Joseph O'Connor (Irish politician)

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Joseph John O'Connor (c.1880 – 2 February 1959)[1][2][3] was an Irish revolutionary, soldier and politician.

O'Connor was born in the 1880s and remembered seeing Charles Stewart Parnell as a child. He joined the Irish Volunteers in 1913 and by 1916 he was a captain in command of A Company, 3rd Battalion, Dublin Brigade under Éamon de Valera. When the vice-commandant failed to show for the 1916 Easter Rising de Valera made O'Connor his second in command. O'Connor remained with his company and de Valera at Bolands Mill until they became the last battalion to surrender. He was imprisoned at Frongoch internment camp in Wales and released in the 1917 amnesty.

Returning to Dublin O'Connor joined "The Squad" under Michael Collins and killed Captain John FitzGerald of the "Cairo Gang" on Bloody Sunday in 1920. By the end of the Irish War of Independence he was Commandant of the 3rd Battalion "Dev's Own". He was a member of the Irish Republican Army's "Banned Convention" in 1922 and in the Battle of Dublin during the Irish Civil War he held the Fianna HQ in York Street near St Stephen's Green. He escaped to Limerick and succeeded Ernie O'Malley as the Quarter-Master-General of the IRA with the rank of brigadier-general.

After the Civil War he became a cattle salesman and farmer. At the 1925 Seanad election, he was elected as a Cumann na nGaedheal senator, serving until 1936.[4] Despite joining Fine Gael he presented de Valera with a scroll of those killed in the Easter Rising in a 20th anniversary remembrance.[5] He also sued O'Malley in 1936 when his memoirs accused O'Connor of cowardice and he won £550 in damages.[6]

References[]

  1. ^ Miltiary Service Pension file reference MSP34REF54
  2. ^ "LOT:342 | Joseph O'Connor His 1916 medal, it's miniature, Emergency 26th Battalian medal with two bars, a miniature War of Independence medal with 'Comrac' bar and an addressed box. Joseph O'Connor joined the Irish Volunteers in 1913, being appointed Lieutenant in 1914 and by 1916 he was a captain in command of A Company, 3rd Battalion, Dublin Brigade under Éamon de Valera. He was active in the training and arming of the Volunteers and was present at the landing of guns at Howth in July 1914. When the vice-commandant failed to show for the 1916 Easter Rising de Valera made O'Connor his second in command. O'Connor fought with his company and de Valera at Boland's Mill until they became the last battalion to surrender. He was imprisoned at Frongoch internment camp in Wales but was released towards the end of 1916. Returning to Dublin O'Connor rejoined the Volunteers and by the end of the Irish War of Independence he was Commandant of the 3rd Battalion, Dublin Brigade 'Dev's Own'. Following the signing of the Treaty in 1921, O'Connor took the Anti-Treaty side and was elected to the IRA Executive. He was a member of the Irish Republican Army's 'Banned Convention' in 1922 and in the Battle of Dublin during the Irish Civil War he held the Fianna HQ in York Street near St Stephen's Green. In October 1922 O'Connor was captured by Free State forces'. Initially held at Griffith Barracks, he was subsequently sent to Hare Park Internment Camp in the Curragh. In October 1923 O'Connor was sent to Mountjoy Prison where he went on hunger strike. Transferred to Kilmainham Prison he finally ended his hunger strike after 40 days. He was eventually released in February 1924. After the Civil War, O'Connor became active in Sinn Fein and later accepted de Valera's invitation to join the National Executive of Fianna Fail. At the outbreak of the Second World War, O'Connor suggested to de Valera that a battalion of ex IRA men be raised to assist in the defence of Ireland. The 26th Battalion was formed in Dublin and O'Connor became its Battalion 2 i/c. until its stand down in December 1945. Joseph O'Connor died in 1959". www.adams.ie.
  3. ^ https://www.igp-web.com/IGPArchives/ire/dublin/photos/tombstones/1mj/mt-jerome183.htm
  4. ^ "Joseph O'Connor". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  5. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-12-06. Retrieved 2011-10-06.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ^ "Ernie O'Malley and Achill Island, Ireland - page 3 of 6".
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