O'Friel, Henry (1892–1977), public servant, was born 19 March 1892 in Co. Donegal, possibly at Milford, second among five children of James O'Friel, teacher, and Teresa O'Friel (née Redmond) of Co. Wicklow. He was educated at St Colman's College, Fermoy, Co. Cork, and secured many distinctions in the intermediate examinations, winning exhibitions in the sciences, modern languages, and classical groups, and later attended UCD, from where he graduated with an honours degree in mathematics. In 1911 he entered the civil service, was appointed to the estate duty office in Dublin, and worked there until November 1918, when he was dismissed for refusing to take the oath of allegiance under the provisions of the defence of the realm act. He subsequently opened an office as a tax consultant, and his expert knowledge was put at the disposal of the dáil ministries of finance and labour in 1919–21. He first entered public life in 1920, when he was elected to Howth urban council, and was then returned to Dublin county council, serving as its chairman in 1920–21, when that body, along with others, refused to acknowledge the authority of the British local government board, and instead pledged its allegiance to Dáil Éireann. During the same period he served as a dáil judge, and on one occasion was taken as a hostage by British forces through large parts of Co. Dublin. In early 1922 he represented the general council of county councils in consultations relating to the teaching of Irish in schools, and also represented the provisional government at the postal commission.
In September 1922 he accepted an invitation from Kevin O'Higgins (qv) to become secretary to the Department of Home Affairs (thereafter the Department of Justice). He was part of a three-man committee established in 1924 to investigate the treatment of civil servants arrested and interned during the civil war. He also served on the economy committee in 1927–30 and was then seconded to serve as chairman of the tariff commission in November 1930. In March 1933 he was formally replaced as secretary at the Department of Justice and appointed chairman of a reconstituted tariff commission, also serving as chairman of the pig industry tribunal from May of that year. On 22 January 1935 he was seconded as chairman of the dairy disposal board and was also a member of the tribunal of inquiry into the marketing of fruit and vegetables in 1935–9. During the late 1950s he served part-time on the butter marketing committee and was replaced in this capacity on 2 August 1958, retiring as chairman of the dairy disposal board at around this time.
Though his death went unreported in the national press, he had been one of the most eminent public servants in the state. As secretary to the Department of Justice, he helped to implement key policies in areas that proved central to the legitimacy of the new state, not least in the area of helping to establish the Garda Síochána, a police service quickly accepted as impartial. He also oversaw the administratively difficult task of helping to establish a new court system for the Free State, replacing both the British courts system and the dáil courts, which had been initially established by the first dáil in June 1919 but were subsequently abolished by post-treaty legislation. As chairman of the tariff commission in 1930–35, he played a central role during part of the Anglo–Irish economic war. His twenty-three year period as chairman of the dairy disposal board was important for the national economy and many rural communities, as this body was empowered to acquire and reorganise creamery premises, ensuring fair prices for milk suppliers and even providing creameries in districts where existing facilities were inadequate. In 1957–8 he was the highest-paid official in the semi-state sector.
He married (1922) Nancy, daughter of John McDonnell, engineer; they lived on Burrow Road, Sutton, Co. Dublin. He had one son and three daughters, one of whom died in childhood. He died 29 May 1977 at a nursing home in Howth, Co. Dublin.