Arthur MacMurrough Kavanagh (25 March 183125 December 1889) was an Irish politician. His middle name is spelled MacMorrough in some contemporaneous sources.

Biography

Arthur MacMurrough Kavanagh was born on 25 March 1831 at

Borris House Borris House is a country house near Borris, County Carlow. History Borris House is the ancestral home of the McMorrough Kavanagh family. Births * Arthur MacMurrough Kavanagh References Bibliography * Joyce, Edmund. ''Borris House ...

County Carlow County Carlow ( ; ga, Contae Cheatharlach) is a county located in the South-East Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Carlow is the second smallest and the third least populous of Ireland's 32 traditional counties. Carlow Cou ...

, the son of Thomas Kavanagh MP and artist Lady Harriet Margaret Le Poer Trench, daughter of the second Earl of Clancarty. His father traced his lineage to the medieval

Kings of Leinster Kings or King's may refer to: *Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh'' ...

through Art MacMurrough-Kavanagh. He had two older brothers Charles and Thomas, and one sister, Harriet or "Hoddy." Arthur Kavanagh was born with only the rudiments of arms and legs, though the cause of this

birth defect A birth defect, also known as a congenital disorder, is an abnormal condition that is present at birth regardless of its cause. Birth defects may result in disabilities that may be physical, intellectual, or developmental. The disabilities can ...

is unknown. His mother insisted that he be brought up and have opportunities like any other child and placed him in the care of the doctor Francis Boxwell, who believed that an armless and legless child could live a productive life. Kavanagh learnt to ride horses at the age of three by being strapped to a special saddle and managing the horse with the stumps of his arms. With the help of the surgeon

Sir Philip Crampton Sir Philip Crampton, 1st Baronet, Royal Society, FRS (7 June 1777 – 10 June 1858) was an eminent Irish people, Irish surgeon and anatomist. He was President of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) in 1811, 1820, 1844 and 1855. Life ...

, Lady Harriet had a mechanical wheelchair constructed for her son, and encouraged him to ride horses and engage in other outdoor activities. He also went fishing, hunted animals, drew pictures, and wrote stories, with mechanical devices supplementing his physical capacities. His mother taught him how to write and paint holding pens and brushes in his mouth. In 1846, Lady Harriet took three of her children, Thomas, Harriet and Arthur, travelling to the Middle East for two years. Arthur Kavanagh nearly drowned in the

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...

when he fell in whilst fishing and was rescued by a local antiquities salesman who dived in to pull him out. In 1849, Kavanagh's mother discovered that he had been having affairs with girls on the family estate, so she sent him into exile to

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inha ...

, and then to Moscow with his brother and a reverend, whom he came to hate. He travelled extensively in Egypt, Anatolia, Persia, and India between 1846 and 1853; in India, his letter of credit from his mother was cancelled when she discovered that he had spent two weeks in a

harem Harem (Persian: حرمسرا ''haramsarā'', ar, حَرِيمٌ ''ḥarīm'', "a sacred inviolable place; harem; female members of the family") refers to domestic spaces that are reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A hare ...

, so he persuaded the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

to hire him as a

despatch rider A despatch rider (or dispatch) is a military messenger, mounted on horse or motorcycle (and occasionally in Egypt during World War I, on camels). In the UK 'despatch rider' is also a term used for a motorcycle courier. Despatch riders were use ...

