Background
Tierney was born in 1894 in Ballymacward, County Galway.
Tierney was born in 1894 in Ballymacward, County Galway.
He studied classics at the Sorbonne, Athens and Berlin.
He was appointed to a lectureship in classics in 1915 and to the Professorship of Greek in 1923. Tierney was elected a Cumann na nGaedheal Teachta Dála (Territorial Decoration) for Mayo North in a by-election in 1925 and for the National University of Ireland constituency in 1927, a seat he held until 1932. He was the prime mover behind the transfer of University College Dublin to its present site at Belfield.
Tierney came to corporatism through a study of Catholic social thought, and through an analysis of continental systems of corporatism, particularly those of Portugal and Austria. Tierney suggested the name "Fine Gael" for the new coalition between his party, the Centre Party and the Blueshirts.
He was an early member of the Army Comrades Association (later known as the Blueshirts) and, along with Ernest Blythe, encouraged Eoin O"Duffy to become the leader. He was a member of Seanad Éireann from 1938 to 1944.