Seán T. O'Kelly
Seán T. O'Kelly | |
---|---|
2nd President of Ireland | |
In office 25 June 1945 – 24 June 1959 | |
Taoiseach | |
Preceded by | Douglas Hyde |
Succeeded by | Éamon de Valera |
Tánaiste | |
In office 29 December 1937 – 14 June 1945 | |
Taoiseach | Éamon de Valera |
Preceded by | Himself as Vice President of the Executive Council |
Succeeded by | Seán Lemass |
Minister for Finance | |
In office 16 September 1939 – 14 June 1945 | |
Taoiseach | Éamon de Valera |
Preceded by | Seán MacEntee |
Succeeded by | Frank Aiken |
Minister for Local Government and Public Health | |
In office 9 March 1932 – 8 September 1939 | |
Taoiseach | Éamon de Valera |
Preceded by | Richard Mulcahy |
Succeeded by | P. J. Ruttledge |
Vice-President of the Executive Council | |
In office 9 March 1932 – 29 December 1937 | |
President | Éamon de Valera |
Preceded by | Ernest Blythe |
Succeeded by | Himself as Tánaiste |
Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann | |
In office 22 January 1919 – 16 August 1921 | |
Deputy | |
Preceded by | Count Plunkett |
Succeeded by | Eoin MacNeill |
Teachta Dála | |
In office July 1937 – 25 June 1945 | |
Constituency | Dublin North-West |
In office August 1923 – July 1937 | |
Constituency | Dublin North |
In office May 1921 – August 1923 | |
Constituency | Dublin Mid |
In office December 1918 – May 1921 | |
Constituency | Dublin College Green |
Personal details | |
Born | John Thomas O'Kelly 25 August 1882 Dublin, Ireland |
Died | 23 November 1966 Blackrock, Dublin, Ireland | (aged 84)
Resting place | Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin, Ireland |
Political party | Fianna Fáil |
Spouses | |
Alma mater | University College Dublin |
Signature | |
Military service | |
Rank | Staff captain |
Unit | Irish Volunteers |
Battles/wars | Easter Rising |
Seán Thomas O'Kelly (Irish: Seán Tomás Ó Ceallaigh; 25 August 1882 – 23 November 1966), originally John T. O'Kelly, was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as the second president of Ireland from June 1945 to June 1959. He also served as deputy prime minister of Ireland from 1932 to 1945 (titled as Vice-President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State from 1932 to 1937 and as Tánaiste from 1937 to 1945), Minister for Local Government and Public Health from 1932 to 1939, Minister for Finance from 1939 to 1945 and Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann from 1919 to 1921. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1918 to 1945.[1]
Early life
O'Kelly was born in inner-city
O'Kelly's first school was the
Active in Sinn Féin
He went to work almost immediately for
Like Father Michael O'Flanagan, O'Kelly was chosen to make an Irish language address to the Pope Pius X, in 1908. Both men were bilingual party members promoting Irish culture. O'Kelly was one of the establishing members of the Irish Volunteers in 1913. In August 1914, he agitated to suppress the landing of arms at Kilcoole, County Wicklow.
In March 1915, O'Kelly went to
Easter Rising
It was during the Easter Rising that O'Kelly met Mary Ryan. She was arrested on 18 May 1916, with her sister Nell for unspecified offences to be incarcerated in Mountjoy Prison. Historians have argued that she may have been confused with her sister, Min Ryan. Kit, as Mary Ryan was known, was Professor of French at University College Dublin. She shared her house with her sisters at 19 Ranelagh Road, Dublin, which O'Kelly visited. They were married in 1918.[11]
O'Kelly was at the heart of the party operation. He was one of a handful of men who might have known of the "All-Ireland" Volunteer HQ at Athenry, County Galway, according to Liam Ó Briain involved in marshalling the rebellion in the western hills from Limerick across the Shannon.[12] He was also responsible for springing Bulmer Hobson from the custody of the IRB.[13] Thereafter Hobson's mysterious "disappearance" became the moment when "a devoted son" of Ireland was excluded from the movement; but O'Kelly may have saved his life.[14] During the Rising he was gazetted Staff Captain by PH Pearse.[15] He was in and out of the GPO, and was requested to set up as "Civil Administrator of the Government of the Republic" with four others.[16] The project never proceeded, as perhaps no attempt was made to anticipate preparations for a political structure free from Britain.[17]
After the Easter Rising in 1916, O'Kelly was gaoled, released, and re-arrested. He was sent to Reading Gaol, and then escaped from detention in HM Prison Eastwood Park in Britain, and returned to Ireland. "Sinn Fein became a cloak for Volunteer meetings"[18] Sinn Féin won a landslide victory.
