[1] He was connected with Irish political movements from 1880 onwards and in 1881-82 was imprisoned as a ‘suspect’ under the then coercion legislation.
He held this seat unopposed through successive general elections until December 1918, when he was defeated by the Sinn Féin candidate Alexander McCabe by 9,113 votes to 1,988.
[11] Maume (1999) states that O’Dowd was himself beaten up and severely injured by Sinn Féin supporters on polling day in 1918.
[12] As a local authority representative, O’Dowd was a member of the Irish Convention of 1917–18, which unsuccessfully attempted to reconcile North and South Ireland.
[3] Lays of South Sligo: A Few Wild Flowers of National Poetry, Dublin, Gill, 1888; 2nd ed.