Dail seat at the 1943 general election.
18.
Patrick Belton died on 30 January 1945, at his home in Killiney, County Dublin.