James McSparran QC (1 May 1892 – 15 April 1970), was an Irish barrister and

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

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. McSparran was born in

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to an Irish family He studied at St Mungo's Academy, Glasgow, then

St Malachy's College St Malachy's College, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is the oldest Catholic diocesan college in Ulster. The college's alumni and students are known as Malachians. History The college, founded by Bishop William Crolly, opened on the feast of Sa ...

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingd ...

Queen's University of Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

, and the

National University of Ireland The National University of Ireland (NUI) ( ga, Ollscoil na hÉireann) is a federal university system of ''constituent universities'' (previously called '' constituent colleges'') and ''recognised colleges'' set up under the Irish Universit ...

. McSparran was called to the Irish Bar in 1916, and later became a

King's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

. He also had interests in the ''

Irish News Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

''.

Political career

At the

1945 Northern Ireland general election The 1945 Northern Ireland general election was held on 14 June 1945. The election saw significant losses for the Ulster Unionist Party, though they retained their majority. Mirroring the result across the rest of the UK in the 1945 UK genera ...

, McSparran was elected for the Nationalist Party in Mourne: during his own campaign McSparran emphasised the need for northern nationalists to unite to help themselves, as well as promoting their aim to end partition. He immediately became the Chairman of the Nationalist Party at Stormont, and was the founding Chairman of the Anti-Partition of Ireland League. In 1953, he became instead the President of the League, and in 1958, he stood down from Parliament and his position as Chairman of the Nationalist Party in order to concentrate on his legal career. McSparran remained active as a barrister and supported the

Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association ) was an organisation that campaigned for civil rights in Northern Ireland during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Formed in Belfast on 9 April 1967,

. An avid

Glasgow Celtic The Celtic Football Club, commonly known as Celtic (), is a Scottish professional football club based in Glasgow, which plays in the Scottish Premiership. The club was founded in 1887 with the purpose of alleviating poverty in the immigra ...

fan, he died in

Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...

as he watched the European Cup semi-final between Glasgow Celtic and Leeds United.

Family life

McSparran had, through his Antrim roots, deep connections with many prominent Catholic families with clerical links and business interests. His brothers included Canon John McSparran, a senior priest of the

Diocese of Down and Connor The Diocese of Down and Connor, ( ga, Deoise an Dúin agus Chonaire) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Northern Ireland. It is one of eight suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of the ...

and Dr. Daniel McSparran, Chairman of ''

The Irish News ''The Irish News'' is a compact daily newspaper based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is Northern Ireland's largest selling morning newspaper and is available throughout Ireland. It is broadly Irish nationalist in its viewpoint, though it al ...

'' newspaper and Chair of Belfast Celtic. His son, James D. McSparran QC also practised at the Northern Ireland Bar.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcsparran, James 1892 births 1970 deaths Irish barristers Leaders of political parties in Northern Ireland Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 1945–1949 Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 1949–1953 Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 1953–1958 Nationalist Party (Ireland) members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland People educated at St Mungo's Academy Politicians from Glasgow Scottish people of Irish descent Alumni of Queen's University Belfast British King's Counsel Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland for County Down constituencies