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{{Short description|Irish republican and politician (1894–1969)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=December 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Dan Breen
| nationality         = [[Irish people|Irish]]
| image               = Dan Breen, circa 1920s.jpg
| caption             = Breen, {{circa}} 1920s
| office              = [[Teachta Dála]]
| term_start          = [[1948 Irish general election|February 1948]]
| term_end            = [[1965 Irish general election|April 1965]]
| constituency        = [[Tipperary South (Dáil constituency)|Tipperary South]]
| term_start1         = [[1932 Irish general election|February 1932]]
| term_end1           = [[1948 Irish general election|February 1948]]
| term_start2         = [[1923 Irish general election|August 1923]]
| term_end2           = [[June 1927 Irish general election|June 1927]]
| constituency2       = [[Tipperary (Dáil constituency)|Tipperary]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1894|8|11|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[County Tipperary]], Ireland
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1969|12|27|1894|8|11|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[County Wicklow]], Ireland
| spouse              = {{marriage|Brigid Malone|1921}}
| children            = 2 Children
| party               = {{Ubl|[[Fianna Fáil]]|[[Sinn Féin]]}}
| allegiance          = [[Irish Republic]]
| branch              = {{Ubl|[[Irish Republican Army (1919–1922)|Irish Republican Army]]|[[Irish Republican Army (1922–1969)|Anti-Treaty IRA]]}}
| serviceyears        = 
| rank                = 
| commands            = 
| unit                = 
| battles             = {{Ubl|[[Irish War of Independence]]|[[Irish Civil War]]}}
}}
[[File:Daniel Breen police notice.jpg|thumb|Wanted poster for Breen during the [[Irish War of Independence]]]]
'''Daniel Breen''' (11 August 1894 – 27 December 1969) was a [[Volunteer (Irish republican)|volunteer]] in the [[Irish Republican Army]] during the [[Irish War of Independence]] and the [[Irish Civil War]]. In later years he was a [[Fianna Fáil]] politician.

==Background==
Breen was born in Grange, [[Donohill]] parish, [[County Tipperary]]. His father died when Breen was six, leaving the family very poor.<ref>{{cite book |last=Breen |first=Dan |title=My fight for Irish freedom |publisher=Anvil |year=1981 |location=Dublin |page=19 |isbn=978-0-900068-58-4}}, [http://mediaoueg.servijer.net/mon-combat-pour-l-irlande translate in French] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403232310/http://mediaoueg.servijer.net/mon-combat-pour-l-irlande/ |date=2015-04-03 }}</ref>

He was educated locally, before becoming a [[plaster]]er and later a linesman on the [[Great Southern Railways]].<ref name=dib/>

==Irish Revolutionary period==
===War of Independence===
Breen was sworn into the [[Irish Republican Brotherhood]] in 1912 and the [[Irish Volunteers]] in 1914. On 21 January 1919, the day the [[First Dáil]] met in [[Dublin]], Breen—who described himself as "a soldier first and foremost"—took part in the [[Soloheadbeg ambush]].{{sfn|Townshend|2014|p=73}} The ambush party of eight men, led by [[Séumas Robinson (Irish republican)|Séumas Robinson]], attacked two [[Royal Irish Constabulary]] men who were escorting explosives to a quarry. The two policemen, James McDonnell and Patrick O’Connell, were fatally shot during the incident. The ambush is considered to be the first incident of the [[Irish War of Independence]]. 

Breen later recalled:
{{blockquote|"… we took the action deliberately, having thought over the matter and talked it over between us. [Seán] [[Seán Treacy|Treacy]] had stated to me that the only way of starting a war was to kill someone, and we wanted to start a war, so we intended to kill some of the police whom we looked upon as the foremost and most important branch of the enemy forces ... The only regret that we had following the ambush was that there were only two policemen in it, instead of the six we had expected …"<ref>History Ireland, May 2007, p.56.</ref>}}

However, his commanding officer, Seamus Robinson, wrote:

