[1] An auctioneer from Bandon, County Cork, Crowley was an accomplished rugby player in his youth.
[3] He stood unsuccessfully as a Fianna Fáil candidate for Dáil Éireann in the Cork Mid constituency at a by-election in March 1965, but won the seat at the 1965 general election in April.
He was then elected to the 14th Seanad on the Cultural and Educational Panel, and at the 1981 general he regained his Dáil seat from Walsh.
However, he did not win a seat; at the time Fianna Fáil was deeply divided between supporters and opponents of its leader Charles Haughey, and the Haughey-supporting Crowley was beaten by another Fianna Fáil candidate, Séamus de Brún, who had previously been nominated by the Taoiseach, Jack Lynch to the 14th Seanad.
In the subsequent February 1983 Seanad election, he stood as a candidate on the Administrative Panel, but did not win a seat.