John O'Connor Power
Encyclopedia
John O'Connor Power was an Irish
Fenian
and a Home Rule League
and Irish Parliamentary Party
politician and as MP
in the House of Commons
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
represented Mayo
from June 1874 to 1885. He practised as a barrister
from 1881.
, during the Potato Famine years, and was raised partly in the workhouse in Ballinasloe, County Galway
, where he contacted smallpox
, which left him facially scarred. He joined relatives in Lancashire
when aged about fifteen, where he took up a trade in house painting. It was here that he first met Michael Davitt
.
He embraced Fenianism, and became known to the police under alias names 'John Fleming', 'John Webster', 'Charles Ferguson'. After being involved in the abortive raid on Chester Castle
in February 1867, he evaded capture and was sent to the United States
later that year at the age of 21 to discuss reorganization of the Fenians
. After his return he was arrested in Dublin on 17 February 1868 and spent five months in Kilmainham
and Mountjoy jails.
He was a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood
(IRB) Supreme Council and was believed to be involved in gun-running (a matter on which in later life he threatened legal action). While he remained an active member during his early years in Parliament, as early as 1868–69 he had promoted cooperation with constitutional politicians such as George Henry Moore
.
From 1871 to 1874 he obtained an education at St. Jarlath's College
, Tuam
, with his fees and expenses paid by a combination of teaching and lectures in Britain and America.
; and to take the oath of allegiance to the Queen and his seat if elected. Although there was clerical opposition, led by John McHale
, Archbishop of Tuam
, he was successful at the Mayo by-election
in May that year.
In the 1874 Parliament
, dominated by Disraeli's Conservatives
, Isaac Butt
's policy of attempting to achieve Irish nationalist objectives by working with the Liberals
and Conservatives and respecting House traditions, failed; the Irish minority was simply ignored.
O'Connor Power and J.G. Biggar therefore pioneered the new policy of obstructionism
, whereby they obstructed House of Commons business by making long speeches and manipulating its procedures. They were joined in this more successful policy by Charles Stewart Parnell
on his election in April 1875.
O'Connor Power spoke strongly and repeatedly in Parliament from 1874 to 1877 for amnesty for Michael Davitt, imprisoned in Dartmoor
, and other Fenian prisoners, and brought to notice perceived unfairness of their treatment as common criminals rather than as political prisoners. This led to Gladstone lending his support to Fenian amnesty. Davitt was released early on 19 December 1877, and Fenians Thomas Chambers, Charles McCarthy and John Patrick O'Brien followed in January 1878.
In 1876, O'Connor Power and Parnell were sent to the United States by the Home Rule League
to congratulate the President Ulysses S. Grant
on the American Centennial. At an informal meeting with the President, they asked that Ireland's bid for independence be given recognition. Power presented an address to the House of Representatives and on March 4, 1877 the House passed a unanimous resolution recognising the services rendered by Irishmen to the United States and concluded that the principles of self-government be established as a sacred heritage to all future generations. He also used the American visit to resume contact with nationalist supporters, and is almost certainly the IRB agent referred to as 'Shields'.
O'Connor Power is perhaps best known for his work in the radical wing of the Home Rule League
and support for tenant farmers' rights, on which he spoke forcefully in Parliament, in conjunction with Parnell, Michael Davitt
, Matt Harris
and James Daly
.
He was generally considered by the Fenians to have sold out
to constitutionalism during his career. Along with J. G. Biggar, he was expelled from the IRB Supreme Council in 1876. The Fenians of the "New Departure
" refused to work with him and it was Parnell who become the man to bridge the gap between the Fenians and constitutionalists.
T. D. Sullivan presents an anecdote from 1876 that illustrates the distance that grew between O'Connor Power in his Home Rule days and some of his former radical nationalist colleagues:
O'Connor Power delivered the lecture, within a fortnight, in the same hall, and Biggar again presided. This time, "the Irish of Manchester and Liverpool, revolutionaries and constitutionalists, banded together to put down any rowdyism should it again arise; but instead of that, O'Connor Power was received with 'deafening cheers, again and again repeated' according to a newspaper report".
