Thomas J. O'Connell

For other people named Thomas O'Connell, see Thomas O'Connell (disambiguation).

Thomas J. O'Connell
Teachta Dála
In office 1922–1927
Constituency	Galway
In office 1927–1932
Constituency	Mayo South
Senator
In office 1938–1944
In office 1948–1951
In office 1954–1957
Constituency	Cultural and Educational Panel
Leader of the Labour Party
In office 1927–1932
Preceded by	Thomas Johnson
Succeeded by	William Norton
Personal details
Born	(1882-11-21)21 November 1882 Knock, County Mayo
Died
Nationality	Irish
Occupation	Trade unionist

Thomas J. O'Connell (21 November 1882 – 22 June 1969) was an Irish trade unionist and politician, and was leader of the Irish Labour Party from 1927 to 1932.

O'Connell was born near Knock, County Mayo. From 1902 to 1916 he worked first as a national teacher and then as a school principal. In 1926 he became general secretary of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation.

He was a member of Dáil Éireann from 1922 to 1932, serving as leader of the Irish Labour Party in the Dáil from 1927 to 1932. From 1929 to 1930 he was president of the Irish Labour Party and the Irish Trade Union Congress. In 1935 he founded the Educational Building Society.

Electoral history

At the 1922 general election, he was elected as Teachta Dála (TD) for Galway, and he was re-elected at the 1923 general election. At the June 1927 election he stood instead in the new five-seat Mayo South constituency, where he topped the poll, and he was re-elected at the September 1927 election. He lost his seat at the 1932 election, did not contest the 1933 general election, and in 1941 he was elected to 3rd Seanad.

In 1943, he was elected to the 4th Seanad by the Cultural and Educational Panel, but did not contest the 1944 Seanad election. The Cultural and Educational Panel re-elected him in 1948 to the 6th Seanad and in 1954 to the 8th Seanad.

Sources

• Thomas Johnson, 1872–1963, John Anthony Gaughan, Kingdom Books, Dublin, 1980, ISBN 0-9506015-3-5

Party political offices
Preceded by Thomas Johnson	Leader of the Labour Party 1927–1932	Succeeded by William Norton
Political offices
Preceded by Eamonn Mansfield	General Secretary of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation 1916–1948	Succeeded by D. J. Kelleher
Preceded by Luke Duffy	President of the Irish Trade Union Congress 1930	Succeeded by Denis Cullen