Johnny Connor

For other people named John Connor, seeJohn Connor (disambiguation).

Johnny Connor
Teachta Dála
In office May 1954– 11 December 1955
Constituency	Kerry North
Personal details
Born	(1899-07-01)1 July 1899 Tralee,County Kerry,Ireland
Died	11 December 1955(1955-12-11)(aged 56) Knocknagoshel,County Kerry, Ireland
Political party	Clann na Poblachta
Spouse	Margaret Corkery ​ (m.1924)​
Children	Kathleen
Military service
Branch/service	Irish Republican Army Anti-Treaty IRA
Unit	Kerry No. 1 Brigade Kerry No. 2 Brigade
Battles/wars	Irish War of Independence Irish Civil War

John O'Connor(1 July 1899 – 11 December 1955), known politically asJohnny Connor,was an IrishClann na Poblachtapolitician who served as aTeachta Dála(TD) for theKerry Northconstituency from 1954 to 1955.

Soldier

O'Connor was born in Poulawaddra, Farmer's Bridge nearTralee,County Kerry,in July 1899. He left school at 15, and not long afterwards joined theIrish Volunteers,a military organisation who sought to oppose theUlster Volunteersif they attempted to resist an All-Ireland parliament upon the implementation ofHome Rulein Ireland. During theIrish War of Independencehe joined the No. 1 Brigade of the KerryIrish Republican Army,before later transferring to aFlying columnin Kerry Brigade No.2, serving under Dan Allman. During this time he became an associate of futureFianna FáilTDTom McEllistrim.O'Connor was reputedly a skilled operator of aLewis Machine Gun,earning him the moniker of "Machine Gun Connor". When theIrish Civil Warbroke out, O'Connor took theAnti-Treaty IRAside. In 1923, he was captured byPro-Treaty forcesand imprisoned. Following his release from prison, O'Connor emigrated toChicagountil 1930, when he returned to Kerry to take over his family's farm. In February 1933, Connor was charged with weapons possession in Tralee Court and made the following statement: "As a soldier of the Irish Republican Army I refuse to recognise the jurisdiction of this court."

In 1929, he married Margaret Corkery. Duringthe Emergency(the era by the whichWorld War IIwas referred to in Ireland), he was once again jailed (February 1941) with Jim Crofton on charges of still being active in the IRA, this time by a Fianna Fáil government.During this time he was in the company of others charged with the same crime and became politically interested. Following his release, he joinedClann na Poblachta,which had strong IRA links and was led by former IRA Chief-of-StaffSeán MacBride.

Politician

O'Connor first stood for election in the1948 general electionas a Clann na Poblachta candidate forKerry North,where he strategically dropped the "O" from his surname in order to secure a higher place on the ballot paper, which are sorted alphabetically. He would continue this for the entirety of his political career. He was not successful at his first attempt at the Dáil, losing out to, amongst others, his old comrade Tom McEllistrim. He was, however, elected toKerry County Councilin October 1948, which was seen as both a boost to him personally but also Clann na Poblachta, signalling an appetite for change amongst the voters.

He was elected toDáil Éireannon his third attempt, at the1954 general electionas a Clann na PoblachtaTDfor theKerry Northconstituency, unseating sittingFine GaelTDJohn Lynch.He was the first Clann na Poblachta TD elected inCounty Kerry.Clann na Poblachta had won ten seats at the 1948 general election, but after the collapse of thefirst inter-party government,it had been reduced to two TDs at the1951 general election.Connor's victory was the party's only gain in 1954.

During Connor's time as TD, his daughterKathleen O'Connoracted as his de facto secretary. Kathleen was studying to become a teacher at a college inDublinat the time and used her spare hours to act as his assistant.

Connor was killed in a road accident nearAbbeyfealein December 1955. His funeral was attended by numerous high-profile politicians from across the country, including TaoiseachJohn A. Costello,Richard Mulcahyand leading figures from all the major political parties. John A. Costello gave a eulogy, citing Connor's honesty, sincerity, integrity and warmth as his best qualities.

Following the funeral, Seán MacBride asked Connor's widow to stand in the forthcoming by-election for her husband's seat. When she refused, MacBride turned to Kathleen and pleaded with her to stand, saying that she was Clann na Poblachta's only hope for survival, as the party's fortunes had greatly soured after the first Inter-Party Government of 1951. Theby-election for his Dáil seatwas held on 29 February 1956 and resulted in victory for Kathleen, then only 21 years old. She became the youngest TD ever at that time and was in fact so young she was still not registered to vote.

She stood down from the Dáil at the1957 general election.

See also

• Families in the Oireachtas