John Marcus O'Sullivan (18 February 1881 – 9 February 1948) was an Irish

Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil � ...

politician who served as Minister for Education from 1926 to 1932 and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance from 1924 to 1926. He served as a

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms such as ''Member of Parli ...

(TD) from 1923 to 1943. O'Sullivan was born in

Killarney Killarney ( ; ga, Cill Airne , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Ross Cast ...

, County Kerry, in 1881, the second son of M. O'Sullivan, a merchant. He was educated at St Brendan's College, Killarney,

Clongowes Wood College Clongowes Wood College SJ is a voluntary boarding school for boys near Clane, County Kildare, Ireland, founded by the Jesuits in 1814, which features prominently in James Joyce's semi-autobiographical novel ''A Portrait of the Artist as a Yo ...

, and later at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...

(UCD),

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...

and

Heidelberg University } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, B ...

, where he was awarded a PhD. He was appointed to the Chair of Modern History at UCD in 1910. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann in 1923 as a

Cumann na nGaedheal Cumann na nGaedheal (; "Society of the Gaels") was a political party in the Irish Free State, which formed the government from 1923 to 1932. In 1933 it merged with smaller groups to form the Fine Gael party. Origins In 1922 the pro-Treaty ...

TD for the Kerry North constituency. He served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance from 1924 to 1926. He was appointed to the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

in 1926, serving under

W. T. Cosgrave William Thomas Cosgrave (5 June 1880 – 16 November 1965) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as the president of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State from 1922 to 1932, leader of the Opposition in both the Free State and Ir ...

as Minister for Education. In 1926, a report from the ''Second National Programme Conference'' was presented to him as the Minister for Education. He accepted all proposals stated in the report to be recommended as a national

curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...

. His major ministerial achievement was the Vocational Education Act 1930. He served on the Irish delegation to the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

, in 1924 and from 1928 to 1930. He was re-elected at every election until 1943 when he lost his Dáil seat. He subsequently retired from politics. He was married to Agnes Crotty, and they had 4 children, two sons and two daughters. O'Sullivan died on 9 February 1948, at his home in

Rathgar Rathgar (), is a suburb of Dublin in Ireland. It was originally a village which from 1862 was part of the township of Rathmines and Rathgar; it was absorbed by the growing city and became a suburb in 1930. It lies about three kilometres south of ...

, Dublin.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Osullivan, John M 1881 births 1948 deaths Cumann na nGaedheal TDs Fine Gael TDs Members of the 4th Dáil Members of the 5th Dáil Members of the 6th Dáil Members of the 7th Dáil Members of the 8th Dáil Members of the 9th Dáil Members of the 10th Dáil Politicians from County Kerry Alumni of University College Dublin People educated at Clongowes Wood College People educated at St Brendan's College, Killarney Ministers for Education (Ireland) Parliamentary Secretaries of the 4th Dáil