J.J. "Ginger" O'Connell

J. J. O'Connell
Born	Jeremiah Joseph O'Connell 21 December 1887 Ballina, County Mayo
Died	19 February 1944 (age 56)
Nationality	Irish
Other names	Ginger O'Connell
Occupation	Officer in the Irish Volunteers and Irish Defence Forces

Jeremiah Joseph "Ginger" O'Connell (21 December 1887 – 19 February 1944) was an Irish revolutionary, active in the Irish War of Independence, and later a senior officer in the Irish Defence Forces.

O'Connell was born on the 21st December 1887 in Ballina, County Mayo, to Jeremiah Ambrose and Winifred O'Connell. He was nicknamed "Ginger" because of his red hair. His father was a national school inspector, so the family lived in Sligo, Derry, Longford and Belfast, and Ginger attended a succession of primary schools. He studied in University College Dublin where he received a BA and a first class MA. He was a member of the Literary and Historical Society, and had an interest in boxing.

He was living in Cavan with his father, his sister Mary Margaret, his brother John Aloysius and two servants, Mary Burke and Rose Anne O'Reilly, at the time of the 1911 census, when he was 23. He was working as a Solicitor's Apprentice, could read and write as well as speak both English and Irish, and was single. His mother was not living as it is recorded that his father was a widower.

O'Connell spent some time in the U.S. Army. He returned to Ireland in 1914 and joined the Irish Volunteers, becoming Chief of Inspection in 1915. He travelled the country organising volunteer corps, as well as contributing to the Irish Volunteer's journal and delivering lectures on military tactics to both the Volunteers and Fianna Éireann. He also delivered a series of lectures about the famous Irish battles to the Gaelic League in Dublin. He was not a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood as he believed that soldiers should not be a part of secret societies.

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