Editing Seán T. O'Kelly

{{Short description|President of Ireland from 1945 to 1959}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=October 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name          = Seán T. O'Kelly
| image         = Sean T O'Kelly, 1949.jpg
| caption       = O'Kelly in 1949
| office        = [[President of Ireland]]
| taoiseach     = {{ubl|[[Éamon de Valera]]|[[John A. Costello]]|[[Seán Lemass]]}}
| term_start    = 25 June 1945
| term_end      = 24 June 1959
| predecessor   = [[Douglas Hyde]]
| successor     = Éamon de Valera
| office1       = [[Tánaiste]]
| taoiseach1    = Éamon de Valera
| term_start1   = 29 December 1937
| term_end1     = 14 June 1945
| predecessor1  = Himself as Vice President of the Executive Council
| successor1    = Seán Lemass
| office2       = [[Minister for Finance (Ireland)|Minister for Finance]]
| taoiseach2    = Éamon de Valera
| term_start2   = 16 September 1939
| term_end2     = 14 June 1945
| predecessor2  = [[Seán MacEntee]]
| successor2    = [[Frank Aiken]]
| office3       = [[Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage|Minister for Local Government and Public Health]]
| taoiseach3    = Éamon de Valera
| term_start3   = 9 March 1932
| term_end3     = 8 September 1939
| predecessor3  = [[Richard Mulcahy]]
| successor3    = [[P. J. Ruttledge]]
| office4       = [[Vice-President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State|Vice-President of the Executive Council]]
| president4    = Éamon de Valera
| term_start4   = 9 March 1932
| term_end4     = 29 December 1937
| predecessor4  = [[Ernest Blythe]]
| successor4    = Himself as Tánaiste
| office5       = [[Ceann Comhairle]] of [[Dáil Éireann]]
| deputy5       = {{Ubl|[[John J. O'Kelly]]|[[Brian O'Higgins]]}}
| term_start5   = 22 January 1919
| term_end5     = 16 August 1921
| predecessor5  = [[George Noble Plunkett|Count Plunkett]]
| successor5    = [[Eoin MacNeill]]
| office6       = [[Teachta Dála]]
| term_start6   = [[1937 Irish general election|July 1937]]
| term_end6     = 25 June 1945
| constituency6 = [[Dublin North-West (Dáil constituency)|Dublin North-West]]
| term_start7   = [[1923 Irish general election|August 1923]]
| term_end7     = [[1937 Irish general election|July 1937]]
| constituency7 = [[Dublin North (Dáil constituency)|Dublin North]]
| term_start8   = [[1921 Irish elections|May 1921]]
| term_end8     = [[1923 Irish general election|August 1923]]
| constituency8 = [[Dublin Mid (Dáil constituency)|Dublin Mid]]
| term_start9   = [[1918 Irish general election|December 1918]]
| term_end9     = [[1921 Irish elections|May 1921]]
| constituency9 = [[Dublin College Green (UK Parliament constituency)|Dublin College Green]]
| birth_name    = John Thomas O'Kelly
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1882|8|25|df=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Dublin]], Ireland
| death_date    = {{death date and age|1966|11|23|1882|8|25|df=y}}
| death_place   = [[Blackrock, Dublin|Blackrock]], Dublin, Ireland 
| resting_place = [[Glasnevin Cemetery]], Dublin, Ireland
| nationality   = [[Irish people|Irish]]
| party         = [[Fianna Fáil]]
| spouse        = {{ubl|{{marriage|[[Mary Kate Ryan]]|1918|1934|reason=d}}|{{marriage|[[Phyllis Ryan]]|1936}}}}
| alma_mater    = [[University College Dublin]]
| battles       = [[Easter Rising]]
| unit          = [[Irish Volunteers]]
| rank          = [[Staff captain]]
| signature     = Seán T O'Ceallaigh signature 1945.svg
|}}