O'Connor Power had an uneasy working relationship with Parnell, who he thought was "a respectable mediocrity". T. M. Healy narrates an incident from 1878:
, County Mayo
on 20 April 1879 which launched the protest movement that led to the Irish National Land League
.
After Parnell and Davitt addressed the follow-up meeting at Westport, County Mayo
on 8 June 1879 they took control of the growing Land War
. T. M. Healy gives his view of how O'Connor Power was frozen out of the Land League:
Though originally a friend, Davitt changed his opinion of O'Connor Power, describing him in his 'Jottings In Solitary' of 1881-1882 as a "renegade to former nationalist principles: unscrupulously ambitious and untrustworthy". Davitt became close to O'Connor Power in later years. Michael MacDonagh wrote
"O'Connor Power was above the suspicion of interested motives".
in the 1880 general election
, topping the poll.
in 1878, four years after his election to Parliament in 1874. He qualified in 1881, and spent his later years as a barrister
.
He expressed interest in the Irish language
.
He stood as a Liberal
in Kennington
(a seat with a substantial Irish electorate) in the 1885 general election
, losing to a Conservative
candidate; and attempted as a Gladstone Liberal
to regain in his old heartland, Mayo West
in 1892
, losing to an Anti-Parnellite Nationalist. He stood as a Liberal (Radical) candidate for Bristol South in the 1895 general election
, but again failed to re-enter Parliament.
In the course of the Bristol South election, he threatened legal action when a Conservative paper accused him of having taken the oath of an illegal organisation.
In 1893 he married the wealthy widow of a surgeon. He was married for over two decades and his wife was at his bedside when he died peacefully in his own home.
He died in Putney
, London
.
Obituary
The death in London, of Mr John O'Connor Power recalls the earlier days of the land agitation, when he figured, as MP for Mayo, with Parnell and Biggar in their famous obstruction tactics in Parliament, and was one of those suspended after the great scenes in 1881 arising out of Davitt's arrest.
Belonging to a Mayo family, he was born in Roscommon in 1846, and is believed to have been one of the chief organisers of the abortive Fenian raid on Chester Castle in '67. As a public orator he aroused the keenest enthusiasm, while in Parliament, he was forceful and eloquent. He was one of the speakers at the Irishtown meeting when the Land League was launched. In Parliament, since 1874, as a supporter of Butt, he was again returned in '80 with Parnell, but the latter convinced that their policies were growing divergent, elected to sit for Cork city, for which he was also returned. Though there was no open rupture, Power and Parnell drifted further apart, and in 1885 the former dropped out, having previously had notable differences with Messrs Parnell, Sexton and Healy. Since then Power twice unsuccessfully stood for English constituencies as a Radical. Davitt and he maintained their friendship. In 1893 Power married the widow of Mr H. F Weiss, FRCS. One of his books dealt with the art of oratory. He was called to the English Bar in 1881. The London Evening Standard classes him as an orator with Gladstone and Bright.
Irish Independent, 24 February 1919.
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
Fenian
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...
and a Home Rule League
Home Rule League
The Home Rule League, sometimes called the Home Rule Party, was a political party which campaigned for home rule for the country of Ireland from 1873 to 1882, when it was replaced by the Irish Parliamentary Party.-Origins:...
and Irish Parliamentary Party
Irish Parliamentary Party
The Irish Parliamentary Party was formed in 1882 by Charles Stewart Parnell, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nationalist Members of Parliament elected to the House of Commons at...
politician and as MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
in the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
represented Mayo
Mayo (UK Parliament constituency)
Mayo was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885.-History :...
from June 1874 to 1885. He practised as a barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
from 1881.
Early radical years
He was born into poverty, the third son of Patrick Power from Ballinasloe and his wife Mary O'Connor of County RoscommonCounty 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...
, during the Potato Famine years, and was raised partly in the workhouse in Ballinasloe, County Galway
County Galway
County Galway 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 city of Galway. Galway County Council is the local authority for the county. There are several strongly Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county...
, where he contacted smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
, which left him facially scarred. He joined relatives in Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
when aged about fifteen, where he took up a trade in house painting. It was here that he first met Michael Davitt
Michael Davitt
Michael Davitt was an Irish republican and nationalist agrarian agitator, a social campaigner, labour leader, journalist, Home Rule constitutional politician and Member of Parliament , who founded the Irish National Land League.- Early years :Michael Davitt was born in Straide, County Mayo,...