{{blockquote|"It was laid down as an order that if only two [[Royal Irish Constabulary|RIC]] should accompany the cart they were to be challenged, but if there were six of
them they were to be met with a volley as the cart reached the gate. The reason for the difference was that there would be so little danger to us if only two appeared that it would be inhuman not to give them an opportunity of surrendering, but if six police turned up they, with their rifles, would be too great a danger to the eight of us to take any such risk as to challenge them and thus hand over our initiative. We had only one Winchester Repeater rifle and an agglomeration of small-arms."<ref>{{citation |publisher=BUREAU OF MILITARY HISTORY, 1913-21 |id=Doc No. W.S. 1721 (File No S. 132.) |url=https://www.militaryarchives.ie/collections/online-collections/bureau-of-military-history-1913-1921/reels/bmh/BMH.WS1721.pdf#page=113 |chapter=2 |page=25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200508233322/https://www.militaryarchives.ie/collections/online-collections/bureau-of-military-history-1913-1921/reels/bmh/BMH.WS1721.pdf |archive-date=8 May 2020 |title=Statement By Witness Seumas Robinson }}</ref>}}

In the same statement, Robinson described the two policemen as he and Paddy Dwyer jumped out and seized the reins of the horse: "The RIC seemed to be at first amused at the eight of Dan Breen's burly figure with nose and mouth covered with a handkerchief; but with a sweeping glance they saw his revolver and Dwyer and me they could see only three of us. In a flash their rifles were brought up, the bolts worked and triggers pressed two shots rang out, but not from the carbines: the cut-off had been overlooked: The two shots came from Treacy [the only one with a rifle] and Tim Crowe. Those shots were the signal for general firing. At the inquest the fatal wounds were 'caused by small-calibre bullets'."

During the conflict, the British put a £1,000 price on Breen's head,<ref>{{cite book |last=Mcconville |first=Sean |title=Irish Political Prisoners 1848-1922: Theatres of War |year=2005 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-203-98716-2 |pages=663 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mXPNixxBQrQC&q=%22garrisons+were+established+in+villages+which+previously+had+rarely+seen+a+policeman%22&pg=PA663 |access-date=2020-11-26 |archive-date=2021-10-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211004120102/https://books.google.com/books?id=mXPNixxBQrQC&q=%22garrisons+were+established+in+villages+which+previously+had+rarely+seen+a+policeman%22&pg=PA663 |url-status=live }}</ref> which was later raised to £10,000.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.anphoblacht.com/contents/4455 |title=Remembering the Past: Gearing up for war: Soloheadbeg 1919 |access-date=23 January 2016 |archive-date=31 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160131122105/http://www.anphoblacht.com/contents/4455 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/CoTipperary/2003-05/1053400540 |title=RootsWeb: CoTipperary-L Dan Breen |access-date=23 January 2016 |archive-date=29 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160129204430/http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/CoTipperary/2003-05/1053400540 |url-status=live }}</ref> He quickly established himself as a leader within the [[Irish Republican Army]] (IRA). He was known for his courage. On 13 May 1919, he helped [[Rescue at Knocklong|rescue]] his comrade [[Seán Hogan]] at gunpoint from a heavily guarded train at [[Knocklong]] station in [[County Limerick]]. Breen, who was wounded, remembered how the battalion was "vehemently denounced as a cold-blooded assassins" and roundly condemned by the [[Catholic Church]].<ref>Townshend, p.80-1.</ref> After the fight,  [[Seán Treacy]], Séumas Robinson and Breen met [[Michael Collins (Irish leader)|Michael Collins]] in Dublin, where they were told to escape from the area. They agreed they would "fight it out, of course".<ref>Séumas Robinson, National Library of Ireland (NLI) MS 21265.; "Irish Independent" (newspaper), 21 May 1919.</ref> Breen and Treacy shot their way out through a British military cordon in the northern suburb of [[Drumcondra, Dublin|Drumcondra]] ([[Home Farm Road#Fernside|Fernside]]). They escaped, only for Treacy to be killed the next day in a shootout with British forces. Breen was shot at least four times, twice in the lung.

The British reaction was to make Tipperary a Special Military Area, with curfews and travel permits. Volunteer GHQ authorised enterprising attacks on barracks. [[Richard Mulcahy]] noted that British policy had "pushed rather turbulent spirits such as Breen and Treacy into the Dublin area".<ref>Valiulis, Maryann, "Portrait of a Revolutionary: General Richard Mulcahy and the founding of the Irish Free State" (Dublin 1992), p.39.</ref> The inculcation of the principles of guerrilla warfare was to become an essential part of all training. Breen and Treacy were original members of Collins' [[The Squad (Irish Republican Army unit)|The Squad]] of assassins, later known as the [[Dublin Guard]], when Tipperary became "too hot for them".<ref>Richard Mulcahy, "Commentary upon Piaras Beaslai's Michael Collins", UCDA (University College Dublin Archive) P7/D/I/67, as cited by Townshend, p.106</ref><ref>Neligan, David (1968), ''The Spy in the Castle'', MacGibbon & Kee, London, pg 102, SBN 261.62060.6</ref> and Dublin was the centre of the war.