'''Seán Thomas O'Kelly''' ({{langx|ga|Seán Tomás Ó Ceallaigh}}; 25 August 1882 – 23 November 1966), originally '''John T. O'Kelly''', was an Irish [[Fianna Fáil]] politician who served as the second [[president of Ireland]] from June 1945 to June 1959. He also served as [[deputy prime minister]] of Ireland from 1932 to 1945 (titled as [[Vice-President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State]] from 1932 to 1937 and as [[Tánaiste]] from 1937 to 1945), [[Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage|Minister for Local Government and Public Health]] from 1932 to 1939, [[Minister for Finance (Ireland)|Minister for Finance]] from 1939 to 1945 and [[Ceann Comhairle]] of [[Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic)|Dáil Éireann]] from 1919 to 1921. He was a [[Teachta Dála]] (TD) from 1918 to 1945.<ref name=oireachtas_db>{{cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Seán-T-O'Kelly.D.1919-01-21/|title=Seán T. O'Kelly|work=Oireachtas Members Database|access-date=9 September 2019|archive-date=23 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191023020550/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Se%C3%A1n-T-O'Kelly.D.1919-01-21/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Early life==
O'Kelly was born in inner-city [[Dublin]], although his exact place of birth is disputed.<ref>''The Dictionary of Irish Biography'' indicates that he was born at 4 Lower Wellington Street, Dublin. According to his birth registration, he was born at 55 Wellington Street. Yet another source: http://www.glasnevintrust.ie/visit-glasnevin/interactive-map/sean-t-okelly/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222232241/http://www.glasnevintrust.ie/visit-glasnevin/interactive-map/sean-t-okelly/ |date=22 December 2014 }} – states that he was born in Capel Street</ref><ref>{{Cite book| last = Cowell| first = John| title = Where they lived in Dublin| publisher = O'Brien Press Limited| year = 1980| url = https://archive.org/details/wheretheylivedin00cowe| isbn = 978-0-905140-43-8| url-access = registration}}</ref> Baptised as John,<ref>Frederic Logan Paxson, ''Postwar years; normalcy, 1918–1923'' (Cooper Square Publishers, 1966), p. 34</ref> he was the eldest son of Samuel O'Kelly, a boot and shoemaker of Berkley Road,<ref name="debrett">''Debrett's House of Commons, and the Judicial Bench'' (1922), p. 123: "Sean Tomas O'Kelly, el. son of Samuel O'Kelly, of Berkley Road, Dublin; b. Aug. 25th, 1883; ed. at O'Connell Schs., Dublin: m. 1918, Mary Kate, da. of John Ryan, of Wexford; is Sec. to Gaelic League, a Member of Municipal Council, Dublin"</ref> by his marriage<ref>O'Kelly's parents' marriage registration in 1879 - they had not yet reverted to the Irish form of their names as O'Kelly and O'Dea, but still used 'Kelly' and 'Dea', a custom dating back to when surnames beginning with 'Mac' or 'O' were forbidden entry to Dublin; they were both living in 7 Fishamble Street, a tenement by Christ Church Cathedral that is one of Dublin City's most ancient streets. He is a boot maker and she is a basket maker  https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1879/11067/8049223.pdf</ref> to Catherine O'Dea,<ref>Birth registration for John Thomas Kelly, son of Samuel Kelly, boot maker, and Catherine née Day, 55 Welling Street, north Dublin on 25 August 1882 https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1882/02761/2014096.pdf</ref> and had three sisters and four brothers, two of whom were educated by [[Patrick Pearse]]<ref>Witness statement of Máighréad O'Kelly in the Bureau of Military History https://www.militaryarchives.ie/collections/online-collections/bureau-of-military-history-1913-1921/reels/bmh/BMH.WS0925.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927081624/http://www.militaryarchives.ie/collections/online-collections/bureau-of-military-history-1913-1921/reels/bmh/BMH.WS0925.pdf |date=27 September 2020 }}</ref> at [[St Enda's School]].

