T. P. O'Connor

Thomas Power O'Connor, PC (5 October 1848 – 18 November 1929), known as T. P. O'Connor and occasionally as Tay Pay (mimicking the Irish pronunciation of the initials T. P.), was an Irish nationalist politician and journalist who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland for nearly fifty years.

Early life and education

O'Connor was born in Athlone, County Westmeath, on 5 October 1848. He was the eldest son of Thomas O'Connor, an Athlone shopkeeper, and his wife Teresa (née Power), the daughter of a non-commissioned officer in the Connaught Rangers. His family were supporters of the Liberal Party. He was educated at the College of the Immaculate Conception in Athlone, and Queen's College Galway, where he won scholarships in history and modern languages and built up a reputation as an orator, serving as auditor of the college's Literary and Debating Society.

Career

From 1867, O'Connor attempted unsuccessfully to gain a position in the Civil Service before working for the Royal Irish Constabulary as a reporting assistant on nationalist political demonstrations. He entered journalism as a junior reporter on Saunders' Newsletter, a Dublin journal. In 1870, he moved to London, and was appointed a sub-editor on The Daily Telegraph, principally on account of the utility of his mastery of French and German in reportage of the Franco-Prussian War. He later became London correspondent for The New York Herald. He compiled the society magazine Mainly About People (M.A.P.) from 1898 to 1911.