Thomas J. O'Connell | |
|---|---|
 O'Connell in 1933 | |
| Leader of the Labour Party | |
| In office 11 August 1927 – 14 July 1932 | |
| Preceded by | Thomas Johnson |
| Succeeded by | William Norton |
| Senator | |
| In office 22 July 1954 – 22 May 1957 | |
| In office 21 April 1948 – 14 August 1951 | |
| In office 22 January 1941 – 18 August 1944 | |
| Constituency | Cultural and Educational Panel |
| Teachta Dála | |
| In office June 1927 – February 1932 | |
| Constituency | Mayo South |
| In office June 1922 – June 1927 | |
| Constituency | Galway |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1882-11-21)21 November 1882 Knock,County Mayo, Ireland |
| Died | 22 June 1969(1969-06-22) (aged 86) Galway, Ireland |
| Political party | Labour Party |
| Spouse | Kathleen O'Connor |
| Children | 5 |
| Alma mater | St Patrick's College, Dublin |
Thomas Joseph O'Connell (21 November 1882 – 22 June 1969) was an IrishLabour Party politician who served asLeader of the Labour Party from 1927 to 1932. He served as aTeachta Dála (TD) from 1922 to 1932. He was aSenator for theCultural and Educational Panel from 1938 to 1944, 1948 to 1951 and 1954 to 1957.[1]
Thomas Joseph O'Connell was born nearKnock,County Mayo, the second child of Maria Biesty and Thomas Connell.[2] As part of theGaelic revival, his family adopted the prefix "O" to their surname in the early 20th Century.[3] His father was a farmer who was politically active and a community leader. Family lore held that his father had been aFenian who had taken part in theFenian Rising of 1867. He was also an activist in theLand League and a member of theUnited Irish League (UIL). One of Thomas's aunts, Mary O'Connell, had been one of the first witnesses of theMarian Apparition at Knock in 1879. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this may have influenced the fact that Thomas was a devout Catholic throughout his life.[3]
He qualified as a teacher inSt Patrick's training college, Drumcondra, Dublin.[2] He taught atHorseleap,County Westmeath (1902–1905), then served as principal teacher atStreamstown, County Westmeath (1905–1916).[2] In 1916 he became general secretary of theIrish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO), which post he would occupy until retirement in 1948.[2]
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 contactJohn Dillon and other Irish MPs to raise the issue in the House of Commons,[4] and eventually, the rule was dropped. The campaign was hailed as a great victory for the INTO and women teachers in Ireland.[3]
At the1922 general election, he was elected asTeachta Dála (TD) forGalway, and he was re-elected at the1923 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.[3]
At theJune 1927 election he stood instead in the new five-seatMayo South constituency, where he topped the poll, and he was re-elected at theSeptember 1927 election.[5] In Mayo, O'Connell relied on the support of Teachers, migrant workers onAchill Island 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 andBallyhaunis.
A critical blunder for O'Connell and the Labour Party occurred during the5th Dáil. In August 1927,Fianna Fáil decided to enter the Dáil and it gave its support to the Labour Party's motion of no confidence in theCumann na nGaedheal government. The plan was to replace it with a Labour-National League Party coalition supported by Fianna Fáil, with Labour leaderThomas 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 thusCeann Comhairle 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.[3]
The 5th Dáil collapsed after just four months in office, resulting in theSeptember 1927 Irish general election. The election did not go well for Labour, and they lost all the seats they had gained in theJune 1927 Irish general election 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 thePublic 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 risingIrish Republican Army 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 leaderDaniel Morrissey andRichard Anthony, broke ranks and voted with the government.[6] 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.[3]
Another issue O'Connell dealt with during his tenure was 1930 theLetitia 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 speakIrish 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.[3]
From 1929 to 1930 he was president of the Irish Labour Party and theIrish Trades Union Congress. In 1935 he co-founded theEducational Building Society withAlexander McCabe.[2]
He lost his seat at the1932 election, did not contest the1933 general election, and in 1941 he was elected to the3rd Seanad.[1] In 1943, he was elected to the4th Seanad by theCultural and Educational Panel, but did not contest the 1944 Seanad election. The Cultural and Educational Panel re-elected him in 1948 to the6th Seanad and in 1954 to the8th Seanad.[1]
| Party political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Leader of the Labour Party 1927–1932 | Succeeded by |
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| Preceded by | General Secretary of theIrish National Teachers' Organisation 1916–1948 | Succeeded by D. J. Kelleher |
| Preceded by | President of theIrish Trades Union Congress 1930 | Succeeded by |
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