Joseph Brennan

Clongowes 1899-1905 I Joseph Brennan

Joseph Brennan (1887-1976), civil servant and banker, was a native of Bandon, County Cork, who attended Clongowes in 1899-1905. Educated at UCD and Christ’s College Cambridge, he entered the British civil service in 1910. He served mainly in Dublin Castle, where by 1921 he had charge of the finance division in the chief secretary’s office. A Home Ruler by conviction, he advised the Irish delegation on the financial aspects of the Anglo-Irish treaty. Subsequently he became de facto head of the new Irish civil service, initially as comptroller and auditor general, and from 1923 head of the Department of Finance. His firm and prudent management ensured a smooth continuity of public administration in the changeover and established the financial standing of the new state, both very considerable achievements. Resigning from Finance because of disagreement with the direction of government policy, he became head of the new Currency Commission, the forerunner of the Central Bank of which he was appointed first governor in 1943. His strongly held view on public debt was resolutely conservative and antiKeynsian. His opposition to borrowing for economic development brought him into conflict with younger economists and leading politicians over budgetary and monetary policy, and in 1953 he resigned. Amongst his achievements were Irish membership of the International Monetary Fund and chairmanship of the ‘Brennan Commission’ (1932-4), which gave the Department of Finance control over the expenditure of other government departments. In retirement, he was active in cultural and social affairs, including the Clongowes Youth Club in Dublin.