Green roots and new shoots

The Family: The Haughey family has strong roots in the Republican tradition, writes Carl O'Brien.

Charles Haughey used to joke that his geographically diverse background meant he had to juggle his allegiances to the four corners of the island.

"Look at the dilemma I'm in," he said during a television documentary, My Ireland, on the morning of the All-Ireland semi-finals in the late 1980s. "Of the four teams in it, three of them are Dublin, Kerry, Mayo. I was born in Mayo, I live in Dublin and I have my holidays in Kerry."

His family tree, however, was firmly rooted in Swatragh, Co Derry, where both of his parents' families lived for generations.

His father, Seán Haughey,was born in 1899 and was active in the War of Independence. During the Civil War which followed, the Haugheys came south and Comdt Haughey served in the Free State Army, stationed in Castlebar, where their third son, Charles, or Cathal as he was called by his mother, was born.

According to some biographers, Comdt Haughey had helped to smuggle rifles from Donegal to Derry early in the Civil War. The rifles has been sent to Donegal on the orders of Michael Collins to be held available for the defence of nationalist areas inside the recently partitioned Six Counties of Northern Ireland.

In a piece of neat symmetry, Charles Haughey was charged almost 50 years later in the Arns Trial with attempting to import arms illegally, but was found not guilty. These arms were also intended to defend nationalist areas in the North following the 1969 outbreak of violence.

Comdt Haughey left the army in 1928 and farmed for a while in Dunshaughlin, Co Meath, where Charles had his early schooling. The family would go back to Swatragh during the summer months and Charles attended the school there at Corlecky for a short period.

His father, however, developed multiple sclerosis and was obliged to sell the farm and move to Dublin, where he died on January 3rd, 1947. Former IRA comrades provided a guard of honour at the funeral.

Mrs Haughey, Sarah née McWilliams, had seven children: Pádraig, Seán, Charles, Eoghan, Bridie, Maureen and Eithne.

The family lived in a small two-storey house at 12 Belton Park, Donnycarney, where family and visitors from the North called regularly. Mrs Haughey reared her large family on a meagre income and was active in charity work in the parish, where she was a member of the Third Order of St Francis.

In later years, she expressed great admiration for her ambitious son and was in the Dáil public gallery in December, 1979, when he was elected Taoiseach.

The eldest Haughey son, Pádraig, also known as Jock, made headlines in 1971 when he refused to answer questions at the Dáil's Public Accounts Committee inquiry into the Arms Crisis. He was reported to the High Court for his "contempt" and sentenced to six months in prison, but this was later quashed by the Supreme Court.

Seán Haughey worked for many years in Dublin Corporation before retiring with the rank of assistant city manager. The third Haughey son, Eoghan, became a priest in the Oblate Order.

Eithne, who died on February 12th, 2002, and Maureen Haughey worked in business and lived with their mother in Donnycarney until she died.

Many years later they became involved in a High Court case in 1998 to prevent the Moriarty Tribunal from inquiring into their affairs as part of the investigation into Charles Haughey's finances. In their evidence both sisters spoke of their anger and hurt when they discovered their financial affairs were being probed by the tribunal.

Charles Haughey married Maureen Lemass, the eldest daughter of Sean Lemass, on September 18th, 1951. They had four children - Eimear, Conor, Ciarán and Seán.

The family lived initially in a semi-detached house in a Raheny housing estate, but in 1957 he and his young family moved to Grangemore, a large Victorian mansion on a 45-acre site in Raheny. Mr Haughey sold this in 1969 and moved to Abbeville, a 250-acre estate in Kinsealy, built in the 1700s for the Rt Hon Jon Beresford, Commissioner of the Revenue, then one of the most powerful men in the country.

Steeped in politics, Mrs Haughey was just two-years-old when her father, the future Taoiseach, Seán Lemass, was first elected to the Dáil in 1927.

She met her future husband at UCD, where she was studying for a B. Comm, but became a full-time housewife and mother after marrying at 25. While she always preferred to remain in the background, it is said she has a deep interest in politics.

All of the Haughey children have been closely linked with Fianna Fáil at local level, but only one, Seán, became a full-time politician. He served as Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1989-1990.

He was elected on his third attempt in 1992 and topped the poll in Dublin North Central in the most recent general election. He is married to Orla O'Brien and they live in a house on part of the family land at Kinsealy.

Ciarán established Celtic Helicopters in 1985 and, as the Moriarty Tribunal heard, some of the most powerful business figures in the State quickly became involved in the venture and again later when it got into serious financial difficulties. He was married to Laura Daly, but they are no longer a couple.

Conor studied mining engineering and established Feltrim Mining, which was floated on the stock exchange on April 1st, 1988. A circle of business figures with links to his father also became involved. He married Jackie McClafferty in 1988. He also lives in Kinsealy.

Eimear Haughey shared her father's interest in horses, and eventually married John Mulhern, a stud farm and racehorse owner. At the Flood Tribunal it was revealed that he was a secret partner in Century Radio. The couple lives in the Curragh, Co Kildare.