He played up his War of Independence credentials and he claimed that Fianna Fáil no longer represented the republican tradition. John O’Leary notes that he achieved the support of many in sporting circles, including figures like Gerald Teahan from Keel, who came on as a substitute for Kerry in the Polo Grounds in the 1947 All-Ireland, and Dee O’Connor from Lawlor’s Cross near Killarney, a four-time All-Ireland winner.9 His nomination was proposed by an old IRA comrade and neighbour from Castlemaine, Dan Mulvihill, a fellow veteran of the Ballymacandy Ambush.
The February 1948 election saw Fianna Fáil lose two of their three seats. Flynn returned to the Dáil as an Independent, taking the second seat on almost 16 per cent of the vote. Patrick W. Palmer from Sneem won a seat for Fine Gael, with only Honor Crowley retaining a seat for Fianna Fáil. On his return to the Dáil, Flynn declined to support the nomination of his former party leader, Éamon de Valera, as Taoiseach. His Dáil statement on the nomination revealed something of the enmity between the pair, as he derided the record of his former party colleagues in government:
I personally do not approve of and do not intend to support Deputy Éamon de Valera as Taoiseach, as in supporting him I feel that I would have supported the Leader of a Government which had neglected my constituency for the past four years … nothing has been done, and there has been a wholesale flight from the land and from the countryside … As far as I can see, Government Ministers resident in Dublin consider Dublin as Ireland. They forget that we exist and that there are such places as Kerry … Remembering what has happened in the past four years, I could not personally support Deputy Éamon de Valera as representing that regime and the Government.10
Nine months later, following a short absence from Kerry County Council, Flynn headed the poll in the Killorglin Electoral Area, a seat he would hold until 1960. Whatever allegations had bedevilled him in the 1940s – whether based on fact or rumour and innuendo – had a limited impact on the Castlemaine farmer’s popularity.
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No documentary evidence has ever been produced to suggest why Flynn was not a candidate for Fianna Fáil in 1943 and 1944, nor do the party’s archives spell out the reasons explicitly. But correspondence between party headquarters and the constituency organisation just weeks after the 1948 poll refer to the difficulties caused by the Jack Flynn ‘situation’ and his return to the Dáil as an Independent. Writing to the then general secretary of Fianna Fáil, Tom Mullins, the chairman of the Comhairle Dáil Cheantair in Kerry South, Fr Myles Allman – a brother of the well-known War of Independence veteran Dan Allman – described the party’s predicament:
13 February 1948
Dear Tom,
The situation in which our friend Jack Flynn has left us is not an enviable one. We have but one FF deputy left and she is a woman. The constituency is 70 old miles from East to West – Mrs Crowley in Killarney is over from 50 miles from the far western end.
I would like you to impress on the National Executive that while we are prepared to face up to any situation for the party’s sake our position is one that almost demands the appt [sic] of a Senator at the Caherciveen end.
This is no plea for giving us back Mr J. B. Healy. Personally, I don’t think that that would mend matters at all. If the organisation was let go bang [sic] by him as a T.D. we can’t expect it to be saved by him as a Senator…. There’s no flogging a dead horse.
The Fianna Fáil general secretary responded:
27 February 1948
Rev. Myles Allman P.P.
Glenflesk
Killarney
Co. Kerry
Dear Fr. Myles,
My apologies for delay in replying to yours of February 13th. To be quite honest, I found it impossible to concentrate on letter writing during the past couple of weeks. I know you will understand.
I discussed your suggestion for a senator with Mr. Kissane [outgoing Kerry North TD Eamonn Kissane] and others and they agree to do everything possible to put it into effect if you can name a suitable man who could be relied on to stand for the Dáil on the next occasion.
As the National Executive will consider Seanad nominations on Monday night, I shall be glad if you will ring or wire me on receipt of this.11
Flynn’s exile from Fianna Fáil was to be relatively short-lived, however. He managed to retain his Dáil seat at the 1951 general election as an Independent, again denying Fianna Fáil two seats in the Kerry South three-seater. The Kerryman records Flynn’s nominees for the 1951 poll: ‘His paper was signed by Thomas O’Connor, Farrantoureen, Lower Bridge St, Killorglin (proposer); Tod Mulvihill, Main Street, Killorglin (seconder); Michael O’Neill, Dromavelly, Killorglin; Michael Johnson, Main Street, Killorglin, Thomas McGillycuddy, do [ditto]; Micheal O’Callaghan, do; Patrick Sheehy, Reen, Killorglin; James Harmon, Farrantoureen; Michael McCarthy, Main Street, Killorglin; Daniel Griffin, Main Street, Killorglin.’12
By this time, Flynn’s animosity towards de Valera had softened considerably. Following the election, as an Independent deputy, he supported the nomination of his former party leader as Taoiseach. This was in stark contrast to the stance he had taken just three years previously. During the debate on the nomination of the Taoiseach in June 1951, he was challenged in the Dáil by Oliver J. Flanagan, who, months later, would be on the receiving end of Flynn’s fist:
I would like to hear Deputy John Flynn, in whose constituency one of the candidates was almost torn to bits. I would like to know if Deputy John Flynn told the people of South Kerry, who pulled the headlights off Deputy de Valera’s car, that Deputy Éamon de Valera was going to be his choice of Taoiseach in this country … I hope and trust that, within the next ten minutes, Deputy John Flynn will tell this House, and tell the people of South Kerry and of Ireland, who watched the reception which one of the candidates got in the Deputy’s constituency, whether he got a mandate from the people of South Kerry to put Deputy de Valera back as Taoiseach.13
Flynn declined to rise to Flanagan’s bait and was gushing in his praise for his former party leader:
I place my trust in him [De Valera] and I feel that good will come from it. In conclusion, I wish to say that I am voting for Deputy de Valera for two reasons, (1) that in my opinion he is the embodiment of the national ideal for which our people have fought and died and that he will pursue his policy to the end, and (2) that as the leader of a large Party he is in a position to govern this country and, as such, is in a better position to carry out a policy that will be acceptable to the people than Deputy [John A.] Costello [the Fine Gael leader] who would have to negotiate with a number of smaller Parties.14
Locally as well as nationally, by the summer of 1951, Flynn’s rapprochement with Fianna Fáil was well underway. Within months of voting for de Valera as Taoiseach, Flynn was re-admitted to his former party. At a meeting of the Comhairle Dáil Ceantair in Kerry South on 10 November 1951, ‘it was unanimously decided to admit Mr J. Flynn T.D. to membership of the Organisation’.15
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One of Jack Flynn’s strongest allies in the Kerry South constituency was Cahersiveen party activist, Daniel (Dan) O’Donoghue, father of Ceann Comhairle John O’Donoghue. The former minister recalls that in his youth, the family had a spare room which was known as ‘Jack Flynn’s room’ in which the TD would spend the night if he was travelling in the Cahersiveen area.16 Dan O’Donoghue, also a veteran of the War of Independence, remained a close friend and supporter of Flynn’s, even when the latter was thrown out of the party and despite the
