Mark Killilea, Snr

Mark Killilea, Snr (15 January 1897 – 29 September 1970) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for constituencies in County Galway for over 30 years, and then a Senator for 8 years.

Killilea was born in the townland of Cloonnabricka, Ballinamore Bridge, County Galway, to Pat Killilea, a labourer, and Anne Giblin.

Killilea claimed membership of the Irish Volunteers from 1917 and engaged in active service with the Irish Republican Army from April 1918 to September 1923, during the Irish War of Independence and Irish Civil War, in counties Wexford, Galway and Mayo. He was wounded in May 1921.

Killilea was a founder-member of Fianna Fáil and a farmer and shopkeeper before entering politics. He was elected to Dáil Éireann on his first attempt, at the June 1927 general election in the nine-seat Galway constituency. He took his seat in the 5th Dáil, along with the 44 other Fianna Fáil TDs who ended the Republican policy of abstentionism and took the disputed oath of allegiance, dismissing it as an "empty formula".

He was re-elected at the September 1927 general election. However, in the Fianna Fáil victory at the 1932 general election, it won no new seats in Galway. All five sitting Fianna Fáil TDs stood for re-election, but the party ran a total of seven candidates in the constituency and Killilea was one of the two sitting TDs to lose their seats to party colleagues. He was re-elected the following year, displacing Cumann na nGaedheal's Joseph Mongan.

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