John Thomas O'Farrell (1887 – 2 January 1971) was an Irish Labour Party politician and

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

official. He was born in Churchborough,

County Roscommon County Roscommon () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the province of Connacht and the Northern and Western Region. It is the List of Irish counties by area, 11th largest Irish county by area and Li ...

in 1887, and was educated at the College of Commerce, Rathmines. He was a member of the Railway Clerks' Association and served as the president of the

Irish Trades Union Congress The Irish Trades Union Congress (ITUC) was a union federation covering the island of Ireland. History Until 1894, representatives of Irish trade unions attended the British Trades Union Congress (TUC). However, many felt that they had little i ...

in 1927. He was an unsuccessful Labour Party candidate for the Dublin North-West constituency at the 1922 general election. He was elected to the new

Irish Free State The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...

Seanad in 1922 for 3 years. He was re-elected for a 12-year term at the 1925 Seanad election and served until the Free State Seanad was abolished in 1936. He also stood unsuccessfully for the Dublin County constituency at the 1943 general election. He was elected to the 6th

Seanad Éireann Seanad Éireann ( ; ; "Senate of Ireland") is the senate of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (defined as the house of representatives). It is commonly called the Seanad or ...

in 1948 by the

Labour Panel The Labour Panel is one of five vocational panels which together elect 43 of the 60 members of Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas (the legislature of Ireland). The Labour Panel elects eleven senators. Election Article 18 of the Const ...

. He resigned from the Seanad on 31 May 1950.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ofarrell, JT 1887 births 1971 deaths Labour Party (Ireland) senators Members of the 1922 Seanad Members of the 1925 Seanad Members of the 1928 Seanad Members of the 1931 Seanad Members of the 1934 Seanad Members of the 6th Seanad Trade unionists from Dublin (city) Politicians from Dublin (city) Labour Panel senators