Francis Humphreys
Irish politician

Francis Humphreys (28 July 1891 – 19 April 1961) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Carlow–Kilkenny constituency from 1932 to 1933, for Carlow–Kildare from 1937 to 1948, and for Carlow–Kilkenny again 1951 to 1954 and 1957 to 1961.
A medical practitioner before entering politics, Humphreys was elected to Dáil Éireann on his first attempt, at the 1932 general election for the Carlow–Kilkenny constituency. He lost his seat at the 1933 election, but in 1937, he was returned to the 9th Dáil as the last of four candidates to be elected in the new Carlow–Kildare constituency at the 1937 general election.
Humphreys was re-elected at three further general elections, in 1938, 1943 and 1944. After further constituency changes he was defeated again at the 1948 general election in the restored Carlow–Kilkenny constituency. At the 1951 election, he was returned to the 14th Dáil, unseating the Labour Party's James Pattison. He lost again to Pattison at the 1954 election, before ousting Pattison again at the 1957 general election.
He died on 19 April 1961, before completing his seventh term in Dáil Éireann. No by-election was held for his seat in the 16th Dáil, which remained vacant until the 1961 general election on 4 October, when he was replaced by Labour's Séamus Pattison, son of his rival James Pattison.
“Francis Humphreys” enters the record as irish politician. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Francis, Humphreys and Irish can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5481360. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1891, 1961, 1932 and 1933.
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