James Charles Dowdall

{{Short description|Irish politician (1873–1939)}}

{{Use Hiberno-English|date=February 2024}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| image =

| image_size =

| caption =

| office = Senator

| term_start = 11 December 1922

| term_end = 29 May 1936

| party = {{ubl|Fianna Fáil|Independent}}

| birth_date = {{birth date|1873|2|18|df=y}}

| birth_place = Chatham, England

| death_date = {{death date and age|1939|6|28|1873|2|18|df=y}}

| death_place = Holyhead, Wales

| nationality = Irish

| spouse = {{marriage|Jane Doggett|1929}}

| education =

| alma_mater =

| relatives = Thomas Dowdall (brother)

}}

James Charles Dowdall (18 February 1873 – 28 June 1939) was an Irish politician and businessman.

Born in Chatham, England, Dowdall was a founder member and President of the Cork Industrial Development Association and was a butter and margarine manufacturer. He was also a Director of the Lucania Cycle Company, the Cork Gas Company and Hibernian Insurance Company.Gaughan Rev. Anthony (1996), Memoirs of Senator Joseph Connolly. Dublin, Irish Academic Press. p.273

He was appointed to the Free State Seanad Éireann as an independent member in December 1922 by the President of the Executive Council, W. T. Cosgrave.{{cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1922-12-06/9/|title=President's nominees for Seanad|publisher=Houses of the Oireachtas|date=6 December 1922|access-date=26 December 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/James-Charles-Dowdall.S.1922-12-06/|title=James Charles Dowdall|work=Oireachtas Members Database|access-date=18 August 2012}} He was one of a number of Senators with commercial backgrounds nominated by Cosgrave.O'Sullivan, Donal (1940), The Irish Free State and Its Senate. London, Faber and Faber. p.91

In the 1928 Seanad election, six Fianna Fáil Senators were elected under the leadership of Joseph Connolly. They were immediately joined by Colonel Maurice George Moore and subsequently Dowdall found himself frequently joining with the party in divisions together with fellow independent Senator Jennie Wyse Power.Gaughan, p.273 He soon joined the party after their entry into the Seanad.O'Sullivan, p.268 Both he and Wyse Power stood as Fianna Fáil candidates in the 1934 Seanad election and were re-elected for nine years and served until the abolition of the Seanad.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

Dowdall was also a member of the Governing Body of University College Cork. He died on 28 June 1939 and was buried in St. Finbarr's Cemetery.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

He was married to Jane Dowdall.{{cite web|url=https://www.pressreader.com/ireland/irish-examiner/20180217/281539406429040|work=Irish Examiner|title=A century of voting rights|date=17 February 2018}} His brother was Thomas Dowdall.{{cite web|url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/dowdall-thomas-patrick-a2727|title=Dowdall, Thomas Patrick|work=Dictionary of Irish Biography|last=Dempsey|first=Pauric J.|access-date=24 September 2022}}