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Harry Boland (27 April 1887 – 1 August 1922) was an Irish republican politician who served as President of the Irish Republican Brotherhood from 1919 to 1920. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1918 to 1922.
He was elected at the 1918 general election as the MP for Roscommon South, but as with other Sinn Féin candidates, he did not take seat in the British House of Commons, serving instead as a TD in the First Dáil.
At the 1921 general election, Boland was elected to the second Dáil as one of the TDs for the Mayo South–Roscommon South. He was re-elected in 1922 as an Anti-Treaty candidate, but was killed two months later in the Irish Civil War.
At the 1918 general election, Boland was elected as an MP for the Roscommon South seat. In line with all the Sinn Féin MPs elected at that election, he did not represent his constituents at Westminster, but withdrew to sit in the declared independent Dáil Éireann (the First Dáil) and was named by Éamon de Valera as special envoy to the United States, a role his uncle Jack had played 25 years previously.Kevin Boland. James Boland 1857–1895 A Nationalist of the Advanced School. Unpublished essay. He left Ireland for the United States of America along with de Valera as part of a campaign to raise awareness and support for their cause in America. Boland negotiated a loan of $20,000 from the Irish Republic to the Soviet Republic through the head of the Soviet Bureau, Ludwig Martens, using some Russian jewellery as collateral. These jewels were transferred to Ireland when he returned.
During the Irish War of Independence, Boland operated alongside Michael Collins, of whom he was a close friend. Boland was also a devoted follower of de Valera.
In the 1922 general election, he was re-elected to the Dáil representing Mayo South–Roscommon South. Six weeks later, on 31 July, Boland was shot by soldiers of the National Army when they attempted to arrest him at the Skerries Grand Hotel. Two officers entered his room and Boland, who was unarmed, was shot and mortally wounded during a struggle:The Times, Mr. Harry Boland Shot, 1 August 1922
He died the next day in St. Vincent's Hospital on 1 August 1922. As he lay dying, he refused to give the name of his attacker to his sister, Kathleen.p272, James Mackay, Michael Collins: A Life;
He was buried at Glasnevin Cemetery. The service took place from the Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church. The hearse was followed by Cumann na mBan, Clan na Gael and the Citizen Army women's section.The Times, Blow To Irish Rebels, 5 August 1922
His nephew, Harry Boland, was a basketball player who competed in the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. He died on 18 December 2013, at the age of 88.
He also had a sister, Kathleen, who was entrusted, with her mother, with the safekeeping of jewels received from diplomats as collateral for a loan made by the provisional government to the new Russian state in April 1920.
In the 1996 film Michael Collins, Boland was portrayed by Irish-American actor Aidan Quinn. The film was criticised for fictionalising both Boland's death and aspects of Collins' life.
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