[1] Lahiffe was born in the townland of Cloone, Gort, County Galway, the son of James N. Lahiff and Maria Quinn.
[2] Lahiffe was elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1948 general election as a Fianna Fáil TD for the Galway South constituency.
He was defeated at the 1951 general election by Fine Gael's Patrick Cawley, but two years later was re-elected at a by-election in August 1953 following the death of Frank Fahy, a Fianna Fáil TD who as Ceann Comhairle had been returned unopposed in 1951.
Fianna Fáil had run three candidates in three-seat constituency, and Lahiffe was beaten by his first-time running-mate Michael Carty.
[4] He was then elected to the 9th Seanad by the Agricultural Panel, which re-elected him in 1961.