On This Day: Seamus O’Kelly died days after an Armistice night raid and Dublin stopped for him

On the day the guns fell silent in Europe, a 38-year-old editor with a heart weakened by rheumatic fever was swinging a walking stick at drunken soldiers who had kicked in the door of the Sinn Féin offices on Harcourt Street. Seamus O’Kelly died in Jervis Street Hospital on November 14, 1918, and the plaque that still marks his old newspaper office in Kildare remembers him not as a fighter but as a “gentle revolutionary.”

Seamus O'Kelly was born James Kelly in Mobhill, Loughrea, County Galway, in the late 19th century. The youngest of seven children, he was born into a somewhat comfortable middle-class Catholic family. His father ran a newsagent's in Loughrea, passing on a love of the printed word to his children. 

 Seamus was educated at St. Brendan's College in Loughrea and went on to attend University College Dublin. 

Seamus began his editorial career in 1903 with The Southern Star newspaper based in Skibbereen, making him the youngest newspaper editor in Ireland. Seamus also wrote for newspapers such as the United Irishman and The Saturday Evening Post. Seamus went on to become editor of the Leinster Leader in Naas, where he flung himself into the nationalist movement in Kildare.

Every summer, Seamus got involved in the annual Wolfe Tone commemoration at Bodenstown and was instrumental in setting up a branch of Sinn Féin in Naas, as well as a branch of the Gaelic League.

As nationalist Ireland became more militant, Seamus became one of the first to join the Irish Volunteers at its foundation in the Rotunda in 1913. His brother Michael also joined the Volunteers and was imprisoned in the aftermath of the 1916 Rising.

Seamus was unable to take part in the physical aspect of the nationalist movement, such as the Easter insurrection, due to his health. In 1911, he suffered from a bad attack of rheumatic fever, which left him with health problems such as a weakened heart. 

Besides writing for newspapers and editing them too, Seamus also wrote short stories, poems, and plays. Among his works are "The Weaver's Grave", "Stories of Connacht", "By The Stream of Kilmeen," and many others. The Abbey Theatre, in Dublin, produced three of his plays. 

In 1916, Seamus took over the editorship of the Sinn Féin newspaper Nationality after its original editor, Arthur Griffith, was arrested after the Easter Rising. 

On Armistice Day, November 11th, 1918, Seamus was in the Sinn Fein offices at No. 6 Harcourt Street, Dublin, when a group of drunken British soldiers raided it.

 Seamus was sitting at his desk when the loutish soldiers kicked in the door. They proceeded to smash windows, break furniture, and assault anyone who stood in their way.

Seamus tried to defend himself with his walking stick, but he was roughed up by the rampaging soldiers. When the soldiers left, Seamus was on the floor clutching his chest. He was brought to Jervis Street Hospital, where three days later, on November 14th, he lost his life at the age of 38.

The funeral of Seamus O'Kelly brought Dublin to a standstill as all nationalist organizations turned out to mourn the Galway man. The funeral mass took place at St. Teresa’s Church, on Clarendon Street, before burial at Glasnevin Cemetery.

The Leinster Leader, which Seamus held editorship of, reported on his funeral:

"The procession started at noon from the church of St Teresa , Clarendon St., whence the body was removed on Friday night was of imposing proportion while along the route to the cemetery the streets were thronged with spectators." The report from the Leinster Leader  goes on to describe the scenes: "Amongst the carriages was that of the Lord Mayor of Dublin who was present. Occupying position in the cortege were Cumann na mBan and other women organizations. Sinn Fein clubs, Fianna and other boys’ organizations....the fife and drum band of the Dublin Builders United Labourer Trade Union, the Ashbourne Irish Pipers and the Sinn Fein pipers."

Today a plaque adorns the wall at The Leinster Leader office in Kildare in honor of its one-time editor  Seamus O'Kelly describing him as "a gentle revolutionary."

* This article was originally published in 2018 and updated in 2026.

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