Séamus Ó hEocha

Séamus Ó hEocha (16 December 1880 – 19 September 1959) nicknamed , alluding to his stature ), was an Irish educator and briefly an independent senator. He was active in the Gaelic League and became head teacher of Coláiste na Rinne in County Waterford. in Ballyshane, Monagea, south of Newcastle West, County Limerick.

In 1920 The Educational Company of Ireland published as a reader Seanchas agus Scéilíní Simplidhe dá Ghaedhil óga na hÉireann, a collection of stories which had appeared in Pobal, a Limerick paper. Later readers were Géilín chun na leanbhaí thabhairt isteach ar léigheamh na Gaedhilge (1923), Bréagán do pháistí óga na h-Éireann, and Féirín do leanbhaidhe óga na hÉíreann. He also edited a collection of stories by Micil Ó Muirgheasa, a seanchaí from Ring.

Ó hEocha helped start two factories in Dungarvan, one for leather and the other for glue and gelatin. and the Irish Tourist Board in 1941–1942. He presided over the 1949 Oireachtas na Gaeilge. This was an early indication that the revived Seanad would be run along party lines, mirroring Dáil Éireann, the lower house. Ó hEochadha was not a member of subsequent Seanads.

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