Robert Emmet Briscoe (25 September 1894 – 29 May 1969) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) in the Oireachtas (Irish parliament) from 1927 to 1965. Family Briscoe was a son of Abraham William Briscoe and Ida Yoedicke, both of whom were Lithuanian-Jewish immigrants. The original family name in Lithuania is believed to have been Cherrick or Chasen. His brother Wolfe Tone Briscoe was named after Theobald Wolfe Tone, one of the leaders of the Irish Rebellion of 1798. Briscoe's father was the proprietor of Lawlor Briscoe, a furniture factory on Ormond Quay which made, refurbished, imported, exported and sold furniture, trading all over Ireland and abroad. Abraham Briscoe – known universally as Pappa – had arrived in Ireland penniless, and made his fortune as a salesman, first as a brush salesman, then of imported tea. He married Ida Yoedicke, daughter of a successful family in Frankfurt, who had left Lithuania and the racist Russian laws limiting Jews from success and a decent life, to live in the more liberal Germany. Robert and his wife Lily had seven children; only two of their sons, Ben and Joe, remained in Dublin. One of Robert Briscoe's daughters Miriam converted to the Catholic faith and became a Carmelite nun. Ben followed his father into politics, while Joe joined the army at age of 15 (claiming to be 18) in 1945; he retired in 1993 with the rank of commandant. War of Independence Briscoe was active in the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and Sinn Féin during the Irish War of Independence and accompanied Éamon de Valera to America. He spoke for the Sinn Féin cause at public meetings there and was adamant that being a "Hebrew" did not lessen his Irishness. Briscoe was sent by Michael Collins to Germany in 1919 to be the chief agent for procuring arms for the IRA. While in Germany in 1921 Briscoe purchased a small tug boat named Frieda to be used in transporting guns and ammunition to Ireland. On 28 October 1921 the Frieda slipped out to sea with Charles McGuinness at the helm and a German crew with a cargo of 300 guns and 20,000 rounds of ammunition. Other sources cite this shipment as "the largest military shipment ever to reach the I.R.A." consisting of 1500 rifles, 2000 pistols and 1.7 million rounds of ammunition. On 2 November 1921 the