John Lawlor (1860–1929), was an Irish handball player, and trade unionist. Born in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, USA, in 1860, he returned with his parents to Ireland in 1862. In 1884 he became the Irish Professional Handball Champion. He moved to America where he played handball professionally. Married to Alice, they had a son John while in America. He set up a Cab company in Broadstone, Dublin, and joined the Cab Drivers and Owners Union. In 1915 he became vice-president of the Dublin Trades Council and Labour League and in 1916 he became president of the

Dublin Council of Trade Unions {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 The Dublin Council of Trade Unions is the trades council for County Dublin in Ireland. In 1884, 34 craft unions were involved in organising an exhibition of artisan work in Dublin. This necessitated regular meeting ...

, he served on Dublin Corporation from 1920 to 1924 for the Inns Quay, Dublin, elected as a Labour candidate. He was president of the

Workers' Union of Ireland The Workers' Union of Ireland (WUI), later the Federated Workers' Union of Ireland, was an Irish trade union formed in 1924. In 1990, it merged with the Irish Transport and General Workers Union to form the Services, Industrial, Professional and ...

from 1924 until his death in 1929.'James Larkin: Lion of the Fold: The Life and Works of the Irish Labour Leader' By Donal Nevin, published by Gill & MacMillan Ltd. Lawlor stood for election unsuccessfully in 1923 in

Dublin North Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 cens ...

for the

Dublin Trades Council {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 The Dublin Council of Trade Unions is the trades council for County Dublin in Ireland. In 1884, 34 craft unions were involved in organising an exhibition of artisan work in Dublin. This necessitated regular meeting ...

, and September 1927 in Dublin South as an ''Independent Labour'' Candidate. In 1924 he became the first president of the Irish Amateur Handball Association (IAWA). He died in 1929 and is buried in Glasnevin, his friend political associate

Jim Larkin James Larkin (28 January 1874 – 30 January 1947), sometimes known as Jim Larkin or Big Jim, was an Irish republican, socialist and trade union leader. He was one of the founders of the Irish Labour Party along with James Connolly and Willia ...

gave his funeral oration. He is remembered along with his opponent Phil Casey for the early world handball championships, in the ''Casey/Lawlor Cup''.Ireland win Casey Lawlor Cup
GAA News, RTE.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawlor, John Gaelic handball players Irish trade unionists 1860 births 1929 deaths