1918 general election
O'Kelly was elected a Sinn Féin
O'Kelly's approach to
Close friend of de Valera
O'Kelly was a close associate of
When de Valera resigned as President of the Republic on 6 January 1922, O'Kelly returned from Paris to Dublin, to try to negotiate a compromise, whereby de Valera could return to the presidency. A furious de Valera turned down the offer and ordered O'Kelly to return to Paris.
During the Irish Civil War, O'Kelly was in jail until December 1923. Afterwards, he spent the next two years as a Sinn Féin envoy to the United States.
A founder of Fianna Fáil
In 1926, when de Valera left Sinn Féin to establish Fianna Fáil, O'Kelly returned to Ireland and was appointed a vice-president of the new republican party. In March 1927, he became editor of The Nation and played a significant role in building up support for the new party before the June 1927 general election.[28]
In 1932, when de Valera, having won
McNeill published his correspondence on the issue with de Valera, making de Valera appear foolish, before resigning and leaving de Valera with the task of choosing a new Governor-General, an embarrassing situation for a politician who had tried his best to avoid any association with the office. To the surprise of many, O'Kelly was not among the names considered for the office. It is not known for certain, but suspicion rests on O'Kelly's membership of a Catholic fraternal organisation, the
Considered for President of Ireland in 1938
With the enactment of a new constitution in 1937, O'Kelly remained de Valera's second-in-command, with the new title of Tánaiste.
In 1938, again O'Kelly's position in cabinet became a focus for speculation, as rumours swept
De Valera had on a number of occasions ordered O'Kelly to resign from the Knights, only to find that he would rejoin later. However, the apparent entry of the popular Lord Mayor of Dublin, Alfie Byrne, into the presidential race (in fact he eventually failed to get nominated) and the belief that neither O'Kelly nor any other politician could beat Byrne (ironically a close friend of O'Kelly) led to all party agreement, on the opposition Fine Gael's suggestion, that the office go to Douglas Hyde, a Protestant, as an appreciation for his contribution to Irish society. An Irish language enthusiast, Hyde had founded the Conradh na Gaeilge, known in English as the Gaelic League, a cultural organisation promoting the preservation of the Irish language, music, dancing and traditions.
Minister for Finance
O'Kelly was appointed Minister for Finance in 1941.[31] He secured the passing of The Central Bank Act in 1942.[32] On 17 July 1942, at the fifth and final stage of the Dáil debate on the "Central Banking Bill", he argued that the owner of the credit issued by the Central Bank of Ireland, should be the private property of the joint stock banker and not the property of the people of Ireland. This debate was carried out when only five Deputies were present in the Dáil.[33]
President of Ireland
This section needs additional citations for verification. (January 2022) |
O'Kelly was the Fianna Fáil candidate for President of Ireland in 1945. He defeated two other candidates.[31] However, he came up just short of a majority on the first count.
O'Kelly's most famous faux pas occurred during a state visit to the Vatican City, when in a breach with the standard protocol, he told the media of Pope Pius XII's personal opinions on communism. The resulting row strained the relationships between Pope Pius XII and Joseph Stalin.
During his term, he signed the
O'Kelly was reelected on 25 June 1952,[citation needed] this time unopposed. During his second term, he visited many nations in Europe and addressed the United States Congress in 1959.[34] He retired at the end of his second term in 1959, to be replaced by his old mentor and former Taoiseach, Éamon de Valera.
