Conor O'Kelly (1873 – 13 October 1915) was an

Irish Parliamentary Party The Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP; commonly called the Irish Party or the Home Rule Party) was formed in 1874 by Isaac Butt, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish national ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

. Born in Claremorris, County Mayo, he became a leading member of the

United Irish League The United Irish League (UIL) was a nationalist political party in Ireland, launched 23 January 1898 with the motto ''"The Land for the People"''. Its objective to be achieved through agrarian agitation and land reform, compelling larger grazi ...

and was elected the first chairman of Mayo County Council in 1899. He was dismissed as a Justice of the Peace in 1899 for expressing support for the Boers in the South African War. In 1900, he was elected Member of Parliament for North Mayo as candidate for the United Irish League, receiving more than twice as many votes as his opponent, industrialist

William Martin Murphy William Martin Murphy (6 January 1845 – 26 June 1919) was an Irish businessman, newspaper publisher and politician. A member of parliament (MP) representing Dublin from 1885 to 1892, he was dubbed "William ''Murder'' Murphy" among the Irish ...

, a supporter of the Healyite party. In December 1905, O'Kelly was accused with two others of pressurising a tenant farmer to give up a farm which he had taken over from another who had been evicted. The defendants were released when the jury could not agree on a verdict. Having held his seat unopposed in 1906, he was re-elected in the local government elections in 1908 despite attacks on him by supporters of the clerical faction. In the January 1910 general election, he ran in South Mayo against the sitting MP, John O'Donnell, of the

All-for-Ireland League The All-for-Ireland League (AFIL) was an Irish, Munster-based political party (1909–1918). Founded by William O'Brien MP, it generated a new national movement to achieve agreement between the different parties concerned on the historically d ...

, and lost by 441 votes. In the December election that year, O'Kelly was reported to have been considered again as a candidate but rejected because of his differences with the local clergy.'The Fight in County Mayo', ''The Times'', Friday, 2 Dec 1910

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Okelly, Conor 1873 births 1915 deaths 19th-century Irish people Irish land reform activists Irish Parliamentary Party MPs UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs 1906–1910 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Mayo constituencies (1801–1922) Politicians from County Mayo