Séamus Pattison

Séamus Pattison was born in Kilkenny in 1936, the son of James Pattison, a Labour Party politician who represented Carlow-Kilkenny from 1933 to 1957. The boy likely watched his father debate and decide, learning that public life was a craft rather than a performance. Séamus later served as a Teachta Dála for Carlow-Kilkenny from 1961 to 2007 and became Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann, carrying the duties of the house with steady authority.