Breen was present in December 1919 at the ambush in [[Ashtown, Dublin|Ashtown]] beside Phoenix Park in Dublin where [[Martin Savage (Irish republican)|Martin Savage]] was killed while trying to assassinate the [[Lord Lieutenant of Ireland]], [[John French, 1st Earl of Ypres|Viscount French]]. The IRA men hid behind hedges and a dungheap as the convoy of vehicles came past. They had been instructed to ignore the first car, but this contained their target, Lord French. Their roadblock failed as a policeman removed the horse and cart intended to stop the car.<ref>Dan Breen, 'Lord French Was Not Destined to Die by an Irish Bullet', "With the IRA in the Fight for Freedom" (Tralee 1955), p.45-6.</ref>

===Civil War===
Breen rejected the [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]], which left him angry and embittered:
{{blockquote|"I would never have handled a gun or fired a shot … to obtain this Treaty … writing on the second anniversary of Martin Savage's death, do you suppose that he sacrificed his life in attempting to kill one British Governor-General to make room for another British Governor-General?"<ref>Public Letter from Dan Breen to Comdt McKeon, 19 December 1921. Copy in NLI MS 33914 (4).</ref>}}

Although he had tried hard to avoid a conflict with his comrades after returning home from America in early 1922, Breen eventually joined the [[Irish Republican Army (1922–1969)|Anti-Treaty IRA]] in its fight against the [[Provisional Government of Ireland (1922)|Provisional Government of Ireland]]. He was captured in a major state operation in Tipperary in April 1923.<ref name=dib/>

Regarding the continued existence of [[Northern Ireland]] from 1922, and an inevitable further war to create a [[united Ireland]], Breen commented:
{{blockquote|:"To me, a united Ireland of two million people would be preferable to an Ireland of four and a half million divided into three or four factions".<ref>Kennedy, L. ''Unhappy the Land'' Merrion Press, Dublin (2018).</ref>}}

In the [[1922 Irish general election|June 1922 general election]], Breen was nominated as a candidate by both the pro- and anti-Treaty sides, in the [[Waterford–Tipperary East (Dáil constituency)|Waterford–Tipperary East]] constituency, but was not elected.<ref name="ei-1922wte">{{cite web |title=General election 1922: Waterford-Tipperary East |url=http://www.electionsireland.org/result.cfm?election=1922&cons=565 |work=ElectionsIreland.org |access-date=2009-02-26 |archive-date=2007-04-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070428053106/http://www.electionsireland.org/result.cfm?election=1922&cons=565 |url-status=live }}</ref> On 11 June 1922 Breen began the All-Ireland Football Championship final by throwing the ball in.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Corry |first1=Eoghan |title=The History of Gaelic Football: The Definitive History of Gaelic Football from 1873 |date=2010 |publisher=Gill Books}}</ref>

===Post-Civil War===
In August 1923, while still in custody in Limerick Prison, Breen was elected to [[Dáil Éireann]] at the [[1923 Irish general election|1923 general election]] as a Republican anti-Treaty [[Teachta Dála]] (TD) for the [[Tipperary (Dáil constituency)|Tipperary]] constituency.<ref name=elecs_irl>{{cite web |url=http://electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=1430 |title=Dan Breen |work=ElectionsIreland.org |access-date=29 April 2012 |archive-date=12 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120412054354/http://www.electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=1430 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=oireachtas_db>{{cite web |url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Daniel-Breen.D.1923-09-19/ |title=Daniel Breen |work=Oireachtas Members Database |access-date=17 January 2019 |archive-date=2019-01-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190119174332/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Daniel-Breen.D.1923-09-19/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He spent two months there before going on hunger strike for six days, followed by a thirst strike of six days. While in prison in September 1923 Breen was knocked unconscious from the blow of a prison guards baton.<ref>{{cite news |last=McElhatton |first=Shane |date=14 October 2023 |title=Hunger Strike: the last act of the Civil War |url=https://www.rte.ie/news/2023/1014/1408481-hunger-strike/ |work= |location= |publisher=Raidió Teilifís Éireann |access-date=9 June 2025}}</ref> Breen was released in the autumn after signing a document to desist from attacking the Free State.<ref name=dib>{{cite web|last=Hopkinson|first=M. A.|title=Breen, Daniel ('Dan')|url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/breen-daniel-dan-a0914|access-date=21 December 2021|work=[[Dictionary of Irish Biography]]}}</ref> 

