Thomas Hales (5 March 1892 – 29 April 1966) was an Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteer and politician from West Cork.

By May 1916 Tom Hales and his brothers, Seán, Bob, and William, were fighting with the IRA in west Cork during the Irish War of Independence.

[citation needed] In 1918, Hales took part in a raid on a British gunboat and held 25 armed Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) members prisoner at Snugmore Castle.

Hales took part in a decoy in assisting his elder brother, Seán, to escape after his arrest in connection with the German Plot.

[1] In December 1919, he took part in an ambush against the RIC at Kilbrittain and Bandon and was involved in the manufacture of gunpowder for IRA munitions.

Hales was tried and was eventually sentenced to two years' penal servitude, which he served in Pentonville and Dartmoor prisons in England.

[5] A fifth Hales brother, Donal, settled in Genoa from 1913, was appointed Irish Consular and Commercial Agent for Italy in February 1919.

[6] Donal oversaw a failed attempt to import a substantial amount of weapons and ammunition (captured Austrian stock from the World War I) from Genoa in the spring of 1921, through the person of Gabriele D'Annunzio.

[1] During the Civil War in July 1922 Tom Hales took part in the raid and capture of Skibbereen Barracks and Ballineen by anti-Treaty forces.

Hales resigned from Fianna Fáil in June 1936 stated he could not support their policy on interning IRA members.