[1] He was an independent Teachta Dála (TD) for the Monaghan constituency in Dáil Éireann from June 1927 to 1932 and from 1933 to 1937.
[3] His failure to be elected in both 1937 and 1943 was due to the continuing decline in numbers of the Protestant population in County Monaghan.
He was active in the Orange Order, he became prominent locally in the affiliated Protestant Defence Association (organised in 1920 amid the political violence of the time) at a time when unionists in Monaghan and throughout the twenty-six southern counties were assessing their position in the face of devolved government, and the exclusion of three Ulster counties from Northern Ireland.
He was a very prominent member of the Orange Order and served as Deputy County Grand Master for Monaghan.
[5] He has been described as one of those who "were determined not only to stay but with dignity to play their part and make a contribution to the local commercial and political life"[6] "On 12 July 1923 the only Orange demonstration to be held in the Free State that year took place at Killacoonagh near Clones.