James Gibney (14 December 1847 – 25 May 1908) was an

Irish Nationalist Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of c ...

politician. An Anti-Parnellite, he was an

Irish National Federation The Irish National Federation (INF) was a nationalist political party in Ireland. It was founded in 1891 by former members of the Irish National League (INL), after a split in the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) on the leadership of Charles S ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for North Meath from 1893 to 1900. He was elected to the

United Kingdom House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...

at a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

on 21 February 1893, after the result of the 1892 general election in North Meath was overturned on petition at the next general election, in 1895, Gibney was re-elected with a narrow majority over the

Parnellite The Irish National League (INL) was a nationalist political party in Ireland. It was founded on 17 October 1882 by Charles Stewart Parnell as the successor to the Irish National Land League after this was suppressed. Whereas the Land League h ...

candidate

John Sweetman John Sweetman (9 August 1844 – 8 September 1936) was an Irish nationalist politician who served as an Anti-Parnellite Irish National Federation Member of Parliament (MP) in the 1890s, but later radicalised. He was one of the founders of Sinn ...

. At the 1900 general election, when the

Irish Parliamentary Party The Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP; commonly called the Irish Party or the Home Rule Party) was formed in 1874 by Isaac Butt, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nation ...

reunited after its 9-year split, Gibney stood as a

Healyite Nationalist In Irish politics of the 1890s and 1900s, the Healyite Nationalists (sometimes also known as Independent Nationalists) were Irish nationalist politicians who supported Tim Healy MP. Healy was the most outspoken member of the Anti-Parnellite ma ...

and lost seat to the

candidate Patrick White.Walker, op. cit., page 162 Gibney was also a justice of the peace for County Meath.

Personal life

Gibney was born on 14 December 1847 at Beltrasna, Oldcastle, the son of Thomas Gibney. He married firstly Bridget Hennesy (d. 1895), daughter of John Hennesy, Millbrook Mills, Oldcastle, and Castlepollard; and secondly Catharine O'Brien, daughter of Michael O'Brien, Oldtown, Navan. He had issue of two sons and two daughters.

References

External links

* 1847 births 1908 deaths Anti-Parnellite MPs UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Meath constituencies (1801–1922) {{Ireland-UK-MP-stub