O'Kelly did not refer any Bills to the Supreme Court, under Article 26 of the Constitution of Ireland while he was in office. He convened a meeting of the Council of State in 1947, to consider whether Part III of the Health Bill, 1947 – which provided the basis for the Mother and Child Scheme — should be referred, but he decided against doing so.[35]
He dissolved the Dáil on four occasions (in 1948, 1951, 1954 and 1957). On each occasion, the Taoiseach who advised him to do so (de Valera in the first and third cases, and John A. Costello in the other two) had not been formally defeated in a Dáil vote in a manner showing a loss of support by a majority of TDs. Therefore, under Article 13.2.3° of the Constitution, O'Kelly had no discretion to refuse to act on their advice to dissolve. A more complex case occurred however in 1949, when the First Inter-Party Government was defeated in a snap Dáil vote on a financial measure due to the absence of a number of Government TDs. O'Kelly was advised by the Secretary to the President, Michael McDunphy, that had Costello requested a dissolution, he could have refused it–thus forcing Costello to resign. However, Costello considered that the vote failed by accident (due to a mistake by the party whips), and opted to reintroduce the measure the following morning, rather than seek a dissolution. With all TDs present this time, the vote carried. McDunphy later changed his mind and in the files on the event concluded that O'Kelly could not have refused a dissolution because the loss had merely been a technical loss, not an actual decision by the Dáil to vote against the government.[citation needed]
Visit to the United States
O'Kelly was the first President of Ireland to visit the United States of America, when from 16 to 31 March 1959, he was the guest of
O'Kelly and Catholicism
O'Kelly was known to be a devout Catholic. He made a point of ensuring that his first state visit, following the declaration of the Republic of Ireland in 1949, was to the Vatican City to meet Pope Pius XII. This visit created controversy when the famously talkative O'Kelly inadvertently revealed the Pope's private views on communism.[citation needed]
O'Kelly was a member of the Knights of Saint Columbanus.[38]
"A model President"
Éamon de Valera worried about O'Kelly's drinking habits, which were much commented on during his career. O'Kelly drank a lot, and often, yet his behaviour remained dignified and above reproach and he never caused any scandal.[39] The author, Monsignor Pádraig Ó Fiannachta, reported that President O'Kelly kept barrels of draught Guinness stout on tap in Áras an Uachtaráin.[40]
O'Kelly was a short man with a tall second wife.[41][42] When attending a football match once in Croke Park, he was on the field to throw in the ball. A member of the crowd shouted, "Cut the grass, we can't see the President!"[43]
On his retirement as President of Ireland in 1959, he was described as a "model President" by the normally hostile[clarification needed][citation needed] Irish Times newspaper. Though controversial, the diminutive O'Kelly was widely seen as genuine and honest, albeit tactless.
He died on 23 November 1966, at the age of 84, fifty years after the Easter Rising that first brought him to prominence. He is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin.
Marriages
In 1918, O'Kelly married Mary Kate, known as Kit, the daughter of John Ryan, a farmer of Tomcoole, near Taghmon, County Wexford.[5] Kit was an assistant professor of modern languages at the National University.[44] They remained married until her death in 1934, aged 55. They had no children. In 1936, O'Kelly married his late wife's younger sister, Phyllis Ryan, after gaining a papal dispensation to do so. A chemist and public analyst, she was forty-three when they married.[44] She lost her first child and was unable to have any more.[45]
One of Mary Kate and Phyllis's brothers was the Fianna Fáil Minister James Ryan, while another sister, Josephine Ryan, was married to the Fine Gael leader General Richard Mulcahy.[44]
See also
- List of people on stamps of Ireland
References
- ^ "Seán T. O'Kelly". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 23 October 2019. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
- ^ The Dictionary of Irish Biography indicates that he was born at 4 Lower Wellington Street, Dublin. According to his birth registration, he was born at 55 Wellington Street. Yet another source: http://www.glasnevintrust.ie/visit-glasnevin/interactive-map/sean-t-okelly/ Archived 22 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine – states that he was born in Capel Street
- ISBN 978-0-905140-43-8.
- ^ Frederic Logan Paxson, Postwar years; normalcy, 1918–1923 (Cooper Square Publishers, 1966), p. 34
- ^ a b Debrett's House of Commons, and the Judicial Bench (1922), p. 123: "Sean Tomas O'Kelly, el. son of Samuel O'Kelly, of Berkley Road, Dublin; b. Aug. 25th, 1883; ed. at O'Connell Schs., Dublin: m. 1918, Mary Kate, da. of John Ryan, of Wexford ; is Sec. to Gaelic League, a Member of Municipal Council, Dublin"
- ^ O'Kelly's parents' marriage registration in 1879 - they had not yet reverted to the Irish form of their names as O'Kelly and O'Dea, but still used 'Kelly' and 'Dea', a custom dating back to when surnames beginning with 'Mac' or 'O' were forbidden entry to Dublin; they were both living in 7 Fishamble Street, a tenement by Christ Church Cathedral that is one of Dublin City's most ancient streets. He is a boot maker and she is a basket maker https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1879/11067/8049223.pdf
- ^ Birth registration for John Thomas Kelly, son of Samuel Kelly, boot maker, and Catherine née Day, 55 Welling Street, north Dublin on 25 August 1882 https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1882/02761/2014096.pdf
- ^ Witness statement of Máighréad O'Kelly in the Bureau of Military History https://www.militaryarchives.ie/collections/online-collections/bureau-of-military-history-1913-1921/reels/bmh/BMH.WS0925.pdf Archived 27 September 2020 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Maume, Patrick. "O'Kelly, Seán Thomas (Ó Ceallaigh, Seán Tomás)". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
- ^ Charles Townshend, "Easter 1916: The Irish Rebellion" (Penguin 2006), p. 412.
