Francis Theophilius "Frank" Brooke PC, JP, DL (1851 – 30 July 1920) was an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

Director of Dublin and South Eastern Railways and a member of the Earl of Ypres' Advisory Council. He was gunned down, aged 69, by elements of

Michael Collins Michael Collins or Mike Collins most commonly refers to: * Michael Collins (Irish leader) (1890–1922), Irish revolutionary leader, soldier, and politician * Michael Collins (astronaut) (1930–2021), American astronaut, member of Apollo 11 and Ge ...

squad of the

IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...

. He was marked out for his activities as a judge, anti-republican activities, and his friendship with

Sir John French Field Marshal John Denton Pinkstone French, 1st Earl of Ypres, (28 September 1852 – 22 May 1925), known as Sir John French from 1901 to 1916, and as The Viscount French between 1916 and 1922, was a senior British Army officer. Born in Kent to ...

. As an Irish Privy Councilor, Brooke was a signatory of the order proclaiming Dail Eireann illegal.

Family

Brooke was a cousin of

Basil Brooke, 1st Viscount Brookeborough Basil Stanlake Brooke, 1st Viscount Brookeborough, (9 June 1888 – 18 August 1973), styled Sir Basil Brooke, 5th Baronet between 1907 and 1952, was an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician and paramilitary leader who became the third Prime M ...

, the future

Prime Minister of Northern Ireland The prime minister of Northern Ireland was the head of the Government of Northern Ireland between 1921 and 1972. No such office was provided for in the Government of Ireland Act 1920; however, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, as with governors- ...

. Brooke, a grandson of Hans Hastings, 12th Earl of Huntingdon, on his mother's side, and of

Sir Henry Brooke, 1st Baronet Sir Henry Brooke, 1st Baronet (died 1664) was an English soldier and politician. Biography Brooke was a great-grandson of Richard Brooke, who purchased Norton Priory from Henry VIII in 1545. His father was Sir Richard Brooke of Norton (died ...

, on his father's, was married twice; firstly to Alice Moore, a daughter of the

Dean of Clogher The Dean of Clogher is a dignitary of the Diocese of Clogher within the Church of Ireland. The title may be held by any licensed incumbent in the diocese, not necessarily the rector of one of the cathedral parishes of Clogher. The Dean, with the C ...

, (d. 1909) and secondly to Agnes Hibbert.thepeerage.com
By his first wife he had three children; Alice Gertrude (later ''Doyne''), Lt. Col. George Frank Brooke and Henry Hastings Brooke.

Career

Brooke was also Deputy Lieutenant of

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ga, Contae Chill Mhantáin ) is a county in Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is bordered by t ...

and

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of 1,691 km2 (653 sq mi) and has a population of 61,805 a ...

, a

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

, a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for

and a

Privy Councillor A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

of Ireland (1918), thus he was styled ''The Rt. Hon. Francis Brooke''. In July 1912 he had attended the house party at

Wentworth Woodhouse Wentworth Woodhouse is a Grade I listed country house in the village of Wentworth, in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England. It is currently owned by the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust. The building has m ...

hosted for

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. Born duri ...

's stay there.

Death

On 30 July 1920 Brooke was killed at his offices, in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, allegedly by

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief tha ...

members

Paddy Daly Paddy Daly (1888–1957) sometimes referred to as Paddy O'Daly, served in the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence''Michael Collins: A Life'' by James Mackay, p. 132 and subsequently held the rank of major-general in the I ...

, Tom Keogh and Jim Slattery, in view of a colleague, who was spared. The inquest found Brooke had a pistol in his jacket pocket. Brookes killing has been termed the only outright political assassination of the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...

.O'Halpin, pg 156

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooke, Frank Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Deputy Lieutenants of Fermanagh Deputy Lieutenants of Wicklow 1851 births 1920 deaths Royal Navy officers People killed in the Irish War of Independence Deaths by firearm in Ireland