What's been named after politicians and political figures in Kerry?

Kit Ahern

Following the recent dedication of the municipal centre and public library in Killorglin to the late former TD, Timothy 'Chub' O'Connor, here's a list I have cobbled together of roads, housing estates, public buildings and other pieces of infrastructure which are named after politicians or political figures from Kerry.

Any other suggestions welcome to politicsinkerry@gmail.com


Patrick Connor-Scarteen Inner Relief Road, Kenmare (Patrick Connor TD, FG)

Dan Spring Road, Tralee (Dan Spring TD, Lab)

Cahill’s Park in Tralee (Patrick Cahill TD, SF)

Michael Moynihan

Kit Ahern Road, Ballybunion (Senator Kit Ahern, FF)

Michael Moynihan Roundabout, Killarney (Michael Moynihan TD, Lab)

Healy-Rae Park, Kilgarvan (Jackie Healy-Rae TD, Ind)

Austin Stack Park, Tralee (Austin Stack TD, SF)

Stack’s Villa’s, Tralee (Austin Stack TD, SF)

Johnny Connor Roundabout, Tralee (Johnny Connor TD, CnaP)  

Thomas McEllistrim Bridge (Thomas McEllistrim Jnr, TD, FF)

Timothy ‘Chub’ O’Connor Municipal Centre, Killorglin (Timothy O’Connor TD, FF)

 

Ashe Memorial Hall, Tralee (Thomas Ashe, IRB)

Johnny Connor

Connolly Park, Tralee (James Connolly)                          

Bill Kinnerk Road, Tralee (Cllr Bill Kinnerk, Lab)

O’Connell Memorial Church, Caherciveen (Daniel O’Connell MP)

Casement Station, Tralee (Roger Casement)

Casement’s Avenue, Tralee (Roger Casement)

Kerry's first ever Clann na Poblachta TD

John (Johnny) Connor, sometimes using O’Connor, was the first Clann na Poblachta TD ever elected in Kerry and, apart from his daughter, Kathleen,  who succeeded him, is the only Dáil representative the party had in Kerry. He dropped the ‘O’ from his name to ensure his name moved further up the ballot paper.

Born in Farmer’s Bridge near Tralee, Connor was an Old IRA man who played a prominent role in the War of Independence. He was involved in numerous ambushes and skirmishes in the late 1910s and early 1920s such as the attacks on police barracks in Gortatlea, Brosna and Scartaglin. He was jailed in Tralee and Mountjoy for his Civil War involvement.

Johnny Connor

A farmer and an auctioneer, Connor emigrated to Chicago and returned home in 1930. He married Margaret Corkery of Ashill. He joined Clann na Poblachta and was elected to Kerry County Council in October 1948. He was one of four Clann councillors elected in what was the new party’s first local authority electoral outing. He had contested the general election of February 1948 in Kerry North in the year his party helped form the first inter-party government under Taoiseach John A Costello. He did not win a seat however.

Connor also stood in 1951 but it was 1954 before he made it to the Dáil, when he took the fourth and final seat with 5,003 votes. His republican background and his advocacy of the needs of the farming community in Kerry were instrumental in his success.

After just over a year in the Dáil however, tragedy struck when Connor was killed in a car accident on 11 December 1955 as he was returning to Tralee from Dublin, having attended a meeting of the Clann na Poblachta national executive.  The accident occurred at Ballyduff on the Castleisland to Abbeyfeale road, where a memorial to him still stands.

His party leader, Sean MacBride delivered the graveside oration at his funeral days later. Mr Connor’s death prompted the first ever by-election held in the constituency of Kerry North, at which he was succeeded by his 21 year-old daughter, Kathleen O’Connor (Fitzgerald).

The 11 men from Kerry who have served as Ministers of State

No female TD from the county has ever served in a junior ministry, or a senior one, for that matter. The following are the eleven men from Kerry who have been Parliamentary Secretaries or Ministers of State. Just four of them went on to hold a seat at the Cabinet table:

John Marcus O’Sullivan (CnaG, Kerry)

Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education 1924-1926

Eamonn Kissane (FF, Kerry North)

Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Lands 1943
Parliamentary Secretary to the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence 1944-1948


Dan Spring (Lab, Kerry North)

Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment 1956-1957

Michael Begley (FG, Kerry South)

Dan and Dick Spring, both of whom
served as junior ministers

Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Local Government 1973-1975
Minister of State at Department of Finance and Department of Defence 1975-1977
Minister of State at Department of Tourism, Trade and Commerce 1981-1982

John O’Leary (FF, Kerry South)

Minister of State at Department of the Environment 1977-1979

Thomas McEllistrim (FF, Kerry North)

Minister of State at Department of Finance 1979-1981
Minister of State at Department of Forestry 1982

Michael Moynihan (Lab, Kerry South)

Minister of State at Department of Tourism, Trade and Commerce 1983-1987

Dick Spring (Lab, Kerry North)

Minister of State at Department of Justice (Law Reform) 1981-1982

John O’Donoghue (FF, Kerry South)

Minister of State at Department of Finance 1991-1992

Jimmy Deenihan (FG, Kerry North)

Minister of State at Department of Agriculture 1994-1997
Minister of State at Department of An Taoiseach 2014-

