Martin Henry "Harry" Foran (c. 1850 – 25 April 1908) was an Australian schoolteacher and journalist. Foran was born near

Kilkee Kilkee () is a small coastal town in County Clare, Ireland. It is in the parish of Kilkee, formerly Kilfearagh. Kilkee is midway between Kilrush and Doonbeg on the N67 road. The town is popular as a seaside resort. The horseshoe bay is pr ...

County Clare County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Southern Region and the province of Munster, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 118,817 ...

to James Forhen, head of a fishing family. After considering the priesthood Foran became a student teacher in 1871, but legal trouble associated with his involvement in tenant reform and the campaign for

Home Rule Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...

led him to migrate to

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

in 1876. He returned to teaching, and again became known as a troublemaker; his licence was withheld until 1885 in an attempt to be rid of him. He was suspended on charges of disciplinary and sexual misconduct in 1888; although he was cleared, the case was reopened in April 1889 and he was dismissed, losing a subsequent appeal to the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

. The case attracted significant media attention and Foran became something of a celebrity. Relocating to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

in 1893, Foran worked as a journalist and a regular speaker in the

Domain Domain may refer to: Mathematics *Domain of a function, the set of input values for which the (total) function is defined **Domain of definition of a partial function **Natural domain of a partial function **Domain of holomorphy of a function * Do ...

. Appealing mainly to the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

working class, he became associated with the radical wing of the

Protectionist Party The Protectionist Party or Liberal Protectionist Party was an Australian political party, formally organised from 1887 until 1909, with policies centred on protectionism. The party advocated protective tariffs, arguing it would allow Australi ...

, opposing the Labour Leagues on the grounds of "atheistic socialism, opportunism and Protestant bigotry". He edited ''Sydney Irish World'' from 1894 to 1895 and ran for the

New South Wales Parliament The Parliament of New South Wales is a bicameral legislature in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), consisting of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (lower house) and the New South Wales Legislative Council (upper house). Each ...

in 1894, 1895, 1898 and 1901 as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

, without success; he came second to Premier

George Reid Sir George Houston Reid, (25 February 1845 – 12 September 1918) was an Australian politician who led the Reid Government as the fourth Prime Minister of Australia from 1904 to 1905, having previously been Premier of New South Wales f ...

running for the first federal election in East Sydney. During this time he earned the nicknames the "Domain

Demosthenes Demosthenes (; el, Δημοσθένης, translit=Dēmosthénēs; ; 384 – 12 October 322 BC) was a Greek statesman and orator in ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual prow ...

" and "the Mayor of

Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...

". In 1902, he returned to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

and continued his activities on Yarra Bank, running for

Melbourne Ports The Division of Melbourne Ports was an Australian federal electoral division in the inner south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was located to the south of Melbourne's central business district and covered an area of appro ...

in 1903. Despite his early opposition he joined the Labor Party in 1904; he contributed occasionally to the Catholic weekly the ''Tribune'' and was clearly associated with the Labor Party's Catholic wing. His health, however, began to fail and he died almost penniless at St Vincent's Hospital in

Fitzroy Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to: People As a given name *Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name: **FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855) ** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...

jaundice Jaundice, also known as icterus, is a yellowish or greenish pigmentation of the skin and sclera due to high bilirubin levels. Jaundice in adults is typically a sign indicating the presence of underlying diseases involving abnormal heme meta ...

and

hydatids Echinococcosis is a parasitic disease of tapeworms of the ''Echinococcus'' type. The two main types of the disease are ''cystic echinococcosis'' and ''alveolar echinococcosis''. Less common forms include ''polycystic echinococcosis'' and ''unic ...

. He was remembered variously as a "political failure", a "knight of the Southern Cross" and "probably the most fluent public speaker in Australia".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foran, Harry 19th-century births 1908 deaths Year of birth uncertain 19th-century Irish people People from County Clare Australian journalists Irish emigrants to colonial Australia