Eugene O'Sullivan

Who was Eugene O'Sullivan?

Eugene O'Sullivan was an Irish nationalist politician and farmer, who was elected Member of Parliament for East Kerry in January 1910, but was unseated on petition shortly afterwards.

O'Sullivan first stood for election to the House of Commons at the 1906 general election, when he fell only 54 votes short of unseating the sitting Irish Parliamentary Party MP, John Murphy. However, at the next election, in January 1910, O'Sullivan stood as an independent nationalist, and won the seat with a majority 489 votes. Despite being elected as an independent, O'Sullivan chose to immediately join the Irish Parliamentary Party, and took his seat in the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. His ten contributions to proceedings related to land issues and old-age pensions.

The defeated member, Murphy, launched an election petition, alleging intimidation and irregularities at the election. The petition was heard in June 1910, at Killarney before Mr. Justices Madden and Kenny. After 7 days of hearings the judges found for Murphy, and O'Sullivan was unseated. However, the Nationalists failed to move the writ for a by-election, and the seat remained vacant until the December 1910 general election.