John Francis O'Beirne (1897 – 7 February 1978)[1][2][3] was a farmer, businessman, Irish republican activist and Fianna Fáil politician in County Sligo.
[17] He was captured on 27 May 1921[18] and court-martialled for involvement in the killing of RIC constables in Ballisodare, but escaped from Sligo Gaol in June 1921 before sentence could be passed.
[2] His Collooney Battalion, now part of the "Irregulars", killed five Irish Free State Army soldiers in an ambush and captured two armoured cars.
Holt received slightly more first preferences than O'Beirne and was elected with his transfers, along with Martin Roddy of Cumann na nGaedheal.
[25] O'Beirne spent time in the United States, "reporting" to the New York IRA co-ordinator Connie Neenan in January 1927,[26] and attended prominent Clan na Gael functions in 1930–1932.
[2][28] He returned to Ireland in the 1930s, working as a farmer and businessman, and was active in Fianna Fáil's industrial policy promoted by Seán Lemass.
[31] In 1955, he bought from Major Clarence H. Hillas "Sea View", a country house previously owned by the Atkinson family,[32] near the Sligo–Ballina road at Doonecoy, Templeboy.