.
He embraced Fenianism, and became known to the police under alias names 'John Fleming', 'John Webster', 'Charles Ferguson'. After being involved in the abortive raid on Chester Castle
Chester Castle
Chester Castle is in the city of Chester, Cheshire, England. It is sited at the southwest extremity of the area bounded by the city walls . The castle stands on an eminence overlooking the River Dee. In the castle complex are the remaining parts of the medieval castle together with the...
in February 1867, he evaded capture and was sent to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
later that year at the age of 21 to discuss reorganization of the Fenians
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...
. After his return he was arrested in Dublin on 17 February 1868 and spent five months in Kilmainham
Kilmainham Gaol
Kilmainham Gaol is a former prison, located in Kilmainham in Dublin, which is now a museum. It has been run since the mid-1980s by the Office of Public Works , an Irish Government agency...
and Mountjoy jails.
He was a member of 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...
(IRB) Supreme Council and was believed to be involved in gun-running (a matter on which in later life he threatened legal action). While he remained an active member during his early years in Parliament, as early as 1868–69 he had promoted cooperation with constitutional politicians such as George Henry Moore
George Henry Moore
George Henry Moore was an Irish politician who served as Member of Parliament for Mayo in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. He was one of the founders of the Catholic Defence Association and a leader of the Independent Irish Party. He was also father of the writer George A. Moore and the...
.
From 1871 to 1874 he obtained an education at St. Jarlath's College
St. Jarlath's College
St. Jarlath's College is a Roman Catholic secondary school for boys in Tuam, County Galway, Ireland. It is an amalgamation of the former St. Jarlath's College and St...
, Tuam
Tuam
Tuam is a town in County Galway, Ireland. The name is pronounced choo-um . It is situated west of the midlands of Ireland, and north of Galway city.-History:...
, with his fees and expenses paid by a combination of teaching and lectures in Britain and America.
Moderate parliamentary years
While still at St. Jarlath's, Power signalled his intention in January 1874 to stand for election to the British House of CommonsBritish House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
; and to take the oath of allegiance to the Queen and his seat if elected. Although there was clerical opposition, led by John McHale
John McHale
John Joseph McHale was an American first baseman and executive in Major League Baseball who served as the general manager of three teams: the Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves, and Montreal Expos...
, Archbishop of Tuam
Archbishop of Tuam
The Archbishop of Tuam is an archiepiscopal title which takes its name after the town of Tuam in County Galway, Ireland. The title was used by the Church of Ireland until 1839, and is still in use by the Roman Catholic Church.-History:...
, he was successful at the Mayo by-election
Mayo (UK Parliament constituency)
Mayo was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885.-History :...
in May that year.
In the 1874 Parliament
United Kingdom general election, 1874
-Seats summary:-References:* F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* British Electoral Facts 1832-1999, compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher *...
, dominated by Disraeli's Conservatives
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
, Isaac Butt
Isaac Butt
Isaac Butt Q.C. M.P. was an Irish barrister, politician, Member of Parliament , and the founder and first leader of a number of Irish nationalist parties and organisations, including the Irish Metropolitan Conservative Society in 1836, the Home Government Association in 1870 and in 1873 the Home...
's policy of attempting to achieve Irish nationalist objectives by working with the Liberals
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
and Conservatives and respecting House traditions, failed; the Irish minority was simply ignored.
O'Connor Power and J.G. Biggar therefore pioneered the new policy of obstructionism
Obstructionism
Obstructionism is the practice of deliberately delaying or preventing a process or change, especially in politics.-As workplace aggression:An obstructionist causes problems. Neuman and Baron identify obstructionism as one of the three dimensions that encompass the range of workplace aggression...
, whereby they obstructed House of Commons business by making long speeches and manipulating its procedures. They were joined in this more successful policy by Charles Stewart Parnell
Charles Stewart Parnell
Charles Stewart Parnell was an Irish landowner, nationalist political leader, land reform agitator, and the founder and leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party...
on his election in April 1875.
