Joseph O'Doherty was an Irish

Irish people

The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...

 politician. Born in Derry

Derry

Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, he was a teacher and a barrister and a member of the Irish Volunteers

Irish Volunteers

The Irish Volunteers was a military organisation established in 1913 by Irish nationalists. It was ostensibly formed in response to the formation of the Ulster Volunteers in 1912, and its declared primary aim was "to secure and maintain the rights and liberties common to the whole people of Ireland"...

 Executive from 1917–21.

He was elected as a Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...

 Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Donegal North

North Donegal (UK Parliament constituency)

North Donegal was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning one Member of Parliament 1885–1922.Prior to the United Kingdom general election, 1885 the area was part of the Donegal constituency. From 1922 it was not represented in the UK Parliament....

 in the 1918 Westminster

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

 Election defeating his Irish Parliamentary Party

Irish Parliamentary Party

The Irish Parliamentary Party was formed in 1882 by Charles Stewart Parnell, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nationalist Members of Parliament elected to the House of Commons at...

 opponent.

In 1919 Sinn Féin candidates who had been elected in the Westminster elections of 1918 refused to recognise the Parliament of the United Kingdom and instead assembled as a unicameral, revolutionary parliament called "Dáil Éireann

Dáil Éireann

Dáil Éireann is the lower house, but principal chamber, of the Oireachtas , which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann . It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote...

".

The establishment of the First Dáil

First Dáil

The First Dáil was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 1919–1921. In 1919 candidates who had been elected in the Westminster elections of 1918 refused to recognise the Parliament of the United Kingdom and instead assembled as a unicameral, revolutionary parliament called "Dáil Éireann"...

 occurred on the same day as the outbreak of the Anglo-Irish War.

He was re-elected at the 1921 General Election and opposed the Anglo-Irish Treaty

Anglo-Irish Treaty

The Anglo-Irish Treaty , officially called the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was a treaty between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and representatives of the secessionist Irish Republic that concluded the Irish War of...

. He was subsequently re-elected as Anti-Treaty Sinn Féin and as an abstentionist republican in 1922 and 1923 respectively. He was part of the Republican mission to the United States of America from 1922–24 and 1925–26.

In 1926 he left the party's Ard Fheis

Ard Fheis

Ardfheis or Ard Fheis is the name used by many Irish political parties for their annual party conference. The term was first used by Conradh na Gaeilge, the Irish language cultural organisation, for its annual convention....

 with Éamon de Valera

Éamon de Valera

Éamon de Valera was one of the dominant political figures in twentieth century Ireland, serving as head of government of the Irish Free State and head of government and head of state of Ireland...

 and became a founder member of Fianna Fáil

Fianna Fáil

Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...

. He lost his seat at the June 1927 General Election and was elected to the Seanad in 1928, serving as one of Fianna Fáil's first six elected Senators under the leadership of Joseph Connolly

Joseph Connolly

Joseph Connolly was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician.Born in Belfast in 1885, Joseph Connolly was an ardent nationalist. He was a co-founder of the first Freedom Club to propagate Sinn Féin's message in 1911. He was a leader of the Irish Volunteers in Belfast between 1914 and 1916, and was interned...

. He was re-elected to the Dáil in the 1933 General Election. From 1929–33 Joseph also served as the County Manager

County Manager

In local government in the Republic of Ireland, the Council Manager is the chief executive of the local authority of a county or city. Whereas the county council and city council are elected officials who formulate policy, the manager is an appointed official who manages the implementation of...

 of Carlow

Carlow

Carlow is the county town of County Carlow in Ireland. It is situated in the south-east of Ireland, 84 km from Dublin. County Carlow is the second smallest county in Ireland by area, however Carlow Town is the 14th largest urban area in Ireland by population according to the 2006 census. The...

 and Kildare

Kildare

-External links:*******...

In 1936 O'Doherty successfully sued Ernie O'Malley

Ernie O'Malley

Ernie O'Malley was an Irish Republican Army officer during the Irish War of Independence and a commander of the anti-treaty IRA during the Irish Civil War. O'Malley wrote three books, On Another Man's Wound, The Singing Flame, and Raids and Rallies. The first describes his early life and role in...

 for libel. The incident in question involved a raid Michael Collins

Michael Collins (Irish leader)

Michael "Mick" Collins was an Irish revolutionary leader, Minister for Finance and Teachta Dála for Cork South in the First Dáil of 1919, Director of Intelligence for the IRA, and member of the Irish delegation during the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations. Subsequently, he was both Chairman of the...

 had proposed to take place on 1 October 1919 at Moville

Moville

Moville is a town and coastal resort on the Inishowen Peninsula of County Donegal, close to the northern tip of Ireland.-Location:...

, County Donegal

County Donegal

County Donegal is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Donegal. Donegal County Council is the local authority for the county...

. O'Malley, in his book On Another Man's Wound, had implied that O'Doherty had refused to go. In fact it had been agreed, without O'Doherty's intervention, that it would be inapproriate for a member of the Dáil to be involved.