Career
A publican before entering politics, he was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Labour Party Teachta Dála (Territorial Decoration) for the Cork West constituency at the 1951 general election. He was re-elected at each subsequent election until he retired at the 1981 general election. From 1961 he was elected for the Cork South–West constituency.
He was appointed a Parliamentary Secretary by the Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave and served at the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries from 1973 to 1977.