George Noble Plunkett
Encyclopedia
George Noble Plunkett or Count Plunkett was a biographer and Irish
nationalist, and father of Joseph Mary Plunkett
, one of the leaders of the Easter Rising
of 1916.
Born in Dublin, Plunkett was the son of Patrick Joseph Plunkett (1817-1918), a builder, and Elizabeth Noble (Plunkett). The family income allowed Plunkett to attend school in Nice
, France
, Clongowes Wood College, County Kildare, and Dublin University. At Dublin he studied Renaissance and medieval art among other topics, ultimately graduating in 1884. Plunkett spent much time abroad and throughout Italy
. In 1884 he was created a Papal Count by Pope Leo XIII
for donating money and property to the Sisters of the Little Company of Mary
, a Roman Catholic nursing order.
That year he married Josephine Cranny (1858-1944) and they had seven children: Philomena (ca. 1886), Joseph
(1887), Moya (Maria, ca. 1889), Geraldine (ca. 1891), George Oliver
(1895), Fiona (ca. 1896) and John (Jack, ca. 1897). From 1907 to 1916 he was curator of the National Museum
in Dublin.
Plunkett's interest in politics likely came mostly through his sons, Joseph, George and John, and though it was following the execution of Joseph that he became radicalised, it is likely that Joseph swore him into the Irish Republican Brotherhood
some time before he was shot. Joseph, George and Jack were all sentenced to death following the Easter Rising, but George and Jack had their sentences commuted to 10 years penal servitude, and both were released in 1917. At least two of his daughters, Philomena and Fiona, were involved in preparations for the Rising. He was expelled from the Royal Dublin Society
for his son's role in the Easter Rising
.
In 1917, in Sinn Féin's first parliamentary victory, Plunkett won the seat of Roscommon North
in a by-election. After his election, he made the decision to abstain from Westminster. He was re-elected in the 1918 general election and joined the First Dáil
, in which he served briefly as Ceann Comhairle
. Following the Irish War of Independence
, he joined the anti-treaty side, and continued to support Sinn Féin
after the split with Fianna Fáil
.
In a 1936 by-election in the Galway constituency
, Plunkett ran as a joint Cumann Poblachta na hÉireann
/Sinn Féin
candidate. Losing his deposit, he polled only 2,696 votes (2.1share). In 1938 he was one of the former members of the Second Dáil
that assigned a claimed residual sovereign power to the IRA, a process known as Irish republican legitimatism
. Count Plunkett died at the age of 96 in Ireland
.
Part of the prominent Irish Norman
Plunkett
family, which included Saint Oliver Plunkett
(1629–1681), George's relatives included the Earls of Fingall
- his great-grandfather George Plunkett (1750-1824) was "in the sixth degree removed in relationship" (fifth cousin) to the 8th Earl of Fingall
- and the Barons of Dunsany, whose line had conformed to the Church of Ireland
in the eighteenth century. One of that line, The Hon. Sir Horace Curzon Plunkett, had served as Unionist MP for South Dublin (1892–1900), but became a convinced Home Rule supporter by 1912 as an alternative to the partition of Ireland, and served as a member of the first Irish Free State Senate
(1922-23).
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...
nationalist, and father of Joseph Mary Plunkett
Joseph Mary Plunkett
Joseph Mary Plunkett was an Irish nationalist, poet, journalist, and a leader of the 1916 Easter Rising.-Background:...
, one of the leaders of the Easter Rising
Easter Rising
The Easter Rising was an insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by Irish republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing the Irish Republic at a time when the British Empire was heavily engaged in the First World War...
of 1916.
Born in Dublin, Plunkett was the son of Patrick Joseph Plunkett (1817-1918), a builder, and Elizabeth Noble (Plunkett). The family income allowed Plunkett to attend school in Nice
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Clongowes Wood College, County Kildare, and Dublin University. At Dublin he studied Renaissance and medieval art among other topics, ultimately graduating in 1884. Plunkett spent much time abroad and throughout Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. In 1884 he was created a Papal Count by Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII , born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci to an Italian comital family, was the 256th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903...
for donating money and property to the Sisters of the Little Company of Mary
Sisters of the Little Company of Mary
The Little Company of Mary is a Roman Catholic religious institute of women dedicated to caring for the suffering, the sick and the dying. The order was founded in 1877 England by Venerable Mary Potter....
, a Roman Catholic nursing order.
That year he married Josephine Cranny (1858-1944) and they had seven children: Philomena (ca. 1886), Joseph
Joseph Mary Plunkett
Joseph Mary Plunkett was an Irish nationalist, poet, journalist, and a leader of the 1916 Easter Rising.-Background:...
(1887), Moya (Maria, ca. 1889), Geraldine (ca. 1891), George Oliver
George Oliver Plunkett
George Oliver Plunkett was a veteran of the Easter Rising, Irish War of Independence and Irish Civil War and was IRA Chief of Staff in World War II...
(1895), Fiona (ca. 1896) and John (Jack, ca. 1897). From 1907 to 1916 he was curator of the National Museum
National Museum of Ireland
The National Museum of Ireland is the national museum in Ireland. It has three branches in Dublin and one in County Mayo, with a strong emphasis on Irish art, culture and natural history.-Archaeology:...
in Dublin.