O'Kelly's first school was the [[Sisters of Charity]], in Mountjoy Street (1886–1890), then the Christian Brothers School in St Mary's Place (1890–1894).<ref name=dib>{{cite web|url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/okelly-sean-thomas-o-ceallaigh-sean-tomas-a6840|title=O'Kelly, Seán Thomas (Ó Ceallaigh, Seán Tomás)|work=[[Dictionary of Irish Biography]]|last=Maume|first=Patrick|access-date=8 January 2022}}</ref> His senior school education was at [[O'Connell School]], a Christian Brothers school in North Richmond Street (1894–1898). 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.<ref name=dib/> 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]].<ref>Charles Townshend, "Easter 1916: The Irish Rebellion" (Penguin 2006), p. 412.</ref>

==Active in Sinn Féin==
[[File:O Ceallaigh.jpg|thumb|200px|left|O'Kelly in 1910]]
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 [[Irish Republican Brotherhood]] 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 the Inns Quay Ward until 1924. One acolyte campaigner was [[Thomas Kelly (Sinn Féin politician)|Thomas Kelly]], who joined him in pressing the government for improved municipal drainage schemes for [[Dublin slum|Dublin's slums]].

Like [[Michael O'Flanagan|Father Michael O'Flanagan]], O'Kelly was chosen to make an Irish language address to the [[Pope Pius X]], in 1908. Both men were bilingual party members promoting Irish culture. O'Kelly was one of the establishing members of the [[Irish Volunteers]] in 1913. In August 1914, he agitated to suppress the landing of arms at Kilcoole, [[County Wicklow]].

In March 1915, O'Kelly went to [[New York City]], to inform [[Clan Na Gael]] of the plans for a rising in Dublin by the IRB.

===Easter Rising===
It was during the Easter Rising that O'Kelly met Mary Ryan. She was arrested on 18 May 1916, with her sister Nell for unspecified offences to be incarcerated in [[Mountjoy Prison]]. Historians have argued that she may have been confused with her sister, Min Ryan. Kit, as [[Mary Kate Ryan|Mary Ryan]] was known, was Professor of French at [[University College Dublin]]. She shared her house with her sisters at 19 Ranelagh Road, Dublin, which O'Kelly visited. They were married in 1918.<ref>Sinead McCoole, "No Ordinary Women: Irish Female Activists in the Revolutionary Years 1900–1923" (O'Brien 2004). p.54-55.</ref>

O'Kelly was at the heart of the party operation. He was one of a handful of men who might have known of the "All-Ireland" Volunteer HQ at [[Athenry]], [[County Galway]], according to [[Liam Ó Briain]] involved in marshalling the rebellion in the western hills from [[Limerick]] across the [[River Shannon|Shannon]].<ref>Irish Bureau of Military History (BMH) WS 6 (Liam O'Briain)</ref> He was also responsible for springing [[Bulmer Hobson]] from the custody of the IRB.<ref>F.X.Martin (ed.), "1916 – Myth, Fact and Mystery', ''Studia Hibernica'', 7 (1967) pp.88–9.</ref> Thereafter Hobson's mysterious "disappearance" became the moment when "a devoted son" of Ireland was excluded from the movement; but O'Kelly may have saved his life.<ref>Townshend, p.137-8.</ref> During the Rising he was gazetted Staff Captain by PH Pearse.<ref>Bureau of Military History witness statement by Min Ryan, O'Kelly's sister-in-law https://www.militaryarchives.ie/collections/online-collections/bureau-of-military-history-1913-1921/reels/bmh/BMH.WS0399.pdf#page=14</ref> He was in and out of the [[General Post Office, Dublin|GPO]], and was requested to set up as "Civil Administrator of the Government of the Republic" with four others.<ref>a single issue of the "Irish War News", 25 April 1916.</ref> The project never proceeded, as perhaps no attempt was made to anticipate preparations for a political structure free from Britain.<ref>Seán T. O'Kelly, '1916 before and after', National Library of Ireland (NLI) Ms 27692; Townshend, p.161.</ref>

After the [[Easter Rising]] in 1916, O'Kelly was gaoled, released, and re-arrested. He was sent to Reading Gaol, and then escaped from detention in [[HM Prison Eastwood Park]] in [[Great Britain|Britain]], and returned to Ireland. "Sinn Fein became a cloak for Volunteer meetings"<ref>M.Laffan, "Resurrection in Ireland: The Sinn Fein Party, 1916–1923", p.31, cited in C.Townshend, "The Republic". p.33.</ref> Sinn Féin won a landslide victory.

