John M. O'Sullivan

John Marcus O'Sullivan (18 February 1881 – 9 February 1948) was an Irish politician, cabinet minister and academic.[1]

O'Sullivan was born in Killarney, County Kerry in 1881. He was educated at St. Brendan's, Killarney; Clongowes Wood College, County Kildare; University College Dublin (UCD); University of Bonn and Heidelberg University, where he was awarded a PhD. He was appointed to the Chair of Modern History at UCD in 1910.[2]

He was first elected to Dáil Éireann in 1923 as a Cumann na nGaedheal Teachta Dála (TD) for the Kerry North constituency.[3] He served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance from 1924–26. He was appointed to the Cabinet in 1926, serving under W. T. Cosgrave as Minister for Education. In 1926 a report from the Second National Programme Conference was presented to him as the Minister for Education. He accepted all proposals stated in the report to be recommended as a national curriculum. His major ministerial achievement was the Vocational Education Act 1930.[2] He served on the Irish delegation to the League of Nations, in 1924 and from 1928–30. He was re-elected at every election until 1943 when he lost his Dáil seat.[3] He subsequently retired from politics.

O'Sullivan died in 1948, five years after retiring from politics.

References

  1. "Mr. John Marcus O'Sullivan". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
  2. 2.0 2.1 "John Marcus O'Sullivan". University College Dublin Archives. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
  3. 3.0 3.1 "John Marcus O'Sullivan". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
Political offices
New office Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance
1924–1926
Succeeded by
Eamonn Duggan
Preceded by
Eoin MacNeill
Minister for Education
1926–1932
Succeeded by
Thomas Derrig