Bernard Devlin was an Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

-born lawyer, journalist and political figure in Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

. He represented Montreal Centre

Montreal Centre

Montreal Centre was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1892.It was created by the British North America Act of 1867. It consisted initially of the West Ward, the Centre Ward and the East Ward of the city of Montreal....

 in the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

 from 1875 to 1878 as a Liberal

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

 member.

He was born in County Roscommon

County Roscommon

County Roscommon is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the town of Roscommon. Roscommon County Council is the local authority for the county...

, the son of Owen Devlin and Catherine Mellany, and studied medicine with his uncle, Charles Devlin of County Mayo, and in Dublin. He came to Quebec City

Quebec City

Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...

 with his father in 1844. Not allowed to practise medicine because of his age, Devlin established a newspaper the Freeman’s Journal and Commercial Advertiser. He later went to Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, studied law with Edward Carter, was called to the Lower Canada bar in 1847 and set up practice in Montreal. In 1848, he married Anna Eliza Hickey. He served on the city council for Montreal and was an officer in the militia, serving during the Fenian raids

Fenian raids

Between 1866 and 1871, the Fenian raids of the Fenian Brotherhood who were based in the United States; on British army forts, customs posts and other targets in Canada, were fought to bring pressure on Britain to withdraw from Ireland. They divided many Catholic Irish-Canadians, many of whom were...

 and reached the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Devlin was called to the Ontario bar in 1868.

Devlin ran unsuccessfully in Montreal West against Thomas D'Arcy McGee in 1867 for a seat in the House of Commons. He was defeated by Michael Patrick Ryan

Michael Patrick Ryan

Michael Patrick Ryan was an Irish-born Quebec businessman and political figure. He represented Montreal West in the 1st Canadian Parliament and Montreal Centre in the Canadian House of Commons from 1872 to 1874 and from 1879 to 1882 as a Liberal-Conservative member.He was born in Pallis, Donohill,...

 in the riding of Montreal Centre in 1874 but was elected by acclamation in January 1875 after Ryan's election was overturned. His first election was appealed but he was elected again by acclamation in November of the same year. He spoke in favour of amnesty for Louis Riel

Louis Riel

Louis David Riel was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political and spiritual leader of the Métis people of the Canadian prairies. He led two resistance movements against the Canadian government and its first post-Confederation Prime Minister, Sir John A....

 and Ambroise-Dydime Lépine

Ambroise-Dydime Lépine

Ambroise-Dydime Lépine was a military leader of the Métis under the command of Louis Riel during the Red River Rebellion of 1869-1870. He was tried and sentenced to death for his role in the rebellion and for the execution of Thomas Scott, but his sentence was commuted by Governor General Lord...

. Devlin was defeated by Ryan in 1878 when he ran for reelection. Devlin died in Denver, Colorado

Denver, Colorado

The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...

, where he had gone to recover from illness, at the age of 55 and was buried in the Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery

Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery

Founded in 1854, Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges is a 343-acre cemetery located in the borough of Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The entrance and the grounds run along a part of chemin Côte-des-Neiges and up the slopes of Mount Royal...

in Montreal.