John Joseph O'Kelly ( ga, Seán Ua Ceallaigh; known as Sceilg; 7 July 1872 – 26 March 1957) was an Irish republican politician, author and publisher who served as President of Sinn Féin from 1926 to 1931, Minister for Education from 1921 to 1922, Minister for Irish from 1920 to 1921 and Leas-Cheann Comhairle of

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( , ; ) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house).Article 15.1.2º of the Constitution of Ireland read ...

from 1919 to 1921. He served as a Teachta Dála from 1918 to 1921 and 1922 to 1923.

Early years

O'Kelly was born in Coramore, on Valentia Island off the

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

coast, he was the son of Patrick Kelly, a farmer, and Ellen Sullivan. While his birth date is recorded as 7 July 1872, his family gave it as 4 July.

Political career

He joined Sinn Féin at its inaugural meeting on 5 November 1905. Following the 1916

Easter Rising The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the a ...

, O'Kelly joined the Irish Nation League and became treasurer of the ''Irish National Aid and Volunteers' Dependants' Fund'' for the relief of prisoners and their families. In February 1917, he was arrested and deported to England where he was interned without trial for several months. On his release O'Kelly was elected to the Provisional Committee of the newly merged Irish Nation League and Sinn Féin, thereafter called Sinn Féin. He was appointed editor of the influential "''Catholic Bulletin''". In the 1918 general election he was elected as a Sinn Féin MP for

Louth Louth may refer to: Australia *Hundred of Louth, a cadastral unit in South Australia * Louth, New South Wales, a town *Louth Bay, a bay in South Australia **Louth Bay, South Australia, a town and locality Canada * Louth, Ontario Ireland * County ...

by 255 votes in what was the closest contest in Ireland in that election. The closeness of the contest was due to the strong AOH organisation in the county that campaigned for outgoing North Galway MP Richard Hazleton of the Irish Parliamentary Party. O'Kelly took his seat in

as a Sinn Féin TD and was Leas-Cheann Comhairle (deputy chairperson) from 1919 to 1921. He was appointed Minister for Irish in the

Government of the 2nd Dáil There were two Governments of the 2nd Dáil, which were Ministries of Dáil Éireann, the assembly of Dáil Éireann that was the legislature of the Irish Republic, a unilaterally declared state which lasted from 1919 to 1922. The Second Dáil ...

. This position that was expanded as the Minister for Education in the Government of the 2nd Dáil. From 1919 to 1923, he was President of the Gaelic League. He opposed the Anglo-Irish Treaty that was ratified by the Dáil in January 1922, and refused to accept the legitimacy of the Irish Free State established in December 1922. He and others maintained that the Irish Republic continued to exist and that the rump of the Second Dáil, composed of those anti-Treaty TDs who had refused to take their seats in what became the Free State parliament, was the only legitimate government for the whole of Ireland. In June 1922, he was elected to the Third Dáil for the constituency of Louth-Meath but abstained from taking his seat. In August 1923, standing as a Republican for the Meath constituency, he was defeated for an abstentionist seat in the

4th Dáil Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

. He was again defeated in the Roscommon by-election of 1925, his last election attempt. After the resignation of Éamon de Valera as president of Sinn Féin in 1926, O'Kelly, who maintained an abstentionist policy towards Dáil Éireann, was elected in his place and remained in this position until 1931 when Brian O'Higgins took over the leadership. O'Kelly was hostile towards the 1937 Constitution of Ireland, claiming it was insufficiently supportive of Irish Republicanism and that the Constitution also did not require the President of Ireland to be of Irish birth. Sceilg was unusual among Irish Republicans in that he regarded Daniel O'Connell and

T.M. Healy Timothy Michael Healy, KC (17 May 1855 – 26 March 1931) was an Irish nationalist politician, journalist, author, barrister and a controversial Irish Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain a ...

