Tomás O’Donohoe (Thomas O’Donoghue) was born in 1889 and grew up on a small farm in Reenard on the south Kerry coast, one of eight children born to Michael and Ellen O’Donohoe. As a young man he lived in London working for the postal service, and joined the London branches of Conradh na Gaeilge, the Irish Republican Brotherhood, and the Irish Volunteers. Anticipation of rebellion drew O’Donohoe back to Ireland and he arrived in Dublin on Good Friday 1916 as plans for the Easter Rising were being finalized. He joined the republican garrison in the General Post Office under the command of The O’Rahilly. O’Donohoe was interned in Wandsworth, Wakefield, and Frongoch following his arrest after the Rising. He was released from custody in July 1916 and, on refusing to enlist in the British Army, O'Donohoe was sentenced to fifty days hard labor and transferred to the Tower of London in January 1917.

After his release from prison, O'Donohoe joined the Cahersiveen Company of the Irish Volunteers under the command of Diarmuid O’Connell. He took part in the Irish War of Independence and fought primarily in County Kerry. During this time, O’Donohoe also entered politics as a member of Kerry County Council and was acting chairman of the Council in 1920. A year later, he was elected to Dáil Éireann representing the Kerry-Limerick West constituency. O’Donohoe opposed the Treaty and voted against it in the Dáil. He fought with the anti-Treaty forces during the Civil War and was imprisoned in 1923 in Newbridge, County Kildare, going on hunger strike for 43 days before he was released. He was elected Teachta Dála for Kerry-Limerick West in 1922 and for Kerry in 1923. O’Donohoe retired from politics at the general election of June 1927. He was prohibited from taking up a job in teaching because of a ban on republicans from roles in the public service and he opened a small shop. After Fianna Fáil came to power in 1932, O’Donohoe secured a post in the civil service in Dublin, where he died in 1963.

Sources:

O'Shea, Owen. "Brother against brother: the Civil War in Kerry", June 9, 2022. https://owenoshea.ie/brother-against-brother-the-civil-war-in-kerry/ (accessed August 29, 2024).