Joseph Nolan (1846 – 14 September 1928) 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: The ...
politician and
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) 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 ...
. As a 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 ...
, he represented
North Louth from 1885 to 1892, and
South Louth from 1900 to 1918. The ''Irish Times'' (15 September 1928) said he was "One of the
Fenians whom Parnellism conquered."
Nolan was born at
Castleblayney
Castleblayney (; ) is a town in County Monaghan, Ireland. The town had a population of 3,607 as of the 2016 census. Castleblayney is near the border with County Armagh in Northern Ireland, and lies on the N2 road from Dublin to Derry and Let ...
, County Monaghan. He married Mary Flinn, who had been born in
County Down
County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...
, in 1884. She was 12–14 years his junior.
[Stenton & Lees (1978); Census 1901 and 1911. Nolan's wife's name Mary is known from the 1901 and 1911 Censuses, and her place of birth from the 1911 Census. Her maiden name Flinn is inferred from that of Margarite Flinn, Joseph Nolan's mother-in-law, who was included in the 1901 Census return.] Together they had nine children, of whom two died young, leaving by 1911 three sons and four daughters. Nolan was originally a schoolteacher, in Ireland and then at a reformatory school in Liverpool.
He later became manager of the Aquarium and Casino in
New Brighton on the
Wirral Peninsula
Wirral (; ), known locally as The Wirral, is a peninsula in North West England. The roughly rectangular peninsula is about long and wide and is bounded by the River Dee to the west (forming the boundary with Wales), the River Mersey to t ...
near Liverpool, and this was his job at the time of his first election to Parliament for the new seat of North Louth in the Nationalist landslide of 1885. In this election, as the official
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 h ...
candidate supported by
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 ...
, he defeated
Philip Callan
Philip Callan (1837 - 13 June 1902) was an Irish Member of Parliament.
Early life
Callan was born in Cookstown House Ardee in 1837 and was the son of Owen Callan MP. He studied law at Trinity College Dublin, and also at the King's Inns as can be ...
, who had previously sat for Co. Louth as a Home Ruler but had fallen out with Parnell and now stood as an Independent Nationalist. Nolan was then returned unopposed in 1886.
When the Irish Parliamentary Party split 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 ...
in 1890, Nolan supported Parnell. At the following election in 1892 he stood in South Louth but was defeated by an Anti-Parnellite by more than 2 to 1. At the
general election of July 1895 he stood in the North Louth seat again, challenging the prominent
Anti-Parnellite
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 ...
incumbent
Timothy Michael Healy
Timothy Michael Healy, KC (17 May 1855 – 26 March 1931) was an Irish nationalist politician, journalist, author, barrister and a controversial Irish Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and ...
, but was again defeated, this time by 3 to 2. In a by-election the following September, he came within 88 votes of winning
Limerick City
Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 c ...
as a Parnellite.
At the
general election of October 1900, following the reunification of the Irish Parliamentary Party, he stood in the South Louth seat as an
Independent Nationalist
Independent Nationalist ( ga, Náisiúnach Neamhspleách) is a political title frequently used by Irish Nationalism, Irish nationalists when contesting elections to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the United Kingd ...
against the official Nationalist candidate, and won with 57% of the vote. He was subsequently reconciled to the official Party and returned unopposed at South Louth until 1918, when he retired.
In a characteristically colourful obituary in the ''Daily Telegraph'',
T. P. O'Connor
Thomas Power O'Connor (5 October 1848 – 18 November 1929), known as T. P. O'Connor and occasionally as Tay Pay (mimicking his own pronunciation of the initials ''T. P.''), was an Irish nationalist politician and journalist who served as a ...
said, like the ''Irish Times'', that 'Nolan was one of the Fenians whom Parnellism conquered'. He went on to write: '....and when Parnell was on the look-out for candidates to join his new and soon-to-be-powerful party his mind was directed to Nolan, who had a record of obscure but violent acts behind him....He was a very fine-looking fellow, 6 ft 2in or 3in high, very well proportioned, with a handsome and refined face....He could speak, but with such slowness as to make a speech from him almost an infliction....he was always in or about the House of Commons....Forced to make a living - for there was no salary for Members of Parliament in those days, and a very small allowance from the party funds - Nolan was always engaged in some enterprise which he was trying to push....At one time it was to purchase rum of Jamaica; at another he had some scheme for exploring and exploiting a large piece of land in Labrador. Like all his colleagues, I heard Labrador described with his maddening slowness of speech, until in the end I had to protect myself by rarely seeing him.' O'Connor added that at the end of his life Nolan 'got into a state of almost complete destitution'.
In 1901 he was working as a 'dealer's agent, own account' and in 1911 as a wine shipper. It can be inferred from the Census records that he never lived in Ireland after about 1884.
His last recorded public appearance seems to have been at a service of thanksgiving for the signing of the
Anglo-Irish Treaty
The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty ( ga , An Conradh Angla-Éireannach), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the ...
held in
Westminster Cathedral
Westminster Cathedral is the mother church of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. It is the largest Catholic church in the UK and the seat of the Archbishop of Westminster.
The site on which the cathedral stands in the City of ...
, London, on 8 December 1921, which was also attended by his former Irish Parliamentary Party colleagues
T. P. O'Connor
Thomas Power O'Connor (5 October 1848 – 18 November 1929), known as T. P. O'Connor and occasionally as Tay Pay (mimicking his own pronunciation of the initials ''T. P.''), was an Irish nationalist politician and journalist who served as a ...
and
Thomas Scanlan
Thomas Scanlan (21 May 1874 – 9 January 1930) was an Irish barrister and nationalist politician. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for North Sligo from 1909 to 1918, as a member of the Irish Parliamentary Party in the House of Commons of the ...
.
[The Times, 9/12/1921.]
Footnotes
Sources
*Census of England and Wales, 1901 and 1911
*''Irish Times'', 15 September 1928
*Rt Hon. T. P. O'Connor M.P., Obituary, Mr Joseph Nolan, ''Daily Telegraph'', 15 September 1928
*Michael Stenton & Stephen Lees, ''Who's Who of British Members of Parliament'', Vol.2 1886–1918, Sussex, Harvester Press, 1978
*''The Times'' (London), 4 December 1885, 5 July 1892, 9 December 1921
*Brian M. Walker (ed.), ''Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922'', Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, 1978
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nolan, Joseph
1846 births
1928 deaths
Independent Nationalist MPs
Irish Parliamentary Party MPs
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Louth constituencies (1801–1922)
UK MPs 1885–1886
UK MPs 1886–1892
UK MPs 1900–1906
UK MPs 1906–1910
UK MPs 1910
UK MPs 1910–1918
Politicians from County Monaghan
Healyite Nationalist MPs