Tommy O’Connell: A forgotten Mayo Dáil deputy

by Auld Stock

TOMMY (Thomas Joseph) O’Connell, a native of Spotfield, Bekan, County Mayo, served the people of Mayo as a Labour Party Dail deputy from 1927 to 1932, having previously been elected in Galway in 1922.

A dedicated trade unionist at a time when the trade union movement in Ireland wasn’t as strong as it nowadays, Deputy O’Connell, a teacher by profession, was a man of compassion and honesty.

His parents were Thomas and Maria O’Connell (née Biesty).

Tommy taught in Westmeath for a number of years before being appointed general secretary of the Irish National Teachers Organisation.

O’Connell topped the poll in the South Mayo constituency election in 1927.

He had a great interest in developing the educational system in Ireland and always felt poorer people were not being given the opportunity to go on to second and third level status.

O’Connell married Kathleen O’Connor in 1905 and the couple had three sons and three daughters. A man with a strong social conscience.

O’Connell had a great love for the poor and neglected, and never lost the common touch.

He deserves to be remembered with pride by the people of his native Mayo, a Dáil deputy who served his constituents with commitment and compassion when this country was undergoing a very difficult time.