John Joe Sheehy

{{Infobox GAA player

| code= Football

| sport = Gaelic football

| image =

| name = John Joe Sheehy

| irish = Seán Seosamh Ó Síoda

| fullname = John Joe Sheehy

| birth_date = 16 October 1897

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1980|01|12|1897|10|16|df=y}}

| feet = 5

| inches = 11

| occupation =

| county = Kerry

| province = Munster

| club = John Mitchels

Tralee Parnells

| cposition =

| clubs =

| clyears = 1920s–1930s

1920s–1930s

| clapps(points) =

| clcounty = 1

| clprovince=

| clallireland =

| counties = Kerry

| icposition = Left corner-forward

| icyears = 1919–1930

| icapps(points) = 35 (4–22)

| icprovince = 7

| icallireland = 4

| nfl = 2

| allstars =

| clupdate =

| icupdate =

| birth_place=Tralee, County Kerry

}}

John Joseph Sheehy (16 October 1897 – 12 January 1980) was an Irish political/military activist and sportsperson. He participated in the Irish War of Independence and Irish Civil War in the Irish Republican Army (IRA), where he was a senior figure in County Kerry. He also gained fame as a successful Gaelic footballer representing the Kerry county team.

IRA activities

In 1914 Sheehy joined the republican boy scouts the Fianna Éireann and later the Irish Volunteers.{{cite web |url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/sheehy-john-joe-a8030 |title=Sheehy, John Joe |last=Coleman |first=Marie |date= October 2009 |website=Dictionary of Irish Biography

|publisher= |access-date= 7 June 2022 |quote=}} Sheehy commanded the Boherbee company of the IRA, and later of the Tralee. His brother Jimmy was killed in the British Army in the Battle of the Somme in 1916.

He sided against the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1922, like most of the IRA in Kerry. In the Civil War, when Free State troops landed in Kerry as part of a seaborne offensive, he was in command of the Anti-Treaty garrison in Tralee. After the Army took the town, Sheehy retreated, burning the barracks there. As the conflict became a guerrilla affair, he found himself in charge of three 'columns', or around 75 men in total, in the Ballymacthomas area.Tom Doyle, The Civil War in Kerry{{rp|161}} He and Tom McEllistrim were in charge of an attack on Castlemaine in January 1923.{{rp|251}}

Just after the Civil War, when Sheehy was still on the run, he managed to play football for Kerry. Kerry captain Con Brosnan, though a member of the Free State army, would guarantee his safe passage. Sheehy would pay into Munster and All Ireland finals, slip off his street clothes, play, and then at the final whistle, disappear back into the crowd.{{cite web |url=http://www.tribune.ie/article/2009/jan/04/125-most-influential-people-in-gaa-history-100-76/ |title=125 Most Influential People in GAA History (76-100) |accessdate=28 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090809020609/http://www.tribune.ie/article/2009/jan/04/125-most-influential-people-in-gaa-history-100-76/ |archivedate=9 August 2009}} In 1936 Sheehy was in New York and was able to smuggle a large number of Thompson sub machine guns back to Ireland.MacEoin, Uinseann (1997), The IRA in the twilight years 1923-1948, Argenta Publications, Dublin, pg 554, ISBN 0951117246

Prison

In February 1941 Sheehy was arrested and interned in the Curragh Internment Camp for two years.Coleman

Sheehy was arrested again and charged with making "seditious speeches" on the day that IRA hunger striker Seán McCaughey died (11 May 1946). Sheehy was found guilty and sentenced to four months imprisonment.MacEoin, pg 541

Sporting career

He played Gaelic football with his local club John Mitchels and was a member of the senior Kerry county team from 1919 until 1930. He also played hurling with Tralee Parnells. Sheehy captained Kerry to the All-Ireland title in 1930. Three of his sons – Seán Óg, Niall and Paudie – all won All-Ireland titles with Kerry in the 1960s.{{cite web |url=http://www.tribune.ie/article/2009/jan/04/125-most-influential-people-in-gaa-history-100-76/ |title=125 Most Influential People In GAA History (76–100) |publisher=Sunday Tribune |date=4 January 2009 |accessdate=13 September 2009 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090809020609/http://www.tribune.ie/article/2009/jan/04/125-most-influential-people-in-gaa-history-100-76/ |archivedate=9 August 2009}} He played in the Railway Cup Hurling final in 1927 and was captain of the Football team the same year and won other medals in 1931.{{fact|date=May 2021}}

Later life

Sheehy remained a staunch supporter of Sinn Féin, and was critical of the moves to end abstention by the party in the late 1960s. He sided with the Provisionals in the split at the 1970 Ard Fheis and remained active in Provisional Sinn Féin until his death, supporting the IRA's guerrilla campaign. John Joe Sheehy died in Tralee, and was given a republican funeral at his own request. Sheehy's funeral oration was given by Dáithí Ó Conaill, vice-president of Sinn Féin.Coleman