Breen applied to the Irish government for a service pension under the Military Service Pensions Act, 1934 and was awarded nine years service in 1935 at Grade A for his service with the Irish Volunteers and the IRA between 1 April 1917 and 30 September 1923.<ref>Irish Military Archives, Military Service (1916–1923) Pension Collection, Daniel Breen, MSP34REF171. Available online at http://mspcsearch.militaryarchives.ie/search.aspx?formtype=advanced.</ref>

Breen wrote a best-selling account of his guerrilla days, ''My Fight for Irish Freedom'', in 1924, later republished by [[Rena Dardis]] and Anvil Press.<ref name=dib/>

==Politics==
===Fianna Fáil TD===
In January 1927, he became the first anti-Treaty TD to take the [[Oath of Allegiance]] and sit in the [[Dáil Éireann (Irish Free State)|Dáil Éireann]] after the establishment of the [[Irish Free State]].<ref>{{cite web |title=DEPUTY TAKES HIS SEAT – Dáil Éireann (4th Dáil) |url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1927-01-25/25/ |website=Houses of the Oireachtas |date=25 January 1927 |access-date=24 November 2021}}</ref>

Standing as an [[Independent Republican (Ireland)|Independent Republican]] he was defeated in the [[June 1927 Irish general election|June 1927 general election]]. Thereafter Breen travelled to the [[United States]], where he opened a [[speakeasy]]. He returned to Ireland in 1932 following the death of his mother,<ref name=dib/> and regained his seat as a member of [[Fianna Fáil]] in the Dáil at that year's [[1932 Irish general election|general election]]. He represented his Tipperary constituency without a break until his retirement at the [[1965 Irish general election|1965 election]].<ref name=oireachtas_db />

===Foreign policy views===
Breen supported the [[Republican faction (Spanish Civil War)|Republican]] side during the [[Spanish Civil War]].<ref name=dib/>

During [[World War II]], he was said to hold largely pro-[[Axis powers|Axis]] views, with admiration for [[Erwin Rommel]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=jwelBgAAQBAJ&dq=dan+breen+axis&pg=PA69 Britain, Ireland and the Second World War] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011125915/https://books.google.com/books?id=jwelBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA69&lpg=PA69&dq=dan+breen+axis&source=bl&ots=Ys5hxuEdjg&sig=Tk8MWCqN4cfOos1RTY_adNvPy3k&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjui4HkgLnKAhWGbSYKHeEOC7oQ6AEIVDAO#v=onepage&q=dan%20breen%20axis&f=false |date=2016-10-11 }} Ian S. Wood, Edinburgh University Press, 2010</ref><ref name=dib/> When the fascist political party [[Ailtirí na hAiséirghe]] failed to win any seats in the [[1944 Irish general election]], he remarked that he was sorry that the party had not done better, as he had studied their programme and found a lot to commend.<ref>''Architects of the Resurrection: Ailtirí na hAiséirghe and the fascist 'New Order' in Ireland'', R.M Douglas, page 205</ref> In 1946, Breen became secretary of the [[Save the German Children Society]]. He attended the funeral of Nazi spy [[Hermann Gortz]] on 27 May 1947.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/may-27th-1947-1.583426|title=May 27th, 1947|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=27 July 2019|archive-date=11 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411202309/https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/may-27th-1947-1.583426|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Irish-American]] John S. Monagan visited Breen in 1948, and was surprised to see two pictures of [[Adolf Hitler]], a [[medallion]] of [[Napoleon]] and a [[Telefunken]] radio. Breen told him "the revolution didn't work out," and "to get the government they have now, I wouldn't have lost a night's sleep." He also said that he fought for freedom, but not for democracy.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/an-irishman-s-diary-1.45991|title=AN IRISHMAN'S DIARY|first=John S.|last=Monagan|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=27 July 2019|archive-date=23 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123050312/https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/an-irishman-s-diary-1.45991|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1943, Breen sent his "congratulations to the [[Führer]]. May he live long to lead Europe on the road to peace, security and happiness".<ref>Douglas 2009, page 205</ref> After the [[end of World War II in Europe]], the German Legation in Dublin was taken over by diplomats from the US in May 1945, and ".. they found a recent letter from Breen asking the German minister to forward his birthday wishes to the Führer, just days before [[Death of Adolf Hitler|Hitler committed suicide]]."<ref>[https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/artsfilmtv/books/book-review-unhappy-the-land-the-most-oppressed-people-ever-the-irish-390827.html Irish Examiner] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190216035149/https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/artsfilmtv/books/book-review-unhappy-the-land-the-most-oppressed-people-ever-the-irish-390827.html |date=2019-02-16 }}, 2 April 2016</ref>

