John Egan (1750?-1810) was an Irish barrister, politician, and chairman of

Kilmainham Kilmainham (, meaning " St Maighneann's church") is a south inner suburb of Dublin, Ireland, south of the River Liffey and west of the city centre. It is in the city's Dublin 8 postal district. The area was once known as Kilmanum. History In t ...

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

Life

Egan was born around 1750 at

Charleville, County Cork Charleville ( ga, Ráth Luirc or ''An Ráth'') is a town in north County Cork, Ireland. It lies in the Golden Vale, on a tributary of the River Maigue, near the border with County Limerick. Charleville is on the N20 road and is the second-large ...

, where his father was a beneficed clergyman. Having entered

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

, as a

sizar At Trinity College, Dublin and the University of Cambridge, a sizar is an undergraduate who receives some form of assistance such as meals, lower fees or lodging during his or her period of study, in some cases in return for doing a defined jo ...

, he graduated there B.A. 1773, and LL.B. 1776; the degree of LL.D. () was conferred upon him in 1790. He was

called to the Irish bar The Bar of Ireland ( ga, Barra na hÉireann) is the professional association of barristers for Ireland, with over 2,000 members. It is based in the Law Library, with premises in Dublin and Cork. It is governed by the General Council of the Ba ...

in 1778, and, mainly through the friendship of

Barry Yelverton, 1st Viscount Avonmore Barry Yelverton, 1st Viscount Avonmore, PC (Ire) KC (28 May 1736 – 19 August 1805), was an Irish judge and politician, who gave his name to Yelverton's Act 1782, which effectively repealed Poynings' Law and thus restored the independence of t ...

, chief baron of the exchequer, he made his way in the profession. In due course he received his silk gown; in 1787 he was elected a bencher of the King's Inns, Dublin; and for several years before his death he held the judicial office of chairman of Kilmainham. He had taken a large share of business as a practising barrister, but a quarrel with

Henry Grattan Henry Grattan (3 July 1746 – 4 June 1820) was an Irish politician and lawyer who campaigned for legislative freedom for the Irish Parliament in the late 18th century from Britain. He was a Member of the Irish Parliament (MP) from 1775 to 18 ...

damaged him professionally. In the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fran ...

he for some years represented the borough of Tallaght, County Waterford, prominent on the question of the legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland. He died in 1810.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Egan, John 1750 births 1810 deaths Politicians from County Cork Alumni of Trinity College Dublin