Brendan Griffin (FG, Kerry South/Kerry)
Minister of State at Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport 2016 - 

(Note: The position of Parliamentary Secretary was replaced with that of Minister of State in 1978) 

Kerry Cabinet ministers since 1919

Kerry cabinet ministers since 1919

Austin Stack (SF)

John Marcus O'Sullivan

Minister for Home Affairs 1921-22

Fionán Lynch (SF/CnaG)

Minister for Education 1922, Minister Without Portfolio 1922, Minister for Fisheries 1922-30, Minister for Lands and Fisheries 1930-32

John Marcus O’Sullivan (CnaG)

Minister for Education 1926-32

Dick Spring (Lab)

Tánaiste & Minister for Environment 1982-83, Tánaiste & Minister for Energy 1983-87, Tánaiste & Minister for Foreign Affairs 1993-97

John O’Donoghue (FF) 1997 – 2007

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform 1997-2002, Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism 2002-2007

Jimmy Deenihan (FG) 2011 - 2014

Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht

Kerry's Political Dynasties: A Historical Perspective

Date for your diary:

Kerry's Political Dynasties: A Historical Perspective, a public talk/presentation by yours truly, based on my book on the subject, on the following dates:

Wednesday, 30 October at 8pm - Meadowlands Hotel, Tralee

Thursday, 31 October at 8pm - Killarney Court Hotel, Killarney

All welcome

Is the Oireachtas more hereditary than the House of Lords?

Below is a piece from this week's Sunday Independent on political dynasties which contains a plug for a certain book on the subject:


Oireachtas 'more hereditary' than Lords
Sunday Independent 9th June 2013

by Ruaidhri Giblin                                    
                   
The son of a former Fine Gael Finance Minister claims there is now a greater proportion of "hereditary" politicians in the Oireachtas than there are hereditary peers in the House of Lords.
Peter Sweetman, who turned down the chance to stand for office when his father, Gerard, died in a road traffic accident in 1970, made the claim last week.
At least 45 TDs and senators have a family member who also served in the Dail or Seanad. In addition to these, many sitting senators gave their local authority seats to family members when they were appointed to the upper house two years ago.
Of the 763 seats in Britain's House of Lords, 88 are held by hereditary peers, the dukes, earls, viscounts and barons who inherited their seats because of family lineage.
However, Ireland's political dynasties occupy a greater proportion of seats in the Oireachtas than hereditary peers do in the House of Lords.
"One in five current members of the Oireachtas has had a political predecessor in the family," Mr Sweetman said. "About one in eight members of the House of Lords is a hereditary peer."
Gerard Sweetman was a prominent opposition TD at the time of his death. His son, Peter, claims he is rare in being an eligible son of a TD who didn't stand in a by-election when his father died in office.
"It seems to be standard procedure for family members to run for office and I think it's wrong," Sweetman said.
Owen O'Shea, author of Heirs to the Kingdom: Kerry's Political Dynasties said the phenomenon predates the foundation of the State by many centuries.
He said Irish voters demanded an intimate political relationship with their councillors and TDs, because of parochial 'parish-pump' politics.
"Four of Kerry's six TDs have or had at least one relative in elected positions and 14 of the county's 27 councillors are members of political dynasties," Mr O'Shea said.
He said members of political dynasties feel a sense of obligation to their predecessors and voters tend to think that if his father or grandfather was good enough for the constituency then the next generation can't be that bad.
Until the electoral systems changes and TDs become legislators rather than representatives, dynasties will continue, Mr O'Shea said.
The aftermath of the 2011 General Election saw the end of a number of political dynasties such as the Haugheys and Andrews. The death of Brian Lenihan saw the end of another Fianna Fáil dynasty.
The most prominent existing "heir" is Taoiseach Enda Kenny, son of famous Mayo footballer and later TD Henry Kenny. Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney was elected in a by-election following the sudden death of his father, Hugh Coveney.
Fianna Fail's Niall Collins, Dara Calleary and Eamon O Cuiv are the third generation of TDs from their families.

               

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/oireachtas-more-hereditary-than-lords-29330918.html

 

'Heirs to the Kingdom: Kerry's Political Dynasties' (O'Brien Press, 2011) by Owen O'Shea is available from www.obrien.ie and www.amazon.co.uk

Death of Haughey's great Kerry confidante Tom Fitzgerald

The late Tom Fitzgerald

The death took place on Friday last (8 June) of one of Charles Haughey's closest friends and confidantes, Tom Fitzgerald. The former Fianna Fáil senator from Dingle was closely involved in building Haughey's Inisvickillane home and was its unofficial caretaker. He remained close to the former Taoiseach right up until his death in 2006, always joining Haughey on his island with the ex-Fianna Fáil leader visited there.

I had the privilege of conducting a lengthy interview with Tom Fitzgerald at his Dingle home just a few weeks ago during which he spoke about his own career on Kerry County Council and in Seanad Eireann as well as many warm anecdotes about his friend from Kinsealy. Whatever about the controversies of Haughey's political career, Fitzgerald remained a loyal friend and ally of the ex-Taoiseach and his family.

Below is a link to an article which the Sunday Independent carried over the weekend. I hope to publish some more material from the late former senator's interview in the near future. May he rest in peace.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/haugheys-close-confidante-and-island-caretaker-dies-29330902.html