John Thomas Donovan (1878 – 17 January 1922) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

barrister and

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

from 1914 to 1918. Born in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

, Donovan was called to the bar at the King's Inns in 1914. He was elected as the

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 o ...

(MP) for West Wicklow at a by-election in August 1914, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of

Edward Peter O'Kelly Edward Peter O'Kelly (4 July 1846 – 22 July 1914) was an Irish nationalist politician who was a member of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom both in 1895, and between 1910 and 1914. Early life O'Kelly was born on 4 July 1846 in Balt ...

. He did not defend his seat at the 1918 general election, when it was won by the

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur G ...

candidate. He stood instead in South Donegal, where he was defeated by Sinn Féin's

Peter J. Ward Peter Joseph Ward (1 November 1891 – 6 January 1970) was an Irish Sinn Féin (later Cumann na nGaedheal) politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) in the Dáil Éireann from 1919 to 1924. Ward was born Faiafannan, County Donegal on 1 No ...

.Walker, op. cit., page 387

References

External links

* * 1878 births 1922 deaths Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Wicklow constituencies (1801–1922) UK MPs 1910–1918 Irish Parliamentary Party MPs Irish barristers Politicians from Belfast Alumni of King's Inns Lawyers from Belfast {{Ireland-UK-MP-stub