Eamon Donnelly (19 July 1877 – 29 December 1944) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

politician. He was born in Middletown,

County Armagh County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of an ...

, the son of Francis Donnelly, a mason, and Catherine Donnelly (née Haggin). He was a member of the

Irish Volunteers The Irish Volunteers ( ga, Óglaigh na hÉireann), sometimes called the Irish Volunteer Force or Irish Volunteer Army, was a military organisation established in 1913 by Irish nationalists and republicans. It was ostensibly formed in respon ...

. In 1921 he joined

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of govern ...

's anti-treaty forces and remained a critic of partition until his death. He was interned and on his release was appointed Chief Organiser of

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur G ...

. While living in

Newry Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Armagh, Armagh and County Down, Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011. Newry ...

, Donnelly was elected as an

abstentionist Abstentionism is standing for election to a deliberative assembly while refusing to take up any seats won or otherwise participate in the assembly's business. Abstentionism differs from an election boycott in that abstentionists participate in ...

Independent Republican member of the

Parliament of Northern Ireland The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which sat from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended because of its inability to restore ord ...

for the Armagh constituency at the 1925 general election. Shortly after his election, he was served with an order excluding him from Northern Ireland. No official reason was given for the granting of this order."Arrested for going "home"", '' Manchester Guardian'', 29 July 1938, p.3 In 1926, he became a founder member of

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christia ...

. Donnelly was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms such as ''Member of Parli ...

(TD) for the Leix–Offaly constituency at the 1933 general election. He did not contest the 1937 general election. He also served as Director of Elections for Fianna Fáil. In 1938, Donnelly visited his wife's house near Newry, and was imprisoned in Belfast Prison, before being given a choice between paying a fine of £25 or returning to prison. Again, no reason for his imprisonment and exclusion was revealed. That year, he stood for election to the 2nd Seanad, but was not successful. In 1942, Donnelly was again elected to the Parliament of Northern Ireland, this time in a by-election for Belfast Falls. He did not take his seat. He died on 29 December 1944.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donnelly, Eamon 1877 births 1944 deaths Fianna Fáil TDs Members of the 8th Dáil Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 1925–1929 Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 1938–1945 Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland for County Armagh constituencies Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland for Belfast constituencies Politicians from County Armagh