Thomas J. O'Connell
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Thomas Joseph O'Connell (21 November 1882 – 22 June 1969) was an Irish Labour Party politician who served as Leader of the Labour Party from 1927 to 1932. He served as a
Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( ; ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish language, Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas, the parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The official Engli ...
(TD) from 1922 to 1932. He was a
Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...
for the
Cultural and Educational Panel Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, attitudes, and habits of the individuals in these gr ...
from 1938 to 1944, 1948 to 1951 and 1954 to 1957.


Background

Thomas Joseph O'Connell was born near Knock,
County Mayo County Mayo (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, County Mayo, Mayo, now ge ...
, the second child of Maria Biesty and Thomas Connell. As part of the
Gaelic revival The Gaelic revival () was the late-nineteenth-century national revival of interest in the Irish language (also known as Gaelic) and Irish Gaelic culture (including folklore, mythology, sports, music, arts, etc.). Irish had diminished as a sp ...
, his family adopted the prefix "O" to their surname in the early 20th Century. His father was a farmer who was politically active and a community leader. Family lore held that his father had been a
Fenian The word ''Fenian'' () served as an umbrella term for the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) and their affiliate in the United States, the Fenian Brotherhood. They were secret political organisations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries ...
who had taken part in the Fenian Rising of 1867. He was also an activist in the
Land League The Irish National Land League ( Irish: ''Conradh na Talún''), also known as the Land League, was an Irish political organisation of the late 19th century which organised tenant farmers in their resistance to exactions of landowners. Its prima ...
and a member of the
United Irish League The United Irish League (UIL) was a nationalist political party in Ireland, launched 23 January 1898 with the motto ''"The Land for the People"''. Its objective to be achieved through agrarian agitation and land reform, compelling larger grazi ...
(UIL). One of Thomas's aunts, Mary O'Connell, had been one of the first witnesses of the Marian Apparition at Knock in 1879. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this may have influenced the fact that Thomas was a devout Catholic throughout his life. He qualified as a teacher in St Patrick's training college, Drumcondra, Dublin. He taught at Horseleap,
County Westmeath County Westmeath (; or simply ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It formed part of the historic Kingdom of ...
(1902–1905), then served as principal teacher at
Streamstown Streamstown () is a village in County Westmeath, Ireland. It sits roughly 20 km from the county town of Mullingar Mullingar ( ; ) is the county town of County Westmeath in Ireland. It is the third most populous town in the Midland Regio ...
, County Westmeath (1905–1916). In 1916 he became general secretary of the
Irish National Teachers' Organisation The Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) (), founded in 1868, is the oldest and largest teachers' trade union in Ireland. It represents teachers at primary level in the Republic of Ireland, and at primary and post-primary level in Nor ...
(INTO), which post he would occupy until retirement in 1948. In 1906 married Kathleen O'Connor, a fellow national school teacher. They had four children in the first five years of their marriage. A fifth child died shortly after birth. When Kathleen arranged for a substitute teacher to cover for her while she recovered from the loss of their child, she received a financial penalty from her employers for doing so. O'Connell was furious, and as a leading member of the INTO set upon a vigorous campaign to have the rule that prompted the fine removed. The campaign threw O'Connell into the national spotlight. O'Connell was able to use the old UIL connections of his father to contact
John Dillon John Dillon (4 September 1851 – 4 August 1927) was an Irish politician from Dublin, who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for over 35 years and was the last leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party. By political disposition, Dillon was a ...
and other Irish MPs to raise the issue in the House of Commons, and eventually, the rule was dropped. The campaign was hailed as a great victory for the INTO and women teachers in Ireland.


Political career

At the 1922 general election, he was elected as
Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( ; ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish language, Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas, the parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The official Engli ...
(TD) for
Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...
, and he was re-elected at the 1923 general election. O'Connell was able to utilise a strong grassroots organisation in the constituency as well as the vote of teachers to secure victory. At the June 1927 election he stood instead in the new five-seat Mayo South constituency, where he topped the poll, and he was re-elected at the September 1927 election. In Mayo, O'Connell relied on the support of Teachers, migrant workers on
Achill Island Achill Island (; ) is an island off the west coast of Ireland in the historical barony of Burrishoole, County Mayo. It is the largest of the Irish isles and has an area of approximately . Achill had a population of 2,345 in the 2022 census. ...
who were reckoned to better understand what a labour party stood for than other parts of Ireland, and the support of the area around his family's homeland of South Mayo: Bekan, Knock and
Ballyhaunis Ballyhaunis () is a town in County Mayo, Ireland. It is at the crossroads of the N60 and N83 National secondary roads and on the railway line linking Dublin to Westport and Ballina. Ballyhaunis is within both the Roman Catholic and civil pa ...
. A critical blunder for O'Connell and the Labour Party occurred during the 5th Dáil. In August 1927,
Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil â€“ The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland. Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...
decided to enter the Dáil and it gave its support to the Labour Party's motion of no confidence in 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 ...
government. The plan was to replace it with a Labour-
National League Party The National League was a political party in Ireland. It was founded in 1926 by William Redmond and Thomas O'Donnell in support of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, a close relationship with the United Kingdom, continued membership of the British ...
coalition supported by Fianna Fáil, with Labour leader Thomas Johnson as President of the Executive Council. O'Connell was envisioned to be the new Minister for Education. The Cumann na nGaedheal government still had the backing of the Farmers' Party and most of the Independent TDs. When the vote was taken, John Jinks, a National League TD, failed to attend; another, Vincent Rice, crossed the floor to Cumann na nGaedheal. O'Connell himself was also missing, as he was away in Canada attending a conference on behalf of the INTO. The vote of no-confidence was a tie, and thus
Ceann Comhairle The (; "Head of heCouncil"; plural usually ) is the chairperson (or speaker) of , the lower house of the (parliament) of Ireland. The person who holds the position is elected by members of the from among their number in the first session ...
used his casting vote in favour of the government. A rare chance in Irish history to place a labour led coalition in government was missed.