==1918 general election==
O'Kelly was elected a Sinn Féin [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Dublin College Green (UK Parliament constituency)|Dublin College Green]], in the [[1918 Irish general election|1918 general election]].<ref name=elecs_irl>{{cite web|url=http://electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=978|title=Seán T. O'Kelly|work=ElectionsIreland.org|accessdate=11 February 2012|archive-date=12 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120412171355/http://www.electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=978|url-status=live}}</ref> In his role as Secretary, O'Kelly was tasked with preparing the Sinn Féin Executive Council for the [[Dáil Éireann]] Constituent Assembly, which had been agreed at the party [[Ard Fheis]] in October 1918. Along with other Sinn Féin MPs, he refused to take his seat in the [[UK House of Commons]] in [[London]]. Instead, they set up an Irish Parliament, called Dáil Éireann, in Dublin. O'Kelly served as [[Ceann Comhairle]] (chairperson) of the [[First Dáil]].<ref>Townshend, p.64.</ref> O'Kelly published the Democratic Programme, which he himself had edited. It appealed to a wider mission statement for independence and separatism, which was not sanctioned by the electorate. In fact, it was a skeleton document borrowed on the back of Pearse's martyrdom, written in the late leader's style, from the Labour leader [[Thomas Johnson (Irish politician)|Thomas Johnson]].<ref>C Townshend, p.66, citing J.J.Lee, ''Ireland 1912–1985: Politics and Society (Cambridge 1989), p.41.''</ref>

O'Kelly's approach to [[US President]] [[Woodrow Wilson]] to visit Dublin in 1919 on his way to [[Versailles]], [[France]], was roundly rejected. Wilson was already withdrawing from the Self-Determination League, making his critics label O'Kelly as 'pompous.' Despite the [[US Senate]] resolution in June, the President would not break his commitment to the Big Four for unanimity.<ref>Townshend, p.68.</ref> He also served as the [[Irish Republic]]'s envoy, demanding recognition of the Republic and its admittance to the post-[[World War I]] peace treaty negotiations at the [[Paris Peace Conference, 1919|Paris Peace Conference]]. While this request to [[Georges Clemenceau|Clemenceau]] was sincere, it naively ignored the fact that France and Britain had been allied for the previous four years.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.difp.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=4 |title=Letter to Clemenceau Feb 1919 |access-date=6 May 2009 |archive-date=18 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071118185643/http://difp.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=4 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://difp.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=13 |title=O'Kelly and Gavan Duffy to Clemenceau, June 1919 |access-date=27 December 2007 |archive-date=18 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171118225222/http://difp.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=13 |url-status=live }}</ref> O'Kelly was followed to [[Paris]] as envoy by the eminently better-qualified [[George Gavan Duffy]], who was from a titled family of barristers and diplomats.<ref>Townshend, p.69.</ref> In 1920, O'Kelly relocated to [[Italy]], where he met with [[Pope Benedict XV]], briefing the pontiff on the political situation in Ireland.<ref>Memorandum by Sean T. O'Ceallaigh to Pope Benedict XV; ROME, 18 May 1920 https://www.difp.ie/volume-1/1920/memorandum-by-sean-t-oceallaigh-to-pope-benedict-xv/35/#section-documentpage</ref> At the same time, O'Kelly met with the future dictator of Italy, [[Benito Mussolini]], who helped the Irishman and other Sinn Féin emissaries to source weapons for use by the IRA.<ref>Mark Phelan, 'Prophet of the Oppressed Nations': Gabriele D'Annunzio and the Irish Republic, 1919–21, History Ireland, 21:5 (Sep./Oct. 2013) http://www.historyireland.com/18th-19th-century-history/gabriele-dannunzio-irish-republic-1919-21/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161213050550/http://www.historyireland.com/18th-19th-century-history/gabriele-dannunzio-irish-republic-1919-21/ |date=13 December 2016 }}</ref>

==Close friend of de Valera==
O'Kelly was a close associate of [[Éamon de Valera]], who served variously as [[President of Dáil Éireann]] (Prime Minister from April 1919 to August 1921) and [[President of the Irish Republic|President of the Republic]] (from August 1921 to January 1922). As with de Valera, he opposed the [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]], signed by representatives of the British and Irish governments in December 1921.

