Daniel Boyle (10 January 1859 – 19 August 1925) was an Irish Parliamentary Party politician. He was elected at the January 1910 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Mayo, and held the seat until his defeat at the 1918 general election by the Sinn Féin candidate, John Crowley.
Early life
Daniel Boyle was born on 10 January 1859 at Kilcoo, near Belleek, by Lough Melvin in County Fermanagh. He was the younger son of Donal Boyle, a tenant farmer, and in such circumstances, he saw little future in agriculture. He excelled as a pupil in the local National School, where he was something of a prodigy; indeed, he was offered the position of principal of a village school at the age of eighteen. However, in common with many Irish men and women of his generation, he emigrated to industrial Lancashire instead, arriving in Manchester in 1877. His educational qualifications enabled him to find employment as a clerk with the Midland Railway Company in the city, working his way through the ranks until 1889, when he resigned. Although he had obtained the position of Registrar of Births and Deaths in the Ancoats Division, he intended to concentrate upon a possible career as a freelance journalist (in addition to contributing to English newspapers, he had become the Manchester correspondent of the Freeman's Journal). Transport was to remain an important interest, but perhaps not as much as politics. In his spare time, he had become active in the Irish National League, and was soon Secretary of the branch in the East Manchester Constituency. His talents were soon noticed and, after assisting in the organisation of the INL convention in Manchester, he was asked by T.P. O’Connor to accept the position as representative of the Irish Party in Lancashire and Cheshire. He was also very active in the Irish National Foresters (a sick and burial friendly society) travelling at weekends to establish branches in the North and Midlands. He acted as head of the society on several occasions, as well as secretary of the Manchester district. Boyle also found time to act as vice-president of the Catholic Registration Society (an organisation designed to enable Roman Catholics to be placed on voters lists).
Manchester Council
In 1894, Boyle was elected to the Manchester City Council for New Cross Ward (adjoining St Michael's, in present-day Ancoats), the largest ward in the city, and with a large population of Irish origin. Soon after his election, he lobbied and led delegations against a proposal to build huge barrack-like lodging-houses. Instead, he persuaded the Council to build cottage dwellings. He was re-elected in 1897, with one of the largest number of votes ever recorded in a Manchester Council election. Boyle was involved in the long-term re-organisation of the Manchester City Police after the revelations of an official enquiry revealed widespread corruption. He also interested himself in the affairs of the Manchester Ship Canal (Manchester City Council had come to the rescue of the project when it ran out of money, and still possessed a substantial shareholding in the Canal Company). In May 1897 the local monthly magazine 'Manchester Faces and Places' published a profile.
"It is as much by character as by speech that Mr Boyle has so soon secured the respect and ear of the assembly. Sound sense, good humour and the wit which is the dower of the Irish race – these are the qualities which tell powerfully for the cause he may be advocating. On the platform Mr Boyle…is an orator. His voice is sonorous and musical…and when particularly he speaks on politics he gives the ring and earnestness and even of passion. Just the touch of the accent of his country aids rather than mars the effect of his speech."