*** Welcome to piglix ***

Seán T. O'Kelly

Seán T. O'Kelly
O Ceallaigh.jpg
2nd President of Ireland
In office
25 June 1945 – 24 June 1959
Taoiseach Éamon de Valera
John A. Costello
Éamon de Valera
John A. Costello
Éamon de Valera
Preceded by Douglas Hyde
Succeeded by Éamon de Valera
Tánaiste
In office
29 December 1937 – 14 June 1945
Taoiseach Éamon de Valera
Preceded by Himself as Vice-President of the Executive Council
Succeeded by Seán Lemass
Minister for Finance
In office
16 September 1939 – 14 June 1945
Taoiseach Éamon de Valera
Preceded by Seán MacEntee
Succeeded by Frank Aiken
Vice-President of the Executive Council
In office
9 March 1932 – 29 December 1937
President Éamon de Valera
Preceded by Ernest Blythe
Succeeded by Himself as Tánaiste
Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann
In office
22 January 1919 – 16 August 1921
Preceded by Count Plunkett
Succeeded by Eoin MacNeill
Teachta Dála
In office
August 1923 – February 1948
Constituency Dublin North-West
Personal details
Born Seán Thomas O'Kelly
(1882-08-25)25 August 1882
Abbotstown, Dublin, Ireland
Died 23 November 1966(1966-11-23) (aged 84)
Blackrock, Dublin, Ireland
Resting place Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin, Ireland
Nationality Irish
Political party Fianna Fáil
Spouse(s)
  • Mary Kate Ryan (m. 1928; d. 1934)
  • Phyllis Ryan (m. 1936; d. 1983)
Parents
  • Samuel O'Kelly
  • Catherine O'Dea
Alma mater University College Dublin
Profession
Religion Roman Catholicism

Seán Thomas O'Kelly (Irish: Seán Tomás Ó Ceallaigh; 25 August 1882 – 23 November 1966), originally John T. O'Kelly, was the second President of Ireland (1945–1959). He was a member of Dáil Éireann from 1918 until his election as President. During this time he served as Minister for Local Government (1932–1939) and Minister for Finance (1939–1945). He also served as deputy prime minister of Ireland from 1932 to 1945, under the title Vice-President of the Executive Council from 1932 until 1937 and Tánaiste from 1937 until 1945.

O'Kelly was born in inner-city Dublin, although his exact place of birth is disputed. Baptised as John, he was the eldest son of Samuel O'Kelly, a boot and shoemaker of Berkley Road, by his marriage to Catherine O'Dea, and had three sisters and four brothers, two of whom were educated by Patrick Pearse at St Enda's school.

O'Kelly's first school was the Sisters of Charity, in Mountjoy Street (1886–90), then the Christian Brothers School in St Mary's Place (1890–94). His senior school education was at O'Connell School, a Christian Brothers school in North Richmond Street (1894–98). O'Kelly joined the National Library of Ireland in 1898 as a junior assistant to T. W. Lyster, remaining there until 1902, and becoming a subscriber to the Celtic Literary Society. The same year, he joined the Gaelic League, becoming a member of the governing body in 1910 and general secretary in 1915. He was appointed manager of An Claidheamh Soluis, which included amongst its editors the revolutionary leaders of Sinn Féin.

He went to work almost immediately for Arthur Griffith, at the Gaelic League on the organization's administration papers. He came to Griffith's notice the previous years joining the IRB as a member of the esoteric Bartholomew Teeling Circle from 1901. O'Kelly joined Sinn Féin, then a small dual-monarchist, capitalist party, immediately at its inception in 1905 as one of its founders. He became a joint-honorary secretary of the movement from 1908, remaining in the post until 1925. In 1906 he was elected to Dublin Corporation, and retained the seat for Inns Quay Ward until 1924. One acolyte campaigner was Thomas Kelly who joined him in pressing the government for improved municipal drainage schemes for Dublin's slums.


...
Wikipedia

...