Archie Heron

{{Short description|Irish politician and trade unionist (1896–1971)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}

{{Use Hiberno-English|date=November 2020}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Archie Heron

| image =

| office = Teachta Dála

| term_start = July 1937

| term_end = June 1938

| constituency = Dublin North-West

| nationality = Irish

| party = Labour Party

| birth_date = {{birth date|1896|8|29|df=y}}

| birth_place = Portadown, County Armagh, Ireland

| death_date = {{death date and age|1971|5|10|1896|8|29|df=y}}

| death_place = Dublin, Ireland

| alma_mater =

| education =

| spouse = {{marriage|Ina Connolly|1920}}

| children = 2

| relatives =

}}

Archibald Heron (29 August 1896 – 10 May 1971) was an Irish Labour Party politician and trade unionist.

He was born in Portadown, County Armagh, to a presbyterian family, one of seven children of Samuel Heron, a physician and surgeon, and his wife Bessie (née Beck).{{cite web|url=https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1896/02154/1817044.pdf|title=Births registered in the District of Portadown in the Union of Lurgan in the County of Armagh|work=IrishGenealogy.ie|date=12 January 1897|access-date=16 October 2022}} He was educated locally before moving to Belfast in 1912.{{cite web|url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/heron-archibald-archie-a3963|title=Heron, Archibald|work=Dictionary of Irish Biography|last=Ferriter|first=Diarmaid|access-date=16 October 2022}} He joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood, and moved to Dublin in 1912 where he became involved in the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union.{{cite web|url=http://www.newulsterbiography.co.uk/index.php/home/viewPerson/668|title=Archibald (Archie) Heron|work=Dictionary of Ulster Biography|access-date=17 October 2022}}

During the Irish War of Independence he served as a bodyguard for Michael Collins{{cite web |date=2 February 2017 |title=James Connolly Heron (b. 1949) |url=https://www.irishlifeandlore.com/product/james-connolly-heron-b-1949/ |access-date=16 November 2020 |publisher=Irish Life and Lore}} From 1928 to 1941, he served as general secretary of the Civil and Public Services Union.{{cite book |last1=Devine |first1=Francis |last2=Smethurst |first2=John B. |title=Historical Directory of Trade Unions in Ireland |date=2017 |publisher=Irish Labour History Society & Working Class Movement Library |location=Dublin |url=https://www.irishlabourhistorysociety.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Historical-Directory-of-Trade-Unions-in-Ireland.pdf |access-date=23 January 2025}}

In the 1937 general election, he was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Labour Party Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin North-West constituency.{{cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Archie-Heron.D.1937-07-21/|title=Archie Heron|work=Oireachtas Members Database|access-date=8 November 2008}} He lost his seat at the 1938 general election.{{cite web|url=http://electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=1386|title=Archie Heron|work=ElectionsIreland.org|access-date=8 November 2008}} He was unsuccessful in both the 1927 general elections in Sligo–Leitrim.

He was a longtime member of Dublin's United Arts Club.{{cite web|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/art-and-design/a-united-front-1.603629|title=A United Front|first=Brian|last=O'Connell|work=The Irish Times|date=22 August 2011}}

He married Ina Connolly, daughter of the socialist republican revolutionary James Connolly. Their son Brian Samuel Connolly Heron (Brian o h-Eachtuigheirn) (1941-2011), was an organiser for the United Farm Workers in California. He was also a founding member in the United States of the National Association for Irish Justice which, in 1969, gained recognition as the U.S. support group for the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association.{{Cite book |last1=Hanley |first1=Brian |url= |title=The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers' Party |last2=Millar |first2=Scott |date=2010 |publisher=Penguin Books Limited |isbn=978-0-14-102845-3 |pages= |language=en}}{{rp|115–116}}{{Cite web |title=IN MEMORIAM - Brian o h-Eachtuigheirn (Brian Heron) 1941-2011 |url=http://www.celticartscenter.com/Other/BrianHerron/InMemoriam-BrianHeron.html |access-date=2024-04-28 |website=www.celticartscenter.com}}