O'Connor Power spoke strongly and repeatedly in Parliament from 1874 to 1877 for amnesty for Michael Davitt, imprisoned in Dartmoor
Dartmoor (HM Prison)
HM Prison Dartmoor is a Category C men's prison, located in Princetown, high on Dartmoor in the English county of Devon. Its high granite walls dominate this area of the moor...
, and other Fenian prisoners, and brought to notice perceived unfairness of their treatment as common criminals rather than as political prisoners. This led to Gladstone lending his support to Fenian amnesty. Davitt was released early on 19 December 1877, and Fenians Thomas Chambers, Charles McCarthy and John Patrick O'Brien followed in January 1878.
In 1876, O'Connor Power and Parnell were sent to the United States by the Home Rule League
Home Rule League
The Home Rule League, sometimes called the Home Rule Party, was a political party which campaigned for home rule for the country of Ireland from 1873 to 1882, when it was replaced by the Irish Parliamentary Party.-Origins:...
to congratulate the President Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
on the American Centennial. At an informal meeting with the President, they asked that Ireland's bid for independence be given recognition. Power presented an address to the House of Representatives and on March 4, 1877 the House passed a unanimous resolution recognising the services rendered by Irishmen to the United States and concluded that the principles of self-government be established as a sacred heritage to all future generations. He also used the American visit to resume contact with nationalist supporters, and is almost certainly the IRB agent referred to as 'Shields'.
O'Connor Power is perhaps best known for his work in the radical wing of the Home Rule League
Home Rule League
The Home Rule League, sometimes called the Home Rule Party, was a political party which campaigned for home rule for the country of Ireland from 1873 to 1882, when it was replaced by the Irish Parliamentary Party.-Origins:...
and support for tenant farmers' rights, on which he spoke forcefully in Parliament, in conjunction with Parnell, Michael Davitt
Michael Davitt
Michael Davitt was an Irish republican and nationalist agrarian agitator, a social campaigner, labour leader, journalist, Home Rule constitutional politician and Member of Parliament , who founded the Irish National Land League.- Early years :Michael Davitt was born in Straide, County Mayo,...
, Matt Harris
Matthew Harris (politician)
Matthew Harris was an Irish Fenian, Land Leaguer, nationalist politician and MP. in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and, as member of the Irish Parliamentary Party, represented Galway East from 1885 to his death in 1890.Born in Athlone to Peter and Ann...
and James Daly
James Daly (Irish Land League)
"James Daly, a forgotten founder of the irish land league"James Daly was an Irish nationalist activist best known for his work in support of tenant farmers' rights and the formation of the Irish National Land League.-Beginnings:Daly was a conservative Catholic from a...
.
He was generally considered by the Fenians to have sold out
Selling out
"Selling out" is the compromising of integrity, morality, or principles in exchange for money or "success" . It is commonly associated with attempts to tailor material to a mainstream audience...
to constitutionalism during his career. Along with J. G. Biggar, he was expelled from the IRB Supreme Council in 1876. The Fenians of the "New Departure
New Departure (Ireland)
The term New Departure has been used to describe several initiatives in the late 19th century where Irish republicans, who were committed to independence from Britain through use of physical force, attempted to find a common ground for cooperation with groups committed to Irish Home Rule through...
" refused to work with him and it was Parnell who become the man to bridge the gap between the Fenians and constitutionalists.
T. D. Sullivan presents an anecdote from 1876 that illustrates the distance that grew between O'Connor Power in his Home Rule days and some of his former radical nationalist colleagues:
An immense mass of people assembled in the Free Trade HallFree Trade HallThe Free Trade Hall, Peter Street, Manchester, was a public hall constructed in 1853–6 on St Peter's Fields, the site of the Peterloo Massacre and is now a hotel. The hall was built to commemorate the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846. The architect was Edward Walters The hall subsequently was...
[Manchester] on the 16 September 1876, to hear a lecture from Mr. John O'Connor Power, MP, on a non-political subject. The chair was taken by Mr. J. G. Biggar, MP. On rising to introduce the lecturer, he soon discerned that trouble was impending, that there was, so to say, "a storm in the offing." An "Advanced" person, a Mr. Flesh of RamsbottomRamsbottomRamsbottom is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester, England. It is situated on the course of the River Irwell, in the West Pennine Moors. Historically within Lancashire, it is located north-northwest of Bury, and north-northwest of Manchester...