When de Valera resigned as President of the Republic on 6 January 1922, O'Kelly returned from Paris to Dublin, to try to negotiate a compromise, whereby de Valera could return to the presidency. A furious de Valera turned down the offer and ordered O'Kelly to return to Paris.

During the Irish Civil War, O'Kelly was in jail until December 1923. Afterwards, he spent the next two years as a Sinn Féin envoy to the [[United States]].

==A founder of Fianna Fáil==
In 1926, when de Valera left Sinn Féin to establish [[Fianna Fáil]], O'Kelly returned to Ireland and was appointed a vice-president of the new republican party. In March 1927, he became editor of [[The Nation (Irish newspaper)|The Nation]] and played a significant role in building up support for the new party before the [[June 1927 Irish general election|June 1927 general election]].<ref>Brian P. Murphy, 'O'Kelly, Seán Thomas (1882–1966)', [[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]], Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2011</ref>

In 1932, when de Valera, having won [[1932 Irish general election|that year's general election]], was appointed [[President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State|President of the Executive Council]] (Prime Minister of the Irish Free State), O'Kelly was appointed as vice-president of the Executive Council (deputy prime minister).<ref>Townshend, p.33.</ref> He was also named Minister for Local Government. O'Kelly earned a controversial reputation over his key role in attempts to publicly humiliate the then [[Governor-General of the Irish Free State]], [[James McNeill]]. Stunts such as withdrawing the Irish Army's band from playing at diplomatic functions which the Governor-General attended, or in one notorious case the sight of O'Kelly and [[Minister for Defense|Defense Minister]] [[Frank Aiken]] storming out of a diplomatic function at the French Legation when McNeill, the guest of honour, had arrived, damaged O'Kelly's reputation and image, particularly when the campaign backfired.

McNeill published his correspondence on the issue with de Valera, making de Valera appear foolish, before resigning and leaving de Valera with the task of choosing a new Governor-General, an embarrassing situation for a politician who had tried his best to avoid any association with the office. To the surprise of many, O'Kelly was not among the names considered for the office. It is not known for certain, but suspicion rests on O'Kelly's membership of a Catholic fraternal organisation, the [[Knights of Columbanus]], which de Valera suspected had a source in the cabinet. O'Kelly matched the bill, perhaps through indiscretions rather than deliberate actions. However, O'Kelly was not made Governor-General, the post instead going to the former Fianna Fáil TD, [[Domhnall Ua Buachalla]] from [[County Kildare]], who would be the last Governor-General of the Irish Free State.

==Considered for President of Ireland in 1938==
With the enactment of [[Constitution of Ireland|a new constitution]] in 1937, O'Kelly remained de Valera's second-in-command, with the new title of [[Tánaiste]].

In 1938, again O'Kelly's position in cabinet became a focus for speculation, as rumours swept [[Leinster House]] (the seat of Parliament) that de Valera intended making O'Kelly the Fianna Fáil choice to become [[President of Ireland]], the office which had replaced the governor-generalship in the new [[Constitution of Ireland]]. Again, the justification for de Valera nominating one of his senior ministers for the presidency was rumours that someone in the cabinet was, either deliberately or accidentally, letting information slip to the Catholic Church through the [[Knights of Columbanus]]. It came as anger and surprise to de Valera to find out that O'Kelly was a member of the Catholic fraternal organisation.<ref>W.J.McCormack, "Blackwell Companion to Modern Irish Culture" (2001), p.524.</ref>

De Valera had on a number of occasions ordered O'Kelly to resign from the Knights, only to find that he would rejoin later. However, the apparent entry of the popular [[Lord Mayor of Dublin]], [[Alfie Byrne]], into the presidential race (in fact he eventually failed to get nominated) and the belief that neither O'Kelly nor any other politician could beat Byrne (ironically a close friend of O'Kelly) led to all party agreement, on the opposition [[Fine Gael]]'s suggestion, that the office go to [[Douglas Hyde]], a Protestant, as an appreciation for his contribution to Irish society. An Irish language enthusiast, Hyde had founded the [[Conradh na Gaeilge]], known in English as the Gaelic League, a cultural organisation promoting the preservation of the [[Irish language]], music, dancing and traditions.

