William Davin

{{Short description|Irish politician (1890–1956)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}

{{Use Hiberno-English|date=December 2021}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = William Davin

| image = William Davin, 1932.jpg

| caption = Davin in 1932

| office = Parliamentary Secretary

| suboffice = Local Government

| subterm = 1954–1956

| office1 = Teachta Dála

| term_start1 = June 1922

| term_end1 = 1 March 1956

| constituency1 = Leix–Offaly

| nationality = Irish

| party = Labour Party

| birth_date = {{birth date|1890|2|19|df=y}}

| birth_place = Rathdowney, County Laois, Ireland

| death_date = {{death date and age|1956|3|1|1890|2|19|df=y}}

| death_place = Dublin, Ireland

| alma_mater =

| education =

| spouse = Brigid Leahy

| children = 4

}}

William Davin (19 February 1890 – 1 March 1956) was an Irish Labour Party politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for over thirty years.{{cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/William-Davin.D.1922-09-09/|title=William Davin|work=Oireachtas Members Database|access-date=12 April 2012}} He was also a station-master.

His first candidacy for public office was at the 1922 general election, when he stood as a Labour Party candidate in the Leix–Offaly constituency.{{cite web|url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/davin-william-a2430|title=Davin, William|work=Dictionary of Irish Biography|last=Murphy|first=Angela|date=October 2009|access-date=10 December 2021}} He was returned to the 3rd Dáil, and was re-elected at each successive general election until his death in office in 1956.{{cite web|url=http://electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=1333|title=William Davin|work=ElectionsIreland.org|access-date=12 April 2012}} Following his death, a by-election was held on 30 April 1956 which was won by the Fianna Fáil candidate Kieran Egan.

He was Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Local Government from 1954 to 1956.

For most of this period, he was the only Labour deputy from Laois–Offaly, but after the June 1927 general election he was joined in the short-lived 5th Dáil by John Gill, who lost his seat at the September 1927 general election.

Since Davin's death, Laois–Offaly has returned a Labour TD only twice: at the 1965 general election, when Henry Byrne was elected to the 18th Dáil, and at the 1992 general election, when Pat Gallagher was elected to the 27th Dáil.