Patrick O’Neill fonds

About the fonds

A blurry black and white photo of many people, one of whom is Patrick O'Neill
Patrick O’Neill in front of the Victoria Hotel | From File 2006 03 59 of the Patrick O’Neill fonds

Patrick O’Neill was an Irish politician, living between 1875 and 1938. O’Neill lived in Northern Ireland and was an active member of the Nationalist party. The Patrick O’Neill fonds is a collection of papers pertaining to his political life as well as some personal records and memorabilia.

The fonds consists of incoming and outgoing correspondence with constituents, government officials, supporters, and other MPs, official documents, political pamphlets and booklets; election posters and flyers; newspaper clippings; personal records (notebook, speech notes); photographs; and personal memorabilia, including a leather pouch with relics of St. Anthony and St. Oliver Plunket.  Fonds also includes a sous-fonds of O’Neill’s daughter, Teresa V. O’Neill.  The Teresa V. O’Neill sous-fonds includes a draft of her doctoral thesis and correspondence related to her role of literary executrix of her father’s estate. The fonds contains records ranging between 1875 and 1998, with the predominant dates being 1918-1938.

The papers were donated to the Kelly Library Archival and Manuscript Collections by Seamus Beattie, a grandson of Patrick O’Neill.  The material was selected from a larger collection of papers and memorabilia in the O’Neill home by Seamus Beattie and Mark McGowan, Principal of the University of St. Michael’s College. The material was shipped by mail from Ireland and received in July 2006.


Finding Guide

The fonds is 75.8 cm in extent and is organized into the following series:

  1. Election materials
  2. Correspondence with constituents
    1. Correspondence with constituents, 1926-1928
    2. Correspondence with constituents, 1935-1936
  3. Collected materials
  4. Personal memorabilia

The Teresa V. O’Neill sous-fonds is organized into the following series:

  1. Thesis
  2. Executrix correspondence
  3. Diplomas and certificates

There is no electronic finding guide available at this time but a print finding guide is available in the archives.

Using the Special Collections