- ^ Sinead McCoole, "No Ordinary Women: Irish Female Activists in the Revolutionary Years 1900–1923" (O'Brien 2004). p.54-55.
- ^ Irish Bureau of Military History (BMH) WS 6 (Liam O'Briain)
- ^ F.X.Martin (ed.), "1916 – Myth, Fact and Mystery', Studia Hibernica, 7 (1967) pp.88–9.
- ^ Townshend, p.137-8.
- ^ Bureau of Military History witness statement by Min Ryan, O'Kelly's sister-in-law https://www.militaryarchives.ie/collections/online-collections/bureau-of-military-history-1913-1921/reels/bmh/BMH.WS0399.pdf#page=14
- ^ a single issue of the "Irish War News", 25 April 1916.
- ^ Seán T. O'Kelly, '1916 before and after', National Library of Ireland (NLI) Ms 27692; Townshend, p.161.
- ^ M.Laffan, "Resurrection in Ireland: The Sinn Fein Party, 1916–1923", p.31, cited in C.Townshend, "The Republic". p.33.
- ^ "Seán T. O'Kelly". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 12 April 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
- ^ Townshend, p.64.
- ^ C Townshend, p.66, citing J.J.Lee, Ireland 1912–1985: Politics and Society (Cambridge 1989), p.41.
- ^ Townshend, p.68.
- ^ "Letter to Clemenceau Feb 1919". Archived from the original on 18 November 2007. Retrieved 6 May 2009.
- ^ "O'Kelly and Gavan Duffy to Clemenceau, June 1919". Archived from the original on 18 November 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
- ^ Townshend, p.69.
- ^ Memorandum by Sean T. O'Ceallaigh to Pope Benedict XV; ROME, 18 May 1920 https://www.difp.ie/volume-1/1920/memorandum-by-sean-t-oceallaigh-to-pope-benedict-xv/35/#section-documentpage
- ^ Mark Phelan, 'Prophet of the Oppressed Nations': Gabriele D'Annunzio and the Irish Republic, 1919–21, History Ireland, 21:5 (Sep./Oct. 2013) http://www.historyireland.com/18th-19th-century-history/gabriele-dannunzio-irish-republic-1919-21/ Archived 13 December 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2011
- ^ Townshend, p.33.
- ^ W.J.McCormack, "Blackwell Companion to Modern Irish Culture" (2001), p.524.
- ^ a b Townshend, p.463.
- ^ "Central Bank Act, 1942". Irish Statute Book. Archived from the original on 25 December 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
- ^ Dáil Éireann – Volume 88 – 17 July 1942 – Committee on Finance. – Central Bank Bill, 1942—Fifth Stage Archived 7 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b The six Irish leaders who have addressed joint sessions of the U.S. Congress are Seán T. O'Kelly (18 March 1959), Éamon de Valera (28 May 1964), Liam Cosgrave (17 March 1976), Garret FitzGerald (15 March 1984), John Bruton (11 September 1996), and Bertie Ahern (30 April 2008).
- ^ Kelly, Hogan and Whyte The Irish Constitution (4th ed., LexisNexis Butterworth, 2003) par 4.5.110. Health Act, 1947 Part III "Health Act, 1947". Archived from the original on 3 May 2006. Retrieved 17 May 2006..
- ^ J.J.Lee, "Ireland 1912–1985: Politics and Society (Cambridge 1989),
- YouTube Television documentary by TG4, 2007.
- ^ Cielou, Robert (1983). Spare My Tortured People Ulster and the Green Border. Whitethorne Press. p. 55.
- YouTube Television documentary by TG4, 2007.
- YouTube Television documentary by TG4, 2007.
- YouTube Television documentary by TG4, 2007.
- YouTube Television documentary by TG4, 2007.
- YouTube Television documentary by TG4, 2007.
- ^ a b c The Ryans of Tomcoole Archived 6 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine at nli.ie, accessed 12 May 2015
- YouTube Television documentary by TG4, 2007.
Sources
- Gaughan, J.A., Thomas Johnson 1872–1963: First Leader of the Labour Party in Dáil Éireann (Mount Merrion 1980)
- Hickey, D.J. and Doherty, J.E A Dictionary of Irish History 1800–1980 Gill & Macmillan (1987) ISBN 0-7171-1567-4
- Keown, Gerard, 'The ideas and Development of Irish Foreign Policy from the Origins of Sinn Féin to 1932', DPhil thesis, Oxford University 1997 (2010).
- Timmons, Martin, Seán T. O'Kelly, Roundwood and District Historical and Folklore Society, No 2 (1989)