, came on the Platform and informed him that at a meeting of Nationalists held on the previous evening, it was decided that the lecture might be allowed to proceed only on the condition that the lecturer should first answer satisfactorily a series of questions which had been drawn up for him. The main purpose of those interrogatories was to ascertain whether he held and was prepared to support the principles of Wolfe Tone, Lord Edward FitzgeraldLord Edward FitzGeraldLord Edward FitzGerald was an Irish aristocrat and revolutionary. He was the fifth son of the 1st Duke of Leinster and the Duchess of Leinster , he was born at Carton House, near Dublin, and died of wounds received in resisting arrest on charge of treason.-Early years:FitzGerald spent most of his...
, and Robert EmmetRobert EmmetRobert Emmet was an Irish nationalist and Republican, orator and rebel leader born in Dublin, Ireland...
. The chairman said those questions were not in order, as the lecture was to be on a non-political subject; however, he would leave it to the lecturer to deal with the queries as he thought fit, Mr. O'Connor Power then came to the front and said, amidst much noise, that with regard to the questions that had been read, his view was identical with that of the chairman. He begged leave to point out - He could say no more: the platform was rushed; there was a smashing of chairs and tables, a noise of heavy blows, and of fierce exclamations from men engaged in close combat, mingled with the shouts and screams of women, while blood flowed freely from many wounded persons ... The subject of Mr. O'Connor Power's intended lecture was "Irish Wit and Humour".
O'Connor Power delivered the lecture, within a fortnight, in the same hall, and Biggar again presided. This time, "the Irish of Manchester and Liverpool, revolutionaries and constitutionalists, banded together to put down any rowdyism should it again arise; but instead of that, O'Connor Power was received with 'deafening cheers, again and again repeated' according to a newspaper report".
O'Connor Power had an uneasy working relationship with Parnell, who he thought was "a respectable mediocrity". T. M. Healy narrates an incident from 1878:
... I wrote Maurice:
London,
October, '78.
"Would it be possible to get up a meeting in Lismore, and invite Parnell? The resolution I moved in Dublin at the Confederation of Great Britain was at his request, upon a suggestion of my own. If he could have O'Connor Power at his elbow continually it would be a good thing, as Power understands the necessities of agitation, and Parnell doesn't. I hope he will make a good fist of his answer to Butt, though I have never been persuaded that he shines as a letter-writer. Dan Crilly told me Parnell's first contribution to the Liverpool Argus (mentioned in my London letter) was not worth much, and though he promised to insert it, he has failed me."
O'Connor Power and Parnell were not kindred spirits. Power was an able and eloquent man, "reeking of the common clay", at which Parnell's aristocratic sensitiveness recoiled. "Of their differences I hinted to my brother":
London,
24 November 1878.
"I met O'Connor Power, and he was unaware, until I told him, that his name was down to propose one of the resolutions in Dublin. He expressed disgust, and said he told the Dublin people he would not go over, and that it was only another piece of their cowardice in being afraid to face Butt themselves.
I was aware of the stories told about Power, but what is the use of repeating them? Parnell has been careful to tell me his views about Power (and so has Biggar), but I have defended him to them, and think they should make allowance for his poverty and position. Parnell told Power to his face that he was "a damned scoundrel," and Power made a coarse reply ..."
The Land War
However O'Connor Power retained credibility with small tenant farmers and addressed the Tenant-Right Meeting at IrishtownIrishtown, County Mayo
Irishtown is a village in County Mayo, Ireland, located on the southern county border with County Galway about halfway between Claremorris and Tuam on the R328 regional road...
, County Mayo
County Mayo
County Mayo 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 village of Mayo, which is now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county is 130,552...
on 20 April 1879 which launched the protest movement that led to the Irish National Land League
Irish National Land League
The Irish Land League was an Irish political organization of the late 19th century which sought to help poor tenant farmers. Its primary aim was to abolish landlordism in Ireland and enable tenant farmers to own the land they worked on...
.
