Timothy Daniel Sullivan

Sullivan was a member of the Home Rule League, supporting Charles Stewart Parnell in the 1880 general election, being "convinced that without self-government there could never be peace, prosperity or contentment in Ireland". He joined the Irish Parliamentary Party when it was established in 1882. When the party split in 1891, he became an Anti-Parnellite until the Nationalist factions were reunited in 1900.

Sullivan represented a number of constituencies in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. He was elected from Westmeath in 1880 and served until 1885. He then became the first MP from Dublin College Green, until he was defeated by a Pro-Parnellite in the 1892 general election. Four days later he was returned unopposed for West Donegal which he represented until he retired in 1900.[1]

He was Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1886 and 1887.[1]

He owned and edited a number of publications (The Nation, Dublin Weekly News and Young Ireland). In December 1887, he published reports of meetings by the National League. As a result, he was convicted and imprisoned for two months under the Crimes Act.[1]

As well as writing the Irish national hymn "God Save Ireland", he wrote the adopted anthem of the All-for-Ireland League: "All for Ireland ! One for all ! and popular pieces such as "Song from the Backwoods" and "Michael Dwyer".[2]

He was married to Catherine (Kate) Healy who was the sister of Tim Healy, first Governor General of the Irish Free State in 1922. A number of his descendants were people of outstanding distinction. His son Timothy was Chief Justice of Ireland from 1936 to 1946. His daughter Frances was an Irish-language activist in Craobh an Chéitinnigh, the Keating branch of the Gaelic League (Conradh na Gaelige) and a lecturer in Irish. His daughter Anne (who had sixteen children) was the mother of politician Kevin O'Higgins, one of the dominant political figures of the 1920s. His great-grandson Tom O'Higgins also went on to become Chief Justice of Ireland from 1974 to 1985.[3]

His brother, Alexander, author of New Ireland and a fervent constitutional and cultural nationalist, was owner and editor of The Nation after Gavan Duffy, and prior to Timothy Daniel Sullivan.[4]

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Timothy Sullivan
• 1911 census return.
• Who's Who of British members of parliament: Vol. II 1886–1918, edited by M. Stenton & S. Lees (The Harvester Press 1978)
• Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland 1801–1922, edited by B.M. Walker (Royal Irish Academy 1978)

Sullivan, T.D. (1905) Recollections of Troubled Times in Irish Politics. Dublin: Sealy, Bryers & Walker; M.H. Gills & Son, Ltd. Retrieved on 30 March 2011.

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Timothy Daniel Sullivan
• Works by Timothy Daniel Sullivan at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Timothy Daniel Sullivan at Internet Archive
• Dunboy, and Other Poems by Timothy Daniel O'Sullivan. Fowler, Dublin. 1861
• Irish National Poems, Timothy Daniel O'Sullivan (Ed.) Gill & Sons, Dublin, 1911