 He stood as an anti-Treaty Sinn Féin candidate at the 1922 general election but was not elected.He joined Fianna Fáil in 1926 shortly after its foundation and was to remain a prominent member of the party in the Cork area for the next 50 years until his death.He was elected to the Irish Free State Seanad in 1934 and served until it was abolished in 1936.