Thomas O'Donnell (MP)
Encyclopedia
Thomas O'Donnell was an Irish nationalist
politician of the Irish Parliamentary Party
who served as Member of Parliament
(MP) for West Kerry
from 1900 to 1918. He was an active promoter of agrarian reform
. M.A. (R.U.I.). Chairman of the Tralee and Dingle Railway. Became a prominent Irish Judge.
Son of Michael O’Donnell and Ellen Rohan, he came from a Gaelic
-speaking family in Liscarney, Ballyduff, on the Dingle Peninsula
, but his family were evicted during the Irish Land League's Land War
in 1880, and lived in a small cabin for the next seven years. He became a national teacher after qualifying in Marlborough Street Training College, teaching in a boys’ school in Killorglin
from 1892 until 1900.
Early in life he allied himself with the Home Rule movement
, while concerning himself with the land issue, and in 1898 formalised that commitment by joining with William O'Brien
in the United Irish League
. This organisation pursued the breaking up of large farms, and O'Donnell was to prove himself a tenacious fighter for tenant rights. Even at the end of the 20th century, his efforts at a local level are recalled.
He was a close associate of Maurice Moynihan (died 1915), leader of the Irish Republican Brotherhood
in Kerry, as well as founder of the Gaelic Athletic Association
club in Kerry in 1885, father of Maurice Gerard Moynihan
, and in 1900 chairman of O’Donnell’s election campaign committee. O'Donnell was involved with the Gaelic League from 1893 and was instrumental in having the Irish Party force a debate in the House of Commons on the use of Gaelic
in national schools. Despite his roots, he wasn't a fervent nationalist and shunned the Fenian
tendencies of many of his more strident contemporaries.
In the general election 1900
, O'Donnell was returned as the MP for West Kerry, representing the constituency in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
. After he took his seat in Westminster
, he rose on 19 February 1901 in the House and began his address in Gaelic
(Irish), only to be ruled out of order. It was the only time that Gaelic was used in a speech in the House of Commons in London,
and this rapidly made him a celebrity for the Gaelic Revival
.
Over the years he became a staunch follower of John Redmond
as well as his Party's Home Rule Act, but despite some flirtations with separatism and with William O'Brien he was seen as one of the Irish Party's rising stars, and possible member of a home rule government. Even before the outbreak of World War I
he was a passionate supporter of Redmond's Irish Volunteers
, then to become a vigorous promoter of recruitment for Irish regiments during 1914-1916 , and was criticised for not joining himself, but had a large family.
He was bitterly opposed to Sinn Féin
, later after the founding of the Irish Free State
he attacked W. T. Cosgrave and his Cumann na nGaedheal government as well. O'Donnell then co-founded the National League Party together with William Redmond, its aim to unite the county peacefully after the Civil War
. Following the Irish general election, June 1927 in which the party returned eight deputies (O'Donnell was not returned), the party along with the Fianna Fáil
and Labour
parties, planned to replace the Cumann na nGaedheal government, but were foiled by their deputy John Jinks being absent for the crucial vote. When the National League Party finally dissolved in 1931, O'Donnell joined the Fianna Fáil party and became one of their chief advisors and a tireless campaigner for the party. Éamon de Valera
frequently consulted him.
O'Donnell was called to the King's Inns
bar
as barrister in 1905, and practised as a barrister for many years. He was called to the inner bar in 1932, and was appointed judge in the Circuit Court
for Counties Clare
, Kerry
and Limerick
in 1941.
He married Nora Ryan on 26 January 1897. They had ten children.
Dermot Kinlen
was a grandson of O'Donnell.
Irish nationalism
Irish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...
politician of the 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...
who served as 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,...
(MP) for West Kerry
West Kerry (UK Parliament constituency)
West Kerry was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, represented in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. From 1885 to 1922 it returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland....
from 1900 to 1918. He was an active promoter of agrarian reform
Agrarian reform
Agrarian reform can refer either, narrowly, to government-initiated or government-backed redistribution of agricultural land or, broadly, to an overall redirection of the agrarian system of the country, which often includes land reform measures. Agrarian reform can include credit measures,...
. M.A. (R.U.I.). Chairman of the Tralee and Dingle Railway. Became a prominent Irish Judge.
Son of Michael O’Donnell and Ellen Rohan, he came from a Gaelic
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
-speaking family in Liscarney, Ballyduff, on the Dingle Peninsula
Dingle Peninsula
The Dingle Peninsula is the northernmost of the major peninsulae in County Kerry. Its ends beyond the town of Dingle at Dunmore Head, the westernmost point of Ireland.-Name:...
, but his family were evicted during the Irish Land League's Land War
Land War
The Land War in Irish history was a period of agrarian agitation in rural Ireland in the 1870s, 1880s and 1890s. The agitation was led by the Irish National Land League and was dedicated to bettering the position of tenant farmers and ultimately to a redistribution of land to tenants from...
in 1880, and lived in a small cabin for the next seven years. He became a national teacher after qualifying in Marlborough Street Training College, teaching in a boys’ school in Killorglin
Killorglin
Killorglin is a town in County Kerry, Ireland. It is located on the river Laune, which has a rowing club and a new boathouse. The population of Killorglin is 4,150 although this expands considerably during Puck Fair due to visitors and returning emigrants.Killorglin is a major activity centre...
from 1892 until 1900.
Early in life he allied himself with the Home Rule movement
Home Rule League
The Home Rule League, sometimes called the Home Rule Party, was a political party which campaigned for home rule for the country of Ireland from 1873 to 1882, when it was replaced by the Irish Parliamentary Party.-Origins:...