After Parnell and Davitt addressed the follow-up meeting at Westport, County Mayo
Westport, County Mayo
Westport is a town in County Mayo, Ireland. It is situated on the west coast at the south-east corner of Clew Bay, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean....
on 8 June 1879 they took control of the growing Land War
Land War
The Land War in Irish history was a period of agrarian agitation in rural Ireland in the 1870s, 1880s and 1890s. The agitation was led by the Irish National Land League and was dedicated to bettering the position of tenant farmers and ultimately to a redistribution of land to tenants from...
. T. M. Healy gives his view of how O'Connor Power was frozen out of the Land League:
Stirrings of ambition and resentment may have been ingredients in Parnell's action in joining Davitt and cold-shouldering Power, but what can lessen admiration for the pluck with which he threw himself into a movement which involved him and his relatives in danger and loss? His rents in Co. Wicklow and those of his brothers in Armagh and Carlow were at stake.
Towards the close of the session Power wrote me:
House of Commons,
4 August 1879.
My Dear Healy,
Finegan told me you would be down to-night, but I have not been so fortunate as to come across you.
If you have seen my article in the Fortnightly, I would feel obliged by your noticing it in your letter this week. The cynical Saturday Review noticed it fairly enough, but I have seen no notice of it in any Irish paper."
Ever sincerely,
J. O'Connor Power.
I complied, but owing to his strained relations with Parnell and Biggar, he went to Dublin to examine the position, and wrote me:
"... Davitt met me on my arrival here – a reception unexpected on my part. He is writing an appeal to the Irish at home and abroad, for funds to carry on the Land agitation, and working hard to abolish the Home Rule League.
I am here just in time for Thursday's meeting, when the Home Rule League will be "tried for life" and perhaps condemned. Parnell's resolutions evidently tend in that direction."
Power's letter was written from the lodgings of Tom BrennanThomas Brennan (Irish Land League)Thomas Brennan , born in Beauparc, County Meath, was a founder and joint first secretary of the Irish National Land League....
, who three months later, became secretary to the Land League, when Davitt was made its chief organizer, and Parnell (with DillonJohn DillonJohn Dillon was an Irish land reform agitator from Dublin, an Irish Home Rule activist, a nationalist politician, a Member of Parliament for over 35 years, and the last leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party....
) was accredited envoy to the United States.
Power, who started the movement, was left "festering outside-the breastworks," without control or influence in the new organization.
Though originally a friend, Davitt changed his opinion of O'Connor Power, describing him in his 'Jottings In Solitary' of 1881-1882 as a "renegade to former nationalist principles: unscrupulously ambitious and untrustworthy". Davitt became close to O'Connor Power in later years. Michael MacDonagh wrote
"O'Connor Power was above the suspicion of interested motives".
The 1880 Parliament
He was re-elected for the two-member Mayo constituencyMayo (UK Parliament constituency)
Mayo was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885.-History :...
in the 1880 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1880
-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* British Electoral Facts 1832-1999, compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher *...
, topping the poll.
Later years
He registered as a student of the Middle TempleMiddle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
in 1878, four years after his election to Parliament in 1874. He qualified in 1881, and spent his later years as a barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
.
He expressed interest in the Irish language
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
.
He stood as a Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
in Kennington
Kennington (UK Parliament constituency)
Kennington was a borough constituency centred on the Kennington district of South London. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
(a seat with a substantial Irish electorate) in the 1885 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1885
-Seats summary:-See also:*List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1885*Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918*Representation of the People Act 1884*Redistribution of Seats Act 1885-References:...
, losing to a Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
candidate; and attempted as a Gladstone Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
to regain in his old heartland, Mayo West
West Mayo (UK Parliament constituency)
West Mayo was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1922....
in 1892
United Kingdom general election, 1892
The 1892 United Kingdom general election was held from 4 July to 26 July 1892. It saw the Conservatives, led by Lord Salisbury, win the greatest number of seats, but not enough for an overall majority as William Ewart Gladstone's Liberals won many more seats than in the 1886 general election...
, losing to an Anti-Parnellite Nationalist. He stood as a Liberal (Radical) candidate for Bristol South in the 1895 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1895
The United Kingdom general election of 1895 was held from 13 July - 7 August 1895. It was won by the Conservatives led by Lord Salisbury who formed an alliance with the Liberal Unionist Party and had a large majority over the Liberals, led by Lord Rosebery...
, but again failed to re-enter Parliament.
