Jeremiah Jordan
J.P. (1830 – 31 December 1911) was an
Irish
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 ...
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
politician from
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 ...
. He was a
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 of ...
(MP) from 1885 to 1892, and from 1893 to 1910, taking his seat in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Great B ...
.
Early life
Jordan was born in Tattenbar, eldest son of Samuel Jordan, farmer, and was educated at the Mulnlburtlin National Primary School, as well as at the
Portora Royal School
Portora Royal School located in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, was one of the public schools founded by the royal charter in 1608, by James I, making it one of the oldest schools in Ireland at the time of its closure. Origina ...
in
Enniskillen
Enniskillen ( , from ga, Inis Ceithleann , 'Cethlenn, Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of ...
.
[Directory: ''Who was Who, 1897-1916'', p.386] He is buried in Aghavea
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...
churchyard, situated about 3 miles outside the village of
Maguiresbridge
Maguiresbridge is a small village in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. The village is named after the bridge over the Colebrooke River, first built by the local Maguire family about 1760. The village is 8 miles from Enniskillen and 3 miles fr ...
in
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 merchant by profession, he became a member of the
Fermanagh Urban Council, the Enniskillen Board of Guardians, the Fermanagh C.C. and of the Joint Committee of the Asylum for
Tyrone and
Fermanagh
Historically, Fermanagh ( ga, Fir Manach), as opposed to the modern County Fermanagh, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Fermanagh. ''Fir Manach'' originally referred to a distinct kin group of a ...
.
He was connected with
Temperance
Temperance may refer to:
Moderation
*Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed
*Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion
Culture
*Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...
and kindred movements for many years. He was a member of the
Tenant's Association, the
Land League
The Irish National Land League ( Irish: ''Conradh na Talún'') was an Irish political organisation of the late 19th century which sought to help poor tenant farmers. Its primary aim was to abolish landlordism in Ireland and enable tenant farme ...
, the
Irish National League
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 ...
and the
United Irish League
The United Irish League (UIL) was a nationalist political party in Ireland, launched 23 January 1898 with the motto ''"The Land for the People"''. Its objective to be achieved through agrarian agitation and land reform, compelling larger grazi ...
(UIL), successively.
In 1902 he became the first nationalist chairman of Fermanagh County Council.
The local branch of the UIL in Enniskillen which was largely dominated by working-class members was disaffiliated after it criticised merchants who dominated nationalist politics in the town – notably Jeremiah Jordan and his successor, Patrick Crumley – for decorating shops with Union Jacks and subscribing to a military monument.
Political career
From 1865, Jordan supported the
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
party in Enniskillen municipal and parliamentary elections against the dominant Cole
Earl of Enniskillen
Earl of Enniskillen is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1789 for William Cole, 1st Viscount Enniskillen. He had already been created Viscount Enniskillen in the Peerage of Ireland in 1776 and had inherited the title Baron ...
and Crichton
Earl of Erne
Earl Erne, of Crom Castle in the County of Fermanagh, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1789 for John Creighton, 2nd Baron Erne, who had earlier represented Lifford (Parliament of Ireland constituency) in the Irish House ...
interests.
In the early 1870s he joined the Home Rule League of
Isaac Butt
Isaac Butt (6 September 1813 – 5 May 1879) was an Irish barrister, editor, politician, Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, economist and the founder and first leader of a number of Irish nationalist part ...
and spoke alongside Butt at an Enniskillen meeting in 1873.
In 1880 he joined the
Land League
The Irish National Land League ( Irish: ''Conradh na Talún'') was an Irish political organisation of the late 19th century which sought to help poor tenant farmers. Its primary aim was to abolish landlordism in Ireland and enable tenant farme ...
and helped to secure extensive Protestant support for it in Fermanagh by arguing that it was a law-abiding body whose principal aim was to help
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 ...
and
Bright
Bright may refer to:
Common meanings
*Bright, an adjective meaning giving off or reflecting illumination; see Brightness
*Bright, an adjective meaning someone with intelligence
People
* Bright (surname)
* Bright (given name)
*Bright, the stage na ...
overcome resistance to further land reform.
Most of this Protestant support died away after the
Land Law (Ireland) Act 1881 and the agrarian violence of 1881–82. After the
Kilmainham Treaty
The Kilmainham Treaty was an informal agreement reached in May 1882 between Liberal British prime minister William Ewart Gladstone and the Irish nationalist leader Charles Stewart Parnell. Whilst in gaol, Parnell moved in April 1882 to make a ...
Jordan definitively committed himself to nationalism by joining the
Irish National League
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 ...
.
A
Protestant Nationalist
Protestant Irish Nationalists are adherents of Protestantism in Ireland who also support Irish nationalism. Protestants have played a large role in the development of Irish nationalism since the eighteenth century, despite most Irish nationa ...
member of 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 national ...
, Jordan was elected at the
1885 general election as MP for the
Western division of County Clare. His only opponent was a
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
, who won less than 4% of the votes.
He was returned unopposed in
1886. When the Irish Party split in 1891 over the leadership of
Charles Stewart Parnell
Charles Stewart Parnell (27 June 1846 – 6 October 1891) was an Irish nationalist politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1875 to 1891, also acting as Leader of the Home Rule League from 1880 to 1882 and then Leader of the ...
, Jordan was the first Nationalist MP to call for Parnell's resignation, partly because of his close association with the English Methodist spokesman
Hugh Price Hughes
Hugh Price Hughes (8 February 1847 – 17 November 1902) was a Welsh Protestant clergyman and religious reformer in the Methodist tradition. He served in multiple leadership roles in the Wesleyan Methodist Church. He organised the West London M ...
.
At the
1892 general election he did not stand again in West Clare (where the Parnellite
Irish National League
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 ...
candidate won a large majority), but in
North Fermanagh, where he lost the seat to a
Unionist candidate. However, the election in
South Meath was voided after an electoral petition, and at the resulting
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 17 February 1893, Jordan won the seat in a close contest with the Parnellite candidate.
At the
1895 general election, Jordan narrowly lost the South Meath seat to Parnell's older brother,
John Howard Parnell.
[Walker, op. cit., page 155] However, he had also stood in
South Fermanagh, where he was elected with a comfortable majority.
He was returned in that constituency at the
1900
As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...
,
1906 and
January 1910.
[Walker, op. cit., page 350] By then he was 80 years old, and after suffering a series of strokes he did not contest the
December 1910 general election.
He died a year later at High Street, Enniskillen, aged 81, according to some accounts, or 83, according to his death certificate.
Notes
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jordan, Jeremiah
1830 births
1911 deaths
Protestant Irish nationalists
Irish Anglicans
Irish Parliamentary Party MPs
Anti-Parnellite MPs
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Clare constituencies (1801–1922)
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Fermanagh constituencies (1801–1922)
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Meath constituencies (1801–1922)
UK MPs 1885–1886
UK MPs 1886–1892
UK MPs 1892–1895
UK MPs 1895–1900
UK MPs 1900–1906
UK MPs 1906–1910
UK MPs 1910
Members of Fermanagh County Council
People from County Fermanagh
People educated at Portora Royal School