John CostelloeThe sources differ on spelling. The
Oireachtas members database
lists his name as "John Costello", bu
the record of Seanad proceedings
names the new senator as "John Costelloe", and the latter spelling is also used in th
record of the first Seanad division in which he voted
and in subsequent proceedings. (April 1900 – date of death unknown) was an Irish shopkeeper and

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland. Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...

politician who served for two years as a member of the

10th Seanad The 10th Seanad was in office from 1961 to 1965. An election to Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament), followed the 1961 general election to the 19th Dáil. The senators served until the close of the poll for the 11t ...

. Costelloe was from

Ballyduff, County Kerry Ballyduff () is a village near Listowel, County Kerry, Ireland. Located on the R551 road between Ballyheigue and Ballybunion on hills above Cashen Bay where the River Feale flows to the sea at the mouth of the River Shannon. History Near Bal ...

. He was nominated as a candidate to the

Industrial and Commercial Panel Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominat ...

of the Seanad by the Taoiseach, Seán Lemass following the death of Fianna Fáil senator

Daniel Moloney Daniel James Moloney (14 October 1909 – 26 June 1963) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as a senator for the Industrial and Commercial Panel from 1961 to 1963 and a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Kerry North constituency from 1957 t ...

At the by-election, on 28 November 1963, Costelloe was elected on the first count with 112 votes as opposed to 87 for his Fine Gael opponent John Conlan (in a Seanad panel by-election, the electorate consists of the sitting deputies and senators). Writing in ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'' under the pseudonym ''Backbencher'', journalist John Healy claimed that Costelloe's election was due to the "Kerry Mafia" in Fianna Fáil who had insisted that Moloney, a Kerry native, should be replaced by someone from the same area. A much younger candidate had been proposed but was outvoted; in Healy's view this was through the influence of long-serving Kerry North TD Tom McEllistrim who hoped his son, also Tom McEllistrim would inherit his seat on his retirement, and wanted to ensure no other candidate could use the Seanad seat to build support in the constituency. Healy, suggesting Costelloe was older than his claimed age of 63, and was poorly qualified for the Industrial and Commercial Panel ("He runs a tidy little grocery shop and he has a bit of land."), pointed out that he had previously failed to be elected to

Kerry County Council Kerry County Council () is the Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local authority of County Kerry, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and community, roa ...

, and suggested Costelloe would have little to contribute in the Seanad ("he will cause the shorthand takers no trouble"). In the event, he made just four interventions during his term. He was not re-elected at the 1965 Seanad election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Costelloe, John 1900 births Year of death missing Fianna Fáil senators Members of the 10th Seanad People from Tralee Politicians from County Kerry Industrial and Commercial Panel senators