In the course of the Bristol South election, he threatened legal action when a Conservative paper accused him of having taken the oath of an illegal organisation.
In 1893 he married the wealthy widow of a surgeon. He was married for over two decades and his wife was at his bedside when he died peacefully in his own home.
He died in Putney
Putney
Putney is a district in south-west London, England, located in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is situated south-west of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Obituary
The death in London, of Mr John O'Connor Power recalls the earlier days of the land agitation, when he figured, as MP for Mayo, with Parnell and Biggar in their famous obstruction tactics in Parliament, and was one of those suspended after the great scenes in 1881 arising out of Davitt's arrest.
Belonging to a Mayo family, he was born in Roscommon in 1846, and is believed to have been one of the chief organisers of the abortive Fenian raid on Chester Castle in '67. As a public orator he aroused the keenest enthusiasm, while in Parliament, he was forceful and eloquent. He was one of the speakers at the Irishtown meeting when the Land League was launched. In Parliament, since 1874, as a supporter of Butt, he was again returned in '80 with Parnell, but the latter convinced that their policies were growing divergent, elected to sit for Cork city, for which he was also returned. Though there was no open rupture, Power and Parnell drifted further apart, and in 1885 the former dropped out, having previously had notable differences with Messrs Parnell, Sexton and Healy. Since then Power twice unsuccessfully stood for English constituencies as a Radical. Davitt and he maintained their friendship. In 1893 Power married the widow of Mr H. F Weiss, FRCS. One of his books dealt with the art of oratory. He was called to the English Bar in 1881. The London Evening Standard classes him as an orator with Gladstone and Bright.
Irish Independent, 24 February 1919.
Quotes
- "The land of Ireland for the people of Ireland." 26 October 1878 at the founding meeting of the Mayo Tenants' Defence Association, CastlebarCastlebarCastlebar is the county town of, and at the centre of, County Mayo in Ireland. It is Mayo's largest town by population. The town's population exploded in the late 1990s, increasing by one-third in just six years, though this massive growth has slowed down greatly in recent years...
, as reported in the Connaught TelegraphConnaught TelegraphThe Connaught Telegraph is a weekly local newspaper published in Castlebar, County Mayo in the Republic of Ireland. The paper is in broadsheet format , and published every Wednesday. It has the second highest circulation of the paid for Mayo newspapers...
, 2 November 1878. - "The mules of politics: without pride of ancestry, or hope of posterity." Quoted in H. H. Asquith, Memories and Reflections, vol I, p. 123. Oxford Book of Quotations, second edition.
Publications
- Irish political prisoners: Speeches of John O'Connor Power in the House of Commons on the subject of amnesty, &c., and a statement by Mr. Michael Davitt on prison treatment, London : [s.n., 1878]
- Irish political prisoners: enquiry into the prison treatment & cause of death of the late Color-Sergeant M'Carthy, and letter to Sir James T. Ingham, London: White & Fawcett, [1878].
- "Land Agitation", in The Nineteenth Century (December 1879).
- "The Irish in England", The Fortnightly Review 27 (1880), pp 410–421.
- The Anglo-Irish Quarrel; a Plea for Peace ... a reprint of the recent articles in the Manchester Guardian, revised by the author, London: National Press Agency, 1886.
- "Edmund Burke and His Abiding Influence", in The North American Review 165:493 (December 1897), pp. 666–81.
- The Making of an Orator, with examples from great masterpieces of ancient and modern eloquence, London: Methuen, 1906.
- The Making of an Orator, (Legacy Reprint Series), Whitefish: Kessinger Publishing, 2007, ISBN 978-1430496731
- Various newspaper articles.
Pictures
- T. W. Moody, Davitt and Irish Revolution 1846-62, Plate V (taken when in custody at Kilmainham GaolKilmainham GaolKilmainham Gaol is a former prison, located in Kilmainham in Dublin, which is now a museum. It has been run since the mid-1980s by the Office of Public Works , an Irish Government agency...
, 1868). - Sir Leslie Ward, Caricature, 1886, held in the National Portrait Gallery (London), no. 3293. Original of cartoon by the 'Spy', "The Brains of Obstruction", published in Vanity Fair, 25 December 1886.