Labour Party leader

The 5th Dáil collapsed after just four months in office, resulting in the
September 1927 Irish general election The September 1927 Irish general election to the 6th Dáil was held on Thursday, 15 September, following the dissolution of the 5th Dáil on 25 August by Governor-General of the Irish Free State, Governor-General Tim Healy (politician), Tim Heal ...
. The election did not go well for Labour, and they lost all the seats they had gained in the
June 1927 Irish general election The June 1927 Irish general election was to elect the 5th Dáil held on Thursday, 9 June following the dissolution of the 4th Dáil on 23 May 1927. It was the first election contested by Fianna Fáil, which had been formed a year earlier when É ...
plus an additional one. One of the casualties was Johnson. The Labour Party's statutes required the leader to be a sitting TD. As such, O'Connell was unanimously elected the new leader of the party, a position he would hold until 1932. O'Connell inherited from Johnson a not particularly disciplined Labour Party. Johnson himself commented privately that between 13 TDs and 5 senators, no two of them could ever agree on the fundamental values of the party. Labour TDs not voting in line with the rest of the party was more common than with the other parties. In October 1931, the Cumann na Gaedhael government rushed to pass the Public Safety Act 1931. The act would allow the government to establish a military tribunal for hearing political cases as well as the right to suspend constitutional guarantees at their discretion. It came in response to rising
Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various Resistance movement, resistance organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperiali ...
activity across the country but Labour and its members feared greatly it would trample civil liberties. An internal labour vote was held on the bill and by a margin of 3 to 1 they voted to oppose the bill. O'Connell denounced the bill in the Dáil, declaring it made a farce of the institution and that Cumann na Gaedhael might as well establish a military dictatorship in Ireland while they were at it. However, when the votes were cast on the bill, two Labour TDs, Deputy Labour leader
Daniel Morrissey Daniel Morrissey (28 November 1895 – 4 November 1981) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Minister for Justice from March 1951 to June 1951, Minister for Industry and Commerce from 1948 to 1951 and Leas-Cheann Comhairle of Dáil à ...
and Richard Anthony, broke ranks and voted with the government. Given the magnitude of such a fundamental vote, O'Connell felt he was forced to expel the two TDs from the party for their actions. Another issue O'Connell dealt with during his tenure was 1930 the Letitia Dunbar-Harrison affair, perhaps better known as the "Mayo Librarian Affair". Dunbar-Harrison had applied to become county librarian in Mayo, a position that was vacant at the time. Ultimately the County Council refused to offer the position, on the stated reason she could not speak Irish but, as many felt, with the subtext being she was denied on account of being a Protestant. The issue ballooned and escalated into a national political issue with Cumann na Gaedhael supporting her appointment but the Catholic Bishops and many of the opposition parties opposing it. Perhaps surprisingly, the normally avowed non-sectarian Labour was amongst those opposing the appointment, with O'Connell working with the likes of the Archbishop of Tuam to advocate against it. From 1929 to 1930 he was president of the Irish Labour Party and 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 1935 he co-founded the
Educational Building Society EBS d.a.c. is a small financial institution in Ireland registered as a designated activity company. History EBS Building Society was founded in 1935 by Alexander McCabe, Thomas J. O'Connell and other teachers to provide affordable housing fi ...
with
Alexander McCabe Alexander McCabe ( 5 June 1886 – 31 May 1972) was an Irish Sinn Féin (later Cumann na nGaedheal) politician. Early life He was born in Keash, County Sligo in 1886. He was educated at Summerhill College, Sligo. He won a scholarship to St Patr ...
.


Later political life

He lost his seat at the 1932 election, did not contest the 1933 general election, and in 1941 he was elected to the
3rd Seanad The 3rd Seanad was in office from 1938 to 1943. An election to Seanad Éireann, the Senate of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament), followed the 1938 general election to the 10th Dáil. The senators served until the close of poll for the 4th Sean ...
. In 1943, he was elected to the
4th Seanad The 4th Seanad was in office from 1943 to 1944. An election to Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament), followed the 1944 general election to the 11th Dáil. The senators served until the close of poll for the 5th Sean ...
by the
Cultural and Educational Panel Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, attitudes, and habits of the individuals in these gr ...
, but did not contest the 1944 Seanad election. The Cultural and Educational Panel re-elected him in 1948 to the
6th Seanad The 6th Seanad was in office from 1948 to 1951. An election to Seanad Éireann, the Senate of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament), followed the 1948 general election to the 13th Dáil. The senators served until the close of poll for the 7th Sea ...
and in 1954 to the
8th Seanad The 8th Seanad was in office from 1954 to 1957. An election to Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament), followed the 1954 general election to the 15th Dáil. The senators served until the close of poll for the 9th Seana ...
.


References


Sources

*''Thomas Johnson, 1872–1963'', John Anthony Gaughan, Kingdom Books, Dublin, 1980, {{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnell, Thomas J 1882 births 1969 deaths Trade unionists from County Mayo Leaders of the Labour Party (Ireland) Labour Party (Ireland) TDs Labour Party (Ireland) senators Members of the 3rd Dáil Members of the 4th Dáil Members of the 5th Dáil Members of the 6th Dáil Members of the 3rd Seanad Members of the 4th Seanad Members of the 6th Seanad Members of the 8th Seanad People of the Irish Civil War (Pro-Treaty side) Politicians from County Mayo Politicians from County Galway Alumni of St Patrick's College, Dublin People from Knock, County Mayo Cultural and Educational Panel senators