==Minister for Finance==
O'Kelly was appointed [[Minister for Finance (Ireland)|Minister for Finance]] in 1941.<ref name="Townshend, p.463">Townshend, p.463.</ref> He secured the passing of ''The Central Bank Act'' in 1942.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1942/en/act/pub/0022/index.html|work=Irish Statute Book|title=Central Bank Act, 1942|accessdate=14 April 2013|archive-date=25 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121225131941/http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1942/en/act/pub/0022/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> On 17 July 1942, at the fifth and final stage of the Dáil debate on the "Central Banking Bill", he argued that the owner of the credit issued by the [[Central Bank of Ireland]], "will be under the control of the Oireachtas and will be governed by the authority given by the people to the Houses of the Oireachtas."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Oireachtas |first=Houses of the |date=1942-07-17 |title=Committee on Finance. - Central Bank Bill, 1942—Fifth Stage. – Dáil Éireann (10th Dáil) – Friday, 17 Jul 1942 – Houses of the Oireachtas |url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1942-07-17/13/#spk_158 |access-date=2024-11-26 |website=www.oireachtas.ie |language=en-ie}}</ref> This debate was carried out when only five Deputies were present in the Dáil.<ref>[http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/0088/D.0088.194207170014.html Dáil Éireann – Volume 88 – 17 July 1942 – Committee on Finance. – Central Bank Bill, 1942—Fifth Stage<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607110643/http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/0088/D.0088.194207170014.html |date=7 June 2011 }}</ref>

==President of Ireland==

{{More citations needed section|date=January 2022}}
[[File:Seán T. O'Kelly being escorted to his inauguration as President of Ireland in 1945.jpg|thumb|The inauguration of Seán T. O'Kelly as President of Ireland in 1945.<br />The 2nd Cavalry Squadron of the [[Blue Hussars]] escort the President, who travelled in the late [[Alexandra of Denmark|Queen Alexandra]]'s [[landau]]. The Landau and the Hussars were later scrapped]]

[[File:Tostal1954.jpg|thumb|President Seán T. O'Kelly, [[An Tóstal]], 1954.<br />Outside the [[General Post Office (Dublin)|GPO]], President O'Kelly receives the salute from the new [[Garda Síochána|Garda]] recruits during the Tostal celebrations of 1954]]

O'Kelly was the Fianna Fáil candidate for [[President of Ireland]] in [[1945 Irish presidential election|1945]]. He defeated two other candidates.<ref name="Townshend, p.463"/> However, he came up just short of a majority on the first count.

O'Kelly's most famous faux pas occurred during a state visit to the [[Vatican City]], when in a breach with the standard [[protocol (diplomacy)|protocol]], he told the media of [[Pope Pius XII]]'s personal opinions on communism. The resulting row strained the relationships between Pope Pius XII and [[Joseph Stalin]].

During his term, he signed the [[Republic of Ireland Act 1948]], which established the [[Republic of Ireland]] on 18 April 1949 as an independent republic outside the [[British Commonwealth]]. As a result, O'Kelly became the first President of Ireland to be internationally recognised as a full head of state. Prior to 18 April 1949, King [[George VI]] was Ireland's head of state as the last [[King of Ireland]].

O'Kelly was reelected on 25 June 1952,{{citation needed|date=January 2022}} this time unopposed. During his second term, he visited many nations in [[Europe]] and addressed the [[United States Congress]] in 1959.<ref name="address">The six Irish leaders who have addressed [[List of joint sessions of the United States Congress|joint sessions of the U.S. Congress]] are Seán T. O'Kelly (18 March 1959), Éamon de Valera (28 May 1964), [[Liam Cosgrave]] (17 March 1976), [[Garret FitzGerald]] (15 March 1984), [[John Bruton]] (11 September 1996), and [[Bertie Ahern]] (30 April 2008).</ref> He retired at the end of his second term in 1959, to be replaced by his old mentor and former [[Taoiseach]], Éamon de Valera.

