He was born at Ballyknockane in the Parish of Mourne Abbey in March 1884. He attended Burnfort National School. In 1897 the family moved to Blackpool on the northside of Cork (city). Mac Curtain became active in numerous cultural and political movements from the turn of the nineteenth century when he joined the Blackpool, Cork branch of Conradh na Gaeilge (the Gaelic League), becoming its secretary in 1902. He had diverse interests in music, poetry, history, archaeology and Irish history. He worked in his early career as a clerk and in his free time taught Irish to those who wished to learn. In 1911 he joined the Fianna Éireann. His devotion to the Irish language and independence attracted the attentions of the British authorities and he served prison terms in 1916 and 1917.
He met Eilish Walsh (Eibhlís Breathnach) at a Gaelic League meeting and they married in 1908.1 They had six chidren, five of whom survied into adulthood. The family lived over number 40 Thomas Davis Street where Tomás had a small clothing and rainwear factory.
He was elected in the January 1920 council elections as the Sinn Féin councillor for NW Ward No. 3 of Cork, and was chosen by his fellow councillors to be the Lord Mayor. He began a process of political reform within the city, making changes to the way in which the council operated and was run.citation needed
Death
In January 1919 the Anglo-Irish war started and Mac Curtain became an officer in the IRA. On 20 March1920, his 36th birthday, Mac Curtain was shot dead in front of his wife by a group of men with blackened faces, who were found to be members of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) by the official inquest into the event.2 In the wake of the killing, Mac Curtain's house in Thomas Davis Street in the city's Blackpool area, was ransacked. The killing caused widespread public outrage.citation needed The coroner's inquest passed a verdict of wilful murder against British Prime Minister Lloyd George and against certain members of the RIC.2 The IRA later killed the man who ordered the attack, District Inspector Swanzy, in Lisburn, County Antrim on 22 August1920 using Mac Curtain's personal handgun.3 Mac Curtain is buried in St. Finbarr's Cemetery.
Mac Curtain's son, Tomás Óg (junior) (1915–1994) later became a leading republican and Chief of Staff of the IRA.citation needed Ironically he would be sentenced to death by the De Valera government for mortally wounding Garda Síochána John Roche on 3 January 1940 who had been shadowing him for weeks. The sentence was not carried out, probably for fear of a public reaction; the sentence was commuted to penal servitude for Life. In the event, he was released after seven years.