Breen was co-chairman of the [[Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War|anti-Vietnam War]] organisation "Irish Voice on Vietnam" which he founded along with [[Peadar O'Donnell]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=waTaAAAAMAAJ&q=dan+breen+vietnam|title=John Swift, an Irish dissident|first=John P.|last=Swift|date=27 July 1991|publisher=Gill and Macmillan|isbn=9780717118700|access-date=27 July 2019|via=Google Books|archive-date=4 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211004120101/https://books.google.com/books?id=waTaAAAAMAAJ&q=dan+breen+vietnam|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hB5rDwAAQBAJ&q=dan+breen+vietnam&pg=PA52|title=Reframing Irish Youth in the Sixties|first=Carole|last=Holohan|date=1 September 2018|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=27 July 2019|via=Google Books|isbn=9781786948762|archive-date=4 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211004120102/https://books.google.com/books?id=hB5rDwAAQBAJ&q=dan+breen+vietnam&pg=PA52|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Freyer |first1=Grattan |title=Peadar O'Donnell |date=1973 |publisher=Bucknell University Press |page=11}}</ref>

==Personal life==
[[File:Dan breen's wedding.jpg|thumb|Dan Breen and Brigid Malone's wedding]]
Breen was married on 12 June 1921, during the War of Independence, to Brigid Malone, a Dublin [[Cumann na mBan]] woman and sister of Lieutenant Michael Malone who was killed in action at the [[Battle of Mount Street Bridge]] during the 1916 Rising.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.paulobrienauthor.ie/1916-2/the-battle-of-mount-street-bridge-1916/|title=The Battle of Mount Street Bridge 1916|date=c. 2021|access-date=2021-05-31|archive-date=2020-12-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201212161846/http://www.paulobrienauthor.ie/1916-2/the-battle-of-mount-street-bridge-1916/|url-status=live}}</ref> They had met in Dublin when she helped to nurse him while he was recovering from a bullet wound.

Seán Hogan was best man, and the bride's sister Aine Malone was the bridesmaid. Photographs of the wedding celebrations taken by 5th Battalion intelligence officer Séan Sharkey are published in ''The Tipperary Third Brigade a photographic record''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tipperarylibraries.ie/|title=Tipperary Library Service – Something for everyone|access-date=27 July 2019|archive-date=30 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190730183337/http://www.tipperarylibraries.ie/|url-status=live}}</ref> Breen was, at the time, one of the most wanted men in Ireland, and South Tipperary was under martial law, yet a large celebration was held. The wedding took place at Purcell's, "Glenagat House", New Inn, County Tipperary. Many of the key members of the [[Third Tipperary Brigade]] attended, including flying column leaders [[Dinny Lacey]] and Hogan. Breen was the brother in-law of Commandant [[Theobald Wolfe Tone FitzGerald]], the painter of the Irish Republic Flag that flew over the GPO during the [[Easter Rising]] in 1916.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/rising-from-the-ashes-irish-republic-flag-on-display-1.2573071|title=Rising from the ashes: 'Irish Republic' flag on display|newspaper=[[Irish Times]]|publisher=[[The Irish Times]]|date=15 March 2016|access-date=31 May 2021|archive-date=3 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210603075530/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/rising-from-the-ashes-irish-republic-flag-on-display-1.2573071|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Breens had two children, Donal and Grainne.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll/breen.htm |title=Booth Family Center for Special Collections - Georgetown University Library |access-date=23 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613201057/http://www.library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll/breen.htm |archive-date=13 June 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Breen was an atheist.<ref>The Twelve apostles by Tim Pat Coogan</ref>{{page needed|date=March 2023}}

==Death==
Breen died in Kilcroney House, County Wicklow in 1969, aged 75, and was buried in [[Donohill]], near his birthplace. His funeral was the largest seen in west Tipperary since that of his close friend and comrade-in-arms, [[Seán Treacy]], at Kilfeacle in October 1920. An estimated attendance of 10,000 mourners assembled in the tiny hamlet, giving ample testimony to the esteem in which he was held.<ref name=dib/>

Breen was the subject of a 2007 biography, ''Dan Breen and the IRA'' by Joe Ambrose.<ref name=dib/>

==In popular culture==
Breen is mentioned in the Irish folk ballad "[[The Galtee Mountain Boy]]", along with [[Seán Moylan]], [[Dinny Lacey]], and [[Seán Hogan]]. The song, written by Patsy Halloran, recalls some of the travels of a "[[Flying column]]" from Tipperary as they fought during the Irish War of Independence, and later against the pro-Treaty side during the Irish Civil War.