O'Kelly did not refer any Bills to the [[Supreme Court of Ireland|Supreme Court]], under Article 26 of the [[Constitution of Ireland]] while he was in office. He convened a meeting of the [[Council of State (Ireland)|Council of State]] in 1947, to consider whether Part III of the Health Bill, 1947 – which provided the basis for the [[Mother and Child Scheme]] – should be referred, but he decided against doing so.<ref>Kelly, Hogan and Whyte ''The Irish Constitution'' (4th ed., LexisNexis Butterworth, 2003) par 4.5.110. Health Act, 1947 Part III {{cite web |url=http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/ZZA28Y1947.html |title=Health Act, 1947 |accessdate=2006-05-17 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060503044418/http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/ZZA28Y1947.html |archivedate=3 May 2006 }}.</ref>

He dissolved the Dáil on four occasions (in 1948, 1951, 1954 and 1957). On each occasion, the Taoiseach who advised him to do so (de Valera in the first and third cases, and [[John A. Costello]] in the other two) had not been formally defeated in a Dáil vote in a manner showing a loss of support by a majority of TDs. Therefore, under Article 13.2.3° of the Constitution, O'Kelly had no discretion to refuse to act on their advice to dissolve. A more complex case occurred however in 1949, when the First Inter-Party Government was defeated in a snap Dáil vote on a financial measure due to the absence of a number of Government TDs. O'Kelly was advised by the [[Secretary-General to the President (Ireland)|Secretary to the President]], [[Michael McDunphy]], that had Costello requested a dissolution, he could have refused it–thus forcing Costello to resign. However, Costello considered that the vote failed by accident (due to a mistake by the party whips), and opted to reintroduce the measure the following morning, rather than seek a dissolution. With all TDs present this time, the vote carried. McDunphy later changed his mind and in the files on the event concluded that O'Kelly could not have refused a dissolution because the loss had merely been a technical loss, not an actual decision by the Dáil to vote against the government.{{citation needed|date=October 2007}}

===Visit to the United States===

O'Kelly was the first President of Ireland to visit the United States of America, when from 16 to 31 March 1959, he was the guest of [[US President|President]] [[Dwight Eisenhower]]. He was invited to address both houses of [[Congress of the United States|Congress]].<ref name="address" /> This was important to Ireland as it showed that the republic and its head of state were recognised by the United States. Historian [[J. J. Lee (historian)|J. J. Lee]] has stated that the visit signified an end to a period of distrust between Ireland and the United States, following [[World War II]].<ref>J.J.Lee, "Ireland 1912–1985: Politics and Society (Cambridge 1989),</ref> Both Ireland and America had been neutral countries when the war began, but the US joined the conflict in 1941. But Ireland continued to remain neutral, which annoyed American politicians during the war, and afterwards. The invitation to President O'Kelly to address Congress meant that Ireland had been forgiven by the larger power.<ref>{{YouTube|id=af9v_CBATCw#t=51m00s|title=''Uachtaráin – Séan T. Ó Ceallaigh'' (51m 00s)}} Television documentary by [[TG4]], 2007.</ref>

==O'Kelly and Catholicism==
O'Kelly was known to be a devout Catholic. He made a point of ensuring that his first state visit, following the declaration of the [[Republic of Ireland]] in 1949, was to the [[Vatican City]] to meet [[Pope Pius XII]]. This visit created controversy when the famously talkative O'Kelly inadvertently revealed the Pope's private views on communism.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

O'Kelly was a member of the [[Knights of Saint Columbanus]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cielou |first1=Robert |title=Spare My Tortured People Ulster and the Green Border |date=1983 |publisher=Whitethorne Press |page=55}}</ref>

=="A model President"==
[[File:Sean T O'Ceallaig.jpg|thumb|Seán Tomás Ó Ceallaigh; 25 August 1882 – 23 November 1966, was the second President of Ireland (1945–1959)]]

[[Éamon de Valera]] worried about O'Kelly's drinking habits, which were much commented on during his career. O'Kelly drank a lot, and often, yet his behaviour remained dignified and above reproach and he never caused any scandal.<ref>{{YouTube|id=af9v_CBATCw#t=28m10s|title=''Uachtaráin – Séan T. Ó Ceallaigh'' (28m 10s)}} Television documentary by [[TG4]], 2007.</ref> The author, [[Monsignor]] [[Pádraig Ó Fiannachta]], reported that President O'Kelly kept barrels of draught [[Guinness]] stout on tap in [[Áras an Uachtaráin]].<ref>{{YouTube|id=af9v_CBATCw#t=47m35s|title=''Uachtaráin – Séan T. Ó Ceallaigh'' (47m 35s)}} Television documentary by [[TG4]], 2007.</ref>