, while concerning himself with the land issue, and in 1898 formalised that commitment by joining with William O'Brien
William O'Brien
William O'Brien was an Irish nationalist, journalist, agrarian agitator, social revolutionary, politician, party leader, newspaper publisher, author and Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
in the United Irish League
United Irish League
The United Irish League 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 grazier farmers to surrender their lands for redistribution amongst...
. This organisation pursued the breaking up of large farms, and O'Donnell was to prove himself a tenacious fighter for tenant rights. Even at the end of the 20th century, his efforts at a local level are recalled.
He was a close associate of Maurice Moynihan (died 1915), leader of the Irish Republican Brotherhood
Irish Republican Brotherhood
The Irish Republican Brotherhood was a secret oath-bound fraternal organisation dedicated to the establishment of an "independent democratic republic" in Ireland during the second half of the 19th century and the start of the 20th century...
in Kerry, as well as founder of the Gaelic Athletic Association
Gaelic Athletic Association
The Gaelic Athletic Association is an amateur Irish and international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders...
club in Kerry in 1885, father of Maurice Gerard Moynihan
Maurice Gerard Moynihan
Maurice Gerard Moynihan was a senior Irish civil servant, co-drafter of the 1937 Constitution of Ireland, Secretary of the Government of the Irish Free State in 1937, Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland in 1960, and Knight Commander of the Papal Order of St...
, and in 1900 chairman of O’Donnell’s election campaign committee. O'Donnell was involved with the Gaelic League from 1893 and was instrumental in having the Irish Party force a debate in the House of Commons on the use of Gaelic
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
in national schools. Despite his roots, he wasn't a fervent nationalist and shunned the Fenian
Fenian
The Fenians , both the Fenian Brotherhood and Irish Republican Brotherhood , were fraternal organisations dedicated to the establishment of an independent Irish Republic in the 19th and early 20th century. The name "Fenians" was first applied by John O'Mahony to the members of the Irish republican...
tendencies of many of his more strident contemporaries.
In the general election 1900
United Kingdom general election, 1900
-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1900*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...
, O'Donnell was returned as the MP for West Kerry, representing the constituency in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
. After he took his seat in Westminster
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...
, he rose on 19 February 1901 in the House and began his address in Gaelic
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
(Irish), only to be ruled out of order. It was the only time that Gaelic was used in a speech in the House of Commons in London,
and this rapidly made him a celebrity for the Gaelic Revival
Gaelic Revival
The Gaelic revival was the late-nineteenth-century national revival of interest in the Irish language and Irish Gaelic culture...
.
Over the years he became a staunch follower of John Redmond
John Redmond
John Edward Redmond was an Irish nationalist politician, barrister, MP in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party from 1900 to 1918...
as well as his Party's Home Rule Act, but despite some flirtations with separatism and with William O'Brien he was seen as one of the Irish Party's rising stars, and possible member of a home rule government. Even before the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
he was a passionate supporter of Redmond's 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"...
, then to become a vigorous promoter of recruitment for Irish regiments during 1914-1916 , and was criticised for not joining himself, but had a large family.
He was bitterly opposed to 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...
, later after the founding of the Irish Free State
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...
he attacked W. T. Cosgrave and his Cumann na nGaedheal government as well. O'Donnell then co-founded the National League Party together with William Redmond, its aim to unite the county peacefully after the Civil War
Irish Civil War
The Irish Civil War was a conflict that accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State as an entity independent from the United Kingdom within the British Empire....
. Following the Irish general election, June 1927 in which the party returned eight deputies (O'Donnell was not returned), the party along with the 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...
and Labour
Labour Party (Ireland)
The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. The Labour Party was founded in 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, James Larkin and William X. O'Brien as the political wing of the Irish Trade Union Congress. Unlike the other main Irish...
parties, planned to replace the Cumann na nGaedheal government, but were foiled by their deputy John Jinks being absent for the crucial vote. When the National League Party finally dissolved in 1931, O'Donnell joined the Fianna Fáil party and became one of their chief advisors and a tireless campaigner for the party. 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...
frequently consulted him.
O'Donnell was called to the King's Inns
King's Inns
The Honorable Society of King's Inns , is the institution which controls the entry of barristers-at-law into the justice system of Ireland...
bar
Bar association
A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...
as barrister in 1905, and practised as a barrister for many years. He was called to the inner bar in 1932, and was appointed judge in the Circuit Court
Circuit court
Circuit court is the name of court systems in several common law jurisdictions.-History:King Henry II instituted the custom of having judges ride around the countryside each year to hear appeals, rather than forcing everyone to bring their appeals to London...
for Counties Clare
County Clare
-History:There was a Neolithic civilisation in the Clare area — the name of the peoples is unknown, but the Prehistoric peoples left evidence behind in the form of ancient dolmen; single-chamber megalithic tombs, usually consisting of three or more upright stones...
, Kerry
County Kerry
Kerry means the "people of Ciar" which was the name of the pre-Gaelic tribe who lived in part of the present county. The legendary founder of the tribe was Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich. In Old Irish "Ciar" meant black or dark brown, and the word continues in use in modern Irish as an adjective...
and Limerick
County Limerick
It is thought that humans had established themselves in the Lough Gur area of the county as early as 3000 BC, while megalithic remains found at Duntryleague date back further to 3500 BC...
in 1941.
He married Nora Ryan on 26 January 1897. They had ten children.
Dermot Kinlen
Dermot Kinlen
Dermot Patrick Kinlen was best known for being the first inspector of prisons in Ireland. In his reports he was very critical of the way the prison service was being run and in particular of the lack of any focus on rehabilitation.He had previously been a High Court Judge, having been nominated by...
was a grandson of O'Donnell.