1920s. Consequently, MacBride let it be known that he and his party would not serve under Mulcahy. Without Clann na Poblachta, the other parties would have had 57 seats between them—17 seats short of a majority in the 147-seat Dáil. According to Mulcahy, the suggestion that another person serve as Taoiseach came from Labour leader William Norton. Mulcahy stepped aside and encouraged his party colleague John A. Costello, a former Attorney General, to become the parliamentary leader of Fine Gael and the coalition's candidate for Taoiseach. For the next decade, Costello served as the party's parliamentary leader while Mulcahy remained the nominal leader of the party. Mulcahy went on to serve as Minister for Education under Costello from 1948 until 1951. Another coalition government came to power at the 1954 election, with Mulcahy once again stepping aside to become Minister for Education in the Second Inter-Party Government. The government fell in 1957, but Mulcahy remained as Fine Gael leader until October 1959. In October the following year, he told his Tipperary constituents that he did not intend to contest the next election. Family Richard Mulcahy married Min Ryan, the former fiancée of Seán Mac Diarmada, in 1920, and lived in a flat in Oakley House, Ranelagh. Min, a member of the Cumann na mBan Executive, had herself been involved in nationalist activity at the time of the Rising. One of his sons, Risteárd Mulcahy, was for many years a cardiologist in Dublin. His daughter Neillí Mulcahy (1925–2012) was one of Ireland's leading fashion designers. She designed the uniforms for Aer Lingus in 1962. Another son was the structural engineer and visual artist Seán Mulcahy (1926–2018). Richard Mulcahy died from natural causes in Dublin on 16 December 1971, at the age of 85. See also List of members of the Oireachtas imprisoned during the Irish revolutionary period References Bibliography 'Portrait of a Revolutionary: General Richard Mulcahy and the Founding of the Irish Free State' by Maryann Gialanella Valiulis 'My Father, the General: Richard Mulcahy and the Military History of the Revolution' by Risteárd Mulcahy External links 1886 births 1971 deaths Politicians from County Waterford Early Sinn Féin TDs Cumann na nGaedheal TDs Leaders of Fine Gael National Army (Ireland) generals Irish Republican Army (1919–1922) members People of the Irish Civil War (Pro-Treaty side) Members of the 1st Dáil Members of the 2nd Dáil Members of the 3rd Dáil Members of the