Seamus Dolan was born near Blacklion, County Fermanagh and was a farmer and schoolteacher before serving on Cavan County Council, representing Belturbet, and subsequently entering Dail Eireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas, the Irish Parliament, in 1961, after two unsuccessful campaigns. In 1965 he lost his Dail seat but was elected to Seanad Eireann, the upper house, where he served almost continuously until 1981. From 1977 he was Cathaoirleach, that is, chairman or speaker. Dolan was one of only two Ulster-born holders of the office (the other was Patrick Baxter (from Cavan who served 1954 - 1957) and the only one to have been born in what became (though was not at his birth) Northern Ireland. 

He was also a keen enthusiast for promoting tourism in County Cavan, as particularly in relation to the inland waterway system He retired in 1981.

Born:	10 December 1914
Died:	10 August 2010