. Other sources say that this was due to the death of his eldest brother Charles of

consumption Consumption may refer to: *Resource consumption *Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically * Consumption (ecology), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms * Consumption (economics), the purchasing of newly produced goods for curren ...

in December 1851, which left him with only 30 shillings. In 1851 Kavanagh succeeded to the family estates and to the title of The MacMurrough following the death of his older brother Thomas. He served as

High Sheriff of County Kilkenny The High Sheriff of County Kilkenny was the British Crown's judicial representative in County Kilkenny, Ireland from the 16th century until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Free State and replaced by the office of Kilkenny County S ...

for 1856 and High Sheriff of Carlow for 1857. A Conservative and a Protestant, he sat in Parliament for

County Wexford County Wexford ( ga, Contae Loch Garman) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was based on the historic Gaelic territory of Hy Kinsella (''Uí Ceinns ...

from 1866 to 1868, and for

from 1868 to 1880. On being elected, he had to be placed on the Tory benches by his manservant; the Speaker,

Evelyn Denison John Evelyn Denison, 1st Viscount Ossington, PC (27 January 1800 – 7 March 1873) was a British statesman who served as Speaker of the House of Commons from 1857 to 1872. He is the eponym of Speaker Denison's rule. Background and education De ...

, gave a special dispensation to allow the manservant to stay in the chamber during sittings. Kavanagh was opposed to the disestablishment of the (Anglican) Church of Ireland, but supported the

Landlord and Tenant (Ireland) Act 1870 The Landlord and Tenant (Ireland) Act 1870 (33 & 34 Vict c 46) was an Act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1870. Background Between the Acts of Union 1800 and 1870, Parliament had passed many Acts dealing with Irish land, but ...

. On losing his seat in 1880,

William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...

appointed him to the

Bessborough Commission The Land Acts (officially Land Law (Ireland) Acts) were a series of measures to deal with the question of tenancy contracts and peasant proprietorship of land in Ireland in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Five such acts were introduced by ...

, but he disagreed with its conclusions and published his own dissenting report. In 1886, he was made a member of the

Privy Council of Ireland His or Her Majesty's Privy Council in Ireland, commonly called the Privy Council of Ireland, Irish Privy Council, or in earlier centuries the Irish Council, was the institution within the Dublin Castle administration which exercised formal executi ...

. Kavanagh died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

on 25 December 1889 in London, and was buried in Ballicopagan cemetery.Ballicopagan Cemetery
Ancestry.com He was succeeded in the title of the MacMurrough by his son,

Walter MacMurrough Kavanagh The Rt. Hon. Walter MacMurrough Kavanagh, PC (14 January 1856 – 18 July 1922), was a Member of Parliament (MP) who represented County Carlow from 1908 to 1910. He was the son of Mary Frances () and Arthur MacMurrough Kavanagh who also served ...

, who also served as MP for

from 1908 to 1910. The 1901 novel ''The History of Sir Richard Calmady'', written by

Lucas Malet Lucas Malet was the pseudonym of Mary St Leger Kingsley (4 June 1852 — 27 October 1931), a Victorian novelist. Of her novels, ''The Wages of Sin'' (1891) and ''The History of Sir Richard Calmady'' (1901) were especially popular. Malet scholar T ...

(pseudonym of Mary St Leger Kingsley), is based on his life.

Family

Kavanagh married his cousin, Mary Frances Forde-Leathley, in 1855. Assisted by his wife, he was a philanthropic landlord, active county magistrate, and chairman of the board of guardians. Together, they had seven children: * Eva (died 1896) * May (died 1949) * Agnes (died 1932) *

Walter Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...

(died 1922) * Arthur (died 1882) * Charles (died 1950) * Osborne (died 1897)

References

External links

*
Arthur MacMurrough Kavanagh : 1831–1889
*
'Disability history month: Arthur MacMorrough Kavanagh' on BBC NewsArthur MacMurrough Kavanagh
at BBC Arts {{DEFAULTSORT:Kavanagh, Arthur MacMurrough 1831 births 1889 deaths People from County Carlow Lord-Lieutenants of Carlow British politicians with disabilities Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Carlow constituencies (1801–1922) Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Wexford constituencies (1801–1922) UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 Irish Conservative Party MPs MacMorrough Kavanagh dynasty High Sheriffs of County Kilkenny High Sheriffs of Carlow Irish people with disabilities 19th-century Irish politicians Irish chiefs of the name