Owen O'Shea's Blog
Occasional meanderings and insights into Kerry’s past with a focus on electioneering, election results, key political figures, political culture, and the dramatic ups and downs of politics in the county over the past century.
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No Middle Path: new book on the Civil War in Kerry coming soon from Merrion Press
The Civil War in Kerry was more brutal, divisive, violent and protracted than in any other county leaving physical, psychological and emotional scars which have lasted for generations. A new
Brother against brother: the Civil War in Kerry
The Irish Civil War has often been described as the war of the brothers. Families were sometimes split down the middle in disagreement over the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty
Bridie Wren: The Queen of Balochistan
Quite a number of sons and daughters of Kerry have gone out from Ireland and made significant marks in their adopted countries but few underwent the transformation that a young
Bloody Sunday 1972: from the memoir of Fianna Fáil TD for Kerry South, John O’Leary
One event in Northern Ireland in the early 1970s tested the mettle of those of us in Fianna Fáil who were hoping that the Troubles could be ended by peaceful
Reporting the Revolution: Kerry newspapers 1920 – 1923
My presentation to the Daniel O’Connell School 2021 which took place in Cahersiveen in October. The presentation deals with how the newspapers in Kerry reported on the turbulent events in
The Kerry TD killed in a road accident in 1955
The road surface was later described as having been ‘most slippery’ and ‘treacherous’.’ It was Sunday, 11 December 1955 and Johnny Connor, the Clann na Poblachta TD for Kerry North
Three Kerrymen and the Treaty
The plenipotentiaries who signed the Anglo-Irish Treaty on 6 December 1921 did not include any Kerry men or women. But three Kerry political figures did make their own contribution and
The Kerry MP denied the right to speak Irish in the House of Commons
Thomas (Tom) O’Donnell, who served as the member of parliament for West Kerry from 1900 to 1918, was born on 30 November 1871. A native of Ballyduff near Castlegregory, he
‘We rode on … carrying our revolvers in our hands’
An extract from ‘Ballymacandy: The Story of a Kerry Ambush’ by Owen O’Shea (Merrion Press, 2021) The police completed their business in Tralee by 2.45pm and they set out on
An apology from the BBC – Ross Kinloch, Senator The McGillycuddy of the Reeks
Seanad Éireann – the Irish parliament’s second chamber – has often been home to a diversity of colourful and interesting personalities who, it could be argued, might never have been
Kerry’s forgotten Minister for Education and his legacy
Many political figures of interest from the past are forgotten with the passage of time and one of the objectives of this blog is to ensure that significant politicians from the
Ballymacandy – RTÉ Nationwide 30 June 2021
A feature from the RTÉ Nationwide programme on the Ballymacandy Ambush in County Kerry in 1921 which was broadcast on 30 June 2021. The report by presenter, Donal Byrne, features
