John Joe Sheehy

John Joe Sheehy (1897 to 1980) was an Irish republican activist and Gaelic footballer. He joined the republican boy scouts Fianna Éireann and later the Irish Volunteers in 1914, commanded the Boherbee company of the IRA and became a senior figure in County Kerry during the War of Independence and the Civil War. On the anti-Treaty side he commanded the garrison in Tralee in 1922, and he was interned at the Curragh Internment Camp for two years from 1941. As a footballer he played with John Mitchels and was a member of the senior Kerry county team from 1919 until 1930, when he captained Kerry to the All-Ireland title. Three of his sons, Seán Óg, Niall and Paudie, all won All-Ireland titles with Kerry in the 1960s. He remained active in Provisional Sinn Féin until his death in Tralee.