as political heroes. This apparently reflected local patriotism (both men came from south-western Ireland near to Sceilg's own birthplace) and Sceilg's own devout Catholicism, which led him to exalt O'Connell's achievement of Catholic Emancipation and Healy's claims that the adultery of Charles Stewart Parnell with

Katharine O'Shea Katharine Parnell (née Wood; 30 January 1846 – 5 February 1921), known before her second marriage as Katharine O'Shea, and usually called Katie O'Shea by friends and Kitty O'Shea by enemies, was an English woman of aristocratic background ...

made Parnell unfit for political leadership. Sceilg was also explicitly hostile to the

Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII, and was dissolved on 1 A ...

declared in 1931, believing it to be anti-Catholic and supported by pro-British

Freemasons Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

Literary interests

He was a prolific author on Irish language and history topics, editing ''Banba'', ''The Catholic Bulletin'' and ''An Camán''. He was intensely religious and an active Catholic. O'Kelly opposed members of the IRA fighting against Franco in the Spanish Civil War. In 1938, he was one of seven remaining abstentionist Second Dáil TDs who transferred what they believed was their authority as the Government of the Irish Republic to the IRA Army Council (see Irish republican legitimatism). In 1938, he visited Germany, later publishing his impressions in the ''Irish Independent''.

Anti-Semitism

Many of O'Kelly's speeches and writings contained content critical of

and Jews. In 1916, members of Ireland's Jewish community protested after the ''Catholic Bulletin'' published a series of articles by Fr. T.H. Burbage accusing the Jewish community of carrying out ritual murders; O'Kelly refused to apologise for the articles. O'Kelly also featured the anti-semitic writings of Denis Fahey in the Bulletin. In 1930, O'Kelly, speaking as Sinn Féin President to its members, said, "In the signs of the Anti-Christ, England is today the prey of rival groups of unscrupulous Jews fighting for their lands." In 1939 O'Kelly spoke at Cork City Hall and praised

Nazi Germany's Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

treatment of Jews, saying: "

England's difficulty is Ireland's opportunity "England's difficulty is Ireland's opportunity" () is an Irish nationalist phrase which long served as a "rallying cry" for Irish people who desired political independence. It was popular across the political spectrum of Irish nationalism. In 1868, ...

...its seems to me that England prefers to plant the Jews in Ireland, as she planted the Cromwellians, The Orangemen...How many people in Ireland reflect that the Treaty of Versailles placed Germany...with the heel of Jews on her neck...while Jewish usury emaciated and the Jewish White Slave Trade sought to corrupt the whole land".

Death

O'Kelly died in Our Lady's Hospice, Harold's Cross, on 26 March 1957, and was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery on 28 March.''Irish Independent'', 27 March 1957.

Bibliography

* ''

Cathal Brugha Cathal Brugha (; born Charles William St John Burgess; 18 July 1874 – 7 July 1922) was an Irish republican politician who served as Minister for Defence from 1919 to 1922, Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann in January 1919, the first presiden ...

'', 1942 * ''Taistealuidheacht, nó Cúrsa na Cruinne'' ("Travelling, or A World Tour"), 1931 * ''Spelling Made Easy'', 1946 * ''A Trinity of Martyrs'' (biographies of

Terence McSwiney Terence James MacSwiney (; ga, Toirdhealbhach Mac Suibhne; 28 March 1879 – 25 October 1920) was an Irish playwright, author and politician. He was elected as Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Cork during the Irish War of Independence in 1920. He ...

, Cathal Brugha and Austin Stack), 1947 * ''Ireland's Spiritual Empire: Saint Patrick as a World Figure'', 1952

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Okelly, John J. 1872 births 1957 deaths Antisemitism in Ireland Early Sinn Féin TDs Irish nationalists Irish republicans Leaders of Sinn Féin Members of the 1st Dáil Members of the 2nd Dáil Members of the 3rd Dáil Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Louth constituencies (1801–1922) Ministers for Education (Ireland) Politicians from County Kerry UK MPs 1918–1922