Patrick Reynolds (Cumann na nGaedheal politician)
Patrick Reynolds was an Irish Cumann na nGaedheal politician. A merchant and farmer, he was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Cumann na nGaedheal Teachta Dála at the September 1927 general election for the Leitrim–Sligo constituency. He was nominated as a candidate for the 1932 general election, but during the campaign he was shot on 14 February 1932 by a former Royal Irish Constabulary officer named Joseph Leddy, dying four weeks later. Garda Detective Patrick McGeehan who was trying to shield Reynolds was fatally wounded. The election in Leitrim–Sligo was then postponed, and when it was resumed his widow Mary Reynolds won the seat, serving in the Dáil for 25 years.
Leddy had helped the IRA during the Irish War of Independence and had received a pension on Reynolds' recommendation; the two were friends and drinking companions, but had recently fallen out over the small size of Leddy's pension, and Leddy had begun to support a rival politician. Leddy was tried in Dublin and received a one-year sentence for manslaughter, the jury citing provocation. Mary Reynolds received IR£1,000 in a civil suit.
His son Patrick J. Reynolds, who took over and expanded the family business, was a long-serving member of Leitrim County Council, and also a Fine Gael TD and senator, serving as Cathaoirleach of the Seanad from 1983 to 1987. Pat Joe's son Gerry Reynolds was also a TD and senator.
