James O'Mara (6 August 1873 – 21 November 1948) was an Irish businessman and politician who became a

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

leader and key member of the revolutionary

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. As an MP in the

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of the

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, he introduced the bill which made

Saint Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick (), is a religious and cultural holiday held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patron saint of Ireland. Saint Patrick's Day was made an official Chris ...

a national holiday in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in 1903. He was one of the few politicians to have served both as member in the House of Commons and in

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( ; , ) is the lower house and principal chamber of the Oireachtas, which also includes the president of Ireland and a senate called Seanad Éireann.Article 15.1.2° of the Constitution of Ireland reads: "The Oireachtas shall co ...

Early life

O'Mara was born in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

, son of Stephen O'Mara and Ellen Pigott, and educated by the Christian Brothers in Limerick, and at Clongowes Wood College. His studies at the

Royal University of Ireland The Royal University of Ireland was a university in Ireland that existed from 1879 to 1909. It was founded in accordance with the University Education (Ireland) Act 1879 as an examining and degree-awarding university based on the model of the ...

were postponed after the death of his Uncle Jim in 1893, when James was sent to

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to take over his Uncle's business functions. After his marriage in 1895 to Agnes Cashel, sister of the republican activist in later life Alice Cashel, he moved to

Epsom Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain ...

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, and then to

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in London. He finally got his B.A. degree from the Royal University in 1898.

Political career

In the 1900 general election, O'Mara was elected unopposed as

Irish Parliamentary Party The Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP; commonly called the Irish Party or the Home Rule Party) was formed in 1874 by Isaac Butt, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nati ...

MP for South Kilkenny. His career in

is noted for his introduction of ''Bank Holiday (Ireland) Act 1903'', making

a national holiday. O'Mara later introduced the law which required that

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

s be closed on 17 March, a provision which was repealed only in the 1970s. In 1907, O'Mara resigned from Parliament and from the Irish Parliamentary Party and later joined

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

, the first MP to do so. He returned to Dublin in 1914 to continue his work in the bacon business, and remained active in Sinn Féin.

Dáil Éireann

At the 1918 general election, he was Sinn Féin's Director of Finance and the party's fourth Director of Elections (his three predecessors having been imprisoned). He was elected as a

MP for his old constituency of Kilkenny South, defeating the Irish Party's Matthew Keating by 8,685 votes to 1,855. Kilkenny South was one of 73 constituencies returning Sinn Féin MPs pledged not to take their seats at Westminster. In the

First Dáil Éireann First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

he became Trustee of Dáil Éireann funds, and travelled to the

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with

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (; ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was an American-born Irish statesman and political leader. He served as the 3rd President of Ire ...

to pursue a fund-raising drive. He resigned his trusteeship and his Dáil seat in 1921 after a disagreement with de Valera. A supporter of the 1921

Anglo-Irish Treaty The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty (), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain an ...

, he was appointed as the first Irish Ambassador to the United States, but served only briefly. After the death in 1923 of Philip Cosgrave, the

Cumann na nGaedheal Cumann na nGaedheal (; ) was a political party in the Irish Free State, which formed the government from 1923 to 1932. It was named after the original Cumann na nGaedheal organisation which merged with the Dungannon Clubs and the National Co ...

TD for Dublin South and brother of W. T. Cosgrave, O'Mara stood as the Cumann na nGaedheal candidate in the resulting by-election. Polling took place on 12 March 1924, and O'Mara was returned to the

4th Dáil The 4th Dáil was elected at the 1923 general election on 27 August 1923 and met on 19 September 1923. The members of Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas (legislature) of the Irish Free State, are known as TDs. It w ...

, which sat until 1927. He did not contest the June 1927 Irish general election, and retired from politics. He died on 21 November 1948 and is buried in

Glasnevin Cemetery Glasnevin Cemetery () is a large cemetery in Glasnevin, Dublin, Ireland which opened in 1832. It holds the graves and memorials of several notable figures, and has a museum. Location The cemetery is located in Glasnevin, Dublin, in two part ...

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. His wife Agnes died on 2 June 1958.

Sources

* (Limerick Leader, Saturday, 12 December 1998)
James O'Mara family tree
*Brian M. Walker (ed.), ''Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922'', Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, 1978

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Omara, James 1873 births 1948 deaths Alumni of the Royal University of Ireland Irish diplomats Irish Parliamentary Party MPs Early Sinn Féin TDs Cumann na nGaedheal TDs Members of the 1st Dáil Members of the 4th Dáil Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Kilkenny constituencies (1801–1922) UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1918–1922 Politicians from Limerick (city) Burials at Glasnevin Cemetery People educated at Clongowes Wood College Businesspeople from Limerick (city) Ambassadors of Ireland to the United States