Plunkett's interest in politics likely came mostly through his sons, Joseph, George and John, and though it was following the execution of Joseph that he became radicalised, it is likely that Joseph swore him into the Irish Republican Brotherhood
Irish Republican Brotherhood
The Irish Republican Brotherhood was a secret oath-bound fraternal organisation dedicated to the establishment of an "independent democratic republic" in Ireland during the second half of the 19th century and the start of the 20th century...
some time before he was shot. Joseph, George and Jack were all sentenced to death following the Easter Rising, but George and Jack had their sentences commuted to 10 years penal servitude, and both were released in 1917. At least two of his daughters, Philomena and Fiona, were involved in preparations for the Rising. He was expelled from the Royal Dublin Society
Royal Dublin Society
The Royal Dublin Society was founded on 25 June 1731 to "to promote and develop agriculture, arts, industry, and science in Ireland". The RDS is synonymous with its main premises in Ballsbridge in Dublin, Ireland...
for his son's role in the Easter Rising
Easter Rising
The Easter Rising was an insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by Irish republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing the Irish Republic at a time when the British Empire was heavily engaged in the First World War...
.
In 1917, in Sinn Féin's first parliamentary victory, Plunkett won the seat of Roscommon North
North Roscommon (UK Parliament constituency)
North Roscommon was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning one Member of Parliament 1885–1922.Prior to the United Kingdom general election, 1885 the area was part of the Roscommon constituency...
in a by-election. After his election, he made the decision to abstain from Westminster. He was re-elected in the 1918 general election and joined the First Dáil
First Dáil
The First Dáil was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 1919–1921. In 1919 candidates who had been elected in the Westminster elections of 1918 refused to recognise the Parliament of the United Kingdom and instead assembled as a unicameral, revolutionary parliament called "Dáil Éireann"...
, in which he served briefly as Ceann Comhairle
Ceann Comhairle
The Ceann Comhairle is the chairman of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas of Ireland. The person who holds the position is elected by members of the Dáil from among their number in the first session after each general election...
. Following the Irish War of Independence
Irish War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence , Anglo-Irish War, Black and Tan War, or Tan War was a guerrilla war mounted by the Irish Republican Army against the British government and its forces in Ireland. It began in January 1919, following the Irish Republic's declaration of independence. Both sides agreed...
, he joined the anti-treaty side, and continued to support Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
after the split with Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...
.
In a 1936 by-election in the Galway constituency
Galway (Dáil Éireann constituency)
Galway was a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas from 1921 to 1937. The method of election was the single transferable vote form of proportional representation .- History :...
, Plunkett ran as a joint Cumann Poblachta na hÉireann
Cumann Poblachta na hÉireann
Cumann Poblachta na hÉireann , abbreviated CPnaÉ, was a political party established by the Irish Republican Army in 1936. It existed until 1937.The party was led by prominent IRA members...
/Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
candidate. Losing his deposit, he polled only 2,696 votes (2.1share). In 1938 he was one of the former members of the Second Dáil
Second Dáil
The Second Dáil was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 16 August 1921 until 8 June 1922. From 1919–1922 Dáil Éireann was the revolutionary parliament of the self-proclaimed Irish Republic. The Second Dáil consisted of members elected in 1921...
that assigned a claimed residual sovereign power to the IRA, a process known as Irish republican legitimatism
Irish republican legitimatism
A concept within Irish republicanism, Irish republican legitimatism denies the legitimacy of the political entities of Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and posits that the pre-partition Irish Republic continues to exist...
. Count Plunkett died at the age of 96 in Ireland
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...
.
Part of the prominent Irish Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
Plunkett
Plunkett
Plunkett, a surname originating in Ireland, and of Norse or Norman origin, may be spelled Plunkett, Plunket, Plunkit, Plunkitt, Plonkit, Plonkitt, Plonket, Plonkett, or Plunceid, and may refer to:* Baron Plunket, a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom...
family, which included Saint Oliver Plunkett
Oliver Plunkett
Saint Oliver Plunkett was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland....
(1629–1681), George's relatives included the Earls of Fingall
Earl of Fingall
Baron Killeen and Earl of Fingall were titles in the Peerage of Ireland. Baron Fingall was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom...
- his great-grandfather George Plunkett (1750-1824) was "in the sixth degree removed in relationship" (fifth cousin) to the 8th Earl of Fingall
Arthur Plunkett, 8th Earl of Fingall
Arthur James Plunkett, 8th Earl of Fingall KP was a Roman Catholic Irish peer, styled Lord Killeen until 1793. He became Earl of Fingall in 1793 after the death of Arthur James Plunkett, 7th Earl of Fingall and was appointed a Knight of the Order of St Patrick on 20 October 1821...
- and the Barons of Dunsany, whose line had conformed to the Church of Ireland
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...
in the eighteenth century. One of that line, The Hon. Sir Horace Curzon Plunkett, had served as Unionist MP for South Dublin (1892–1900), but became a convinced Home Rule supporter by 1912 as an alternative to the partition of Ireland, and served as a member of the first Irish Free State Senate
Seanad Éireann (Irish Free State)
Seanad Éireann was the upper house of the Oireachtas of the Irish Free State from 1922–1936. It has also been known simply as the Senate, or as the First Seanad. The Senate was established under the 1922 Constitution of the Irish Free State but a number of constitutional amendments were...
(1922-23).