Eugene O'Sullivan (1879 – 19 May 1942)
was an
Irish nationalist politician and farmer, who was elected
Member of Parliament (MP) for
East Kerry in January 1910, but was unseated on petition shortly afterwards.
Sporting career
Joining the
Dr Crokes club in the 1890s as a playing member he captained the great club team which won the 1901
Kerry Senior Football Championship and up to 1905 was a regular member. He played with and captained the Kerry team 1902–1904 and was also a regular member of the Killarney hurling team.
In 1903 he was elected chairman of the Kerry Co. Board and under his guidance for the next five years the Co. Board was very active and the Kerry footballers broke through for national recognition. In 1904 while chairman of the county board, representative to Central and Munster council and playing with Dr. Crokes, he was opposed on the Listowel team by T.F O’Sullivan (secretary of the Co. Board and also a delegate to Central Council and Munster Council.) Eugene kept an interest in the G.A.A. right up to his death in 1942. He was vice-president and then president of the Dr. Croke club. He was chairman of the Fitzgerald Memorial committee which brought to fruition the erection of the stadium to the memory of the great Dick Fitzgerald.
Political career
O'Sullivan first stood for election to the
House of Commons at the
1906 general election
The following elections occurred in the year 1906.
Asia
* 1906 Persian legislative election
Europe
* 1906 Belgian general election
* 1906 Croatian parliamentary election
* Denmark
** 1906 Danish Folketing election
** 1906 Danish Landsting ele ...
, when he fell only 54 votes short of unseating the sitting
Irish Parliamentary Party MP,
John Murphy.
However, at the
next election, in January 1910, O'Sullivan stood as an
independent nationalist, and won the seat with a majority 489 votes (10% of the poll). Despite being elected as an independent, O'Sullivan chose to immediately join the
Irish Parliamentary Party, and took his seat in the
Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. His ten contributions to proceedings related to land issues and old-age pensions.
The defeated member, Murphy, launched an election petition, alleging intimidation and irregularities at the election. The petition was heard in June 1910, at
Killarney before Mr. Justices Madden and Kenny. After 7 days of hearings the judges found for Murphy, and O'Sullivan was unseated. However, the Nationalists failed to move the writ for a by-election, and the seat remained vacant until the
December 1910 general election
The December 1910 United Kingdom general election was held from 3 to 19 December. It was the last general election to be held over several days and the last to be held before the History of the United Kingdom during the First World War, First Wo ...
.
[''The Times'', 21 November 1910]
At that election, O'Sullivan's cousin,
Timothy O'Sullivan, held the seat for the Irish Parliamentary Party.
See also
*
List of United Kingdom MPs with the shortest service
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Osullivan, Eugene
1879 births
1942 deaths
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Kerry constituencies (1801–1922)
UK MPs 1910
Independent members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom
Irish Parliamentary Party MPs
Dr Crokes Gaelic footballers
Kerry inter-county Gaelic footballers