Vincent Joseph White, 1886-1958: dochtúir, polaiteoir, agus tírghrátheoir

Vincent White is a neglected figure despite being the leading Sinn Féin politician in Waterford during the independence struggle. Hailing from a medical family, he graduated from the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin in 1912, and continued the family practice in Broad St, Waterford from 1915. In 1918 he contested the by-election and general election in Waterford City, losing to Captain W.A. Redmond. The by-election is particularly interesting for the attention given to labour by Redmond, the use of the canard that De Valera said ‘Labour must wait’, and for the views of local republicans on working class backing for the Redmonds. In 1920 White was elected as the first Sinn Féin mayor of Waterford.
Supporting the Anglo-Irish Treaty, he served as a Cumann na nGaedheal TD, and was instrumental in setting up the Irish Hospital Sweepstakes, before retiring from politics in 1933. He remained a colourful figure in a variety of nationally-minded organizations in Waterford. His biography is the story of how middle-class people converted briefly to Sinn Féin and offers an insight into the mentality of anti-Redmondites in Waterford.