O'Kelly was a short man with a tall second wife.<ref>{{YouTube|id=af9v_CBATCw#t=46m42s|title=''Uachtaráin – Séan T. Ó Ceallaigh'' (46m 42s)}} Television documentary by [[TG4]], 2007.</ref><ref>{{YouTube|id=af9v_CBATCw#t=48m03s|title=''Uachtaráin – Séan T. Ó Ceallaigh'' (48m 03s)}} Television documentary by [[TG4]], 2007.</ref> When attending a football match once in [[Croke Park]], he was on the field to throw in the ball. A member of the crowd shouted, "Cut the grass, we can't see the President!"<ref>{{YouTube|id=af9v_CBATCw#t=47m05s|title=''Uachtaráin – Séan T. Ó Ceallaigh'' (47m 05s)}} Television documentary by [[TG4]], 2007.</ref>

On his retirement as President of Ireland in 1959, he was described as a "model President" by the normally hostile{{clarify|date=January 2022}}{{citation needed|date=January 2022}} [[The Irish Times|Irish Times]] newspaper. Though controversial, the diminutive O'Kelly was widely seen as genuine and honest, albeit tactless.

He died on 23 November 1966, at the age of 84, fifty years after the Easter Rising that first brought him to prominence. He is buried in [[Glasnevin Cemetery]], Dublin.

==Marriages==
In 1918, O'Kelly married Mary Kate, known as Kit, the daughter of John Ryan, a farmer of Tomcoole, near [[Taghmon]], [[County Wexford]].<ref name=debrett/> Kit was an assistant professor of modern languages at the National University.<ref name=tomcoole>[http://www.nli.ie/pdfs/mss%20lists/178_SeánTÓCeallaighRyansOfTomcoole.pdf The Ryans of Tomcoole] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210806173501/http://www.nli.ie/pdfs/mss%20lists/178_Se%C3%A1nT%C3%93CeallaighRyansOfTomcoole.pdf |date=6 August 2021 }} at nli.ie, accessed 12 May 2015</ref> They remained married until her death in 1934, aged 55. They had no children. In 1936, O'Kelly married his late wife's younger sister, [[Phyllis Ryan]], after gaining a [[Affinity (Catholic canon law)#Historical Catholic canon law|papal dispensation]] to do so. A chemist and public analyst, she was forty-three when they married.<ref name=tomcoole/> She lost her first child and was unable to have any more.<ref>{{YouTube|id=af9v_CBATCw#t=41m16s|title= ''Uachtaráin – Séan T. Ó Ceallaigh'' (41m 16s)}} Television documentary by [[TG4]], 2007.</ref>

One of Mary Kate and Phyllis's brothers was the [[Fianna Fáil]] Minister [[James Ryan (Irish politician)|James Ryan]], while another sister, [[Josephine Ryan]], was married to the [[Fine Gael]] leader General [[Richard Mulcahy]].<ref name=tomcoole/>

==See also==
*[[List of people on the postage stamps of Ireland]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* Gaughan, J.A., ''Thomas Johnson 1872–1963: First Leader of the Labour Party in Dáil Éireann'' (Mount Merrion 1980)
* Hickey, D.J. and Doherty, J.E ''A Dictionary of Irish History 1800–1980'' Gill & Macmillan (1987) {{ISBN|0-7171-1567-4}}
* Keown, Gerard, 'The ideas and Development of Irish Foreign Policy from the Origins of Sinn Féin to 1932', DPhil thesis, Oxford University 1997 (2010).
* Timmons, Martin, ''Seán T. O'Kelly'', Roundwood and District Historical and Folklore Society, No 2 (1989)

==External links==
*[https://president.ie/en/the-president/sean-t-oceallaigh Biography at Áras an Uachtaráin website]

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