John M. O'Sullivan

John Marcus O'Sullivan (18 February 1881 – 9 February 1948) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Minister for Education from 1926 to 1932 and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance from 1924 to 1926. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1923 to 1943.[1]

John M. O'Sullivan
Minister for Education
In office 28 January 1926 – 9 March 1932
President	W. T. Cosgrave
Preceded by	Eoin MacNeill
Succeeded by	Thomas Derrig
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance
In office 1 December 1924 – 27 January 1926
President	W. T. Cosgrave
Preceded by	New office
Succeeded by	Eamonn Duggan
Teachta Dála
In office July 1937 – June 1943
Constituency	Kerry North
In office August 1923 – July 1937
Constituency	Kerry
Personal details
Born	John Marcus O'Sullivan (1881-02-18)18 February 1881 Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland
Died	9 February 1948(1948-02-09) (aged 66) Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland
Nationality	Irish
Political party	Fine Gael
Education	St. Brendan's, Killarney Clongowes Wood College
Alma mater	University College Dublin University of Bonn Heidelberg University

O'Sullivan was born in Killarney, County Kerry in 1881. He was educated at St. Brendan's, Killarney, Clongowes Wood College, County Kildare, and later at 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 TD for the Kerry North constituency.[3] He served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance from 1924 to 1926. 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 to 1930. 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. "John Marcus O'Sullivan". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
2. "John Marcus O'Sullivan". University College Dublin Archives. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
3. "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