Justin McKenna

Justin McKenna was born in Mullagh, County Cavan, on 9 June 1896, the shopkeeper son of a man who shaped local councils and college governance. He left that familiar world for law studies and armed struggle, facing imprisonment before emerging as a elected voice for Louth and Meath. McKenna voted for the Treaty that split his own party, then became the first State Solicitor for County Meath, carrying the new state through its earliest uncertain days.