The trophy for the [[Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship]] is named in his honor.<ref>{{cite news |title=Race for Dan Breen is wide open |url=https://www.nenaghguardian.ie/2022/07/22/race-for-dan-breen-is-wide-open/ |agency=[[The Nenagh Guardian]]}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Bibliography==
===Writings===
*{{cite book |last=Breen|first=Dan|date=1921|title=My fight for Irish freedom|url=https://archive.org/details/myfightforirishf0000bree|publisher=Anvil|location=Dublin}}

===Secondary sources===
*{{cite book |last=Ambrose |first=Joe |date=2007 |title=Dan Breen and the IRA |publisher=Mercier Press|isbn=978-1-85635-506-3}}
*{{cite book |last=Augusteijn |first=Joost |date=1996 |title=From Public Defiance to Guerilla Warfare: The Experience of Ordinary Volunteers in the War of Independence 1916-1921 |location=Dublin }}
*{{cite book |last=Dalton |first=Charles |date=1929 |title=With the Dublin Brigade (1917-1921) |location=London}}
*{{cite thesis |type=D.Phil.|last=Maguire |first=Gloria |date=1985 |title=The Political and Military Causes of the Division in the Irish Nationalist Movement, January 1921 to August 1921 |publisher=Oxford University}}
*{{cite book |last=Ryan |first=Desmond |date=1945 |title=Seán Treacy and the Third Tipperary Brigade |location=Tralee}}
*{{cite book |last=Townshend |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Townshend (historian) |date=2005 |title=Easter Rising 1916: The Irish Rebellion |location=London}}
*{{cite book |last=Townshend |first= Charles|author-link=Charles Townshend (historian) |date=2014 |title=The Republic: The Fight for Irish Independence |location=London}}

===External links===
{{Commons category-inline}}
*{{YouTube|td1nyzasuLg|My Fight for Irish Freedom – Dan Breen}}
*Lyrics and music to the ''Ballad of Dan Breen'' [http://www.irish-folk-songs.com/the-ballad-of-dan-breen-song-lyrics.html The Ballad Of Dan Breen Song Lyrics]
*Lyrics and music to the ''Galtee Mountain Boy'' [http://www.irish-folk-songs.com/the-galtee-mountain-boy-irish-folk-lyrics-and-guitar-chords.html The Galtee Mountain Boy Irish Folk lyrics guitar chords & sheet music]
* Breen the gunman - a blurred line [http://wps.prenhall.com/wps/media/objects/2034/2083004/chapter17/17.htm Breen the Gunman: A Blurred Line]
* Ricorso [http://www.ricorso.net/rx/az-data/authors/b/Breen_D/life.htm Dan Breen]
* [https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/an-irishman-s-diary-1.45991 ''An Irishman's diary'']

{{IRA}}
{{ATIRA}}
{{Tipperary South (Dáil constituency)/TDs}}
{{Tipperary (Dáil constituency)/TDs}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Breen, Dan}}
[[Category:1894 births]]
[[Category:1969 deaths]]
[[Category:Early Sinn Féin TDs]]
[[Category:Fianna Fáil TDs]]
[[Category:Irish Republican Army (1919–1922) members]]
[[Category:Irish Republican Army (1922–1969) members]]
[[Category:Members of the 4th Dáil]]
[[Category:Members of the 7th Dáil]]
[[Category:Members of the 8th Dáil]]
[[Category:Members of the 9th Dáil]]
[[Category:Members of the 10th Dáil]]
[[Category:Members of the 11th Dáil]]
[[Category:Members of the 12th Dáil]]
[[Category:Members of the 13th Dáil]]
[[Category:Members of the 14th Dáil]]
[[Category:Members of the 15th Dáil]]
[[Category:Members of the 16th Dáil]]
[[Category:Members of the 17th Dáil]]
[[Category:People of the Irish War of Independence]]
[[Category:Politicians from County Tipperary]]

<includeonly>[[Category:Templates Infobox]]</includeonly>