Luke Patrick Hayden (1850 – 23 June 1897) 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 and 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. T ...

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 Grea ...

and 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 nation ...

represented South Leitrim from 1885 to 1892 and South Roscommon from 1892 until his death in 1897. He was the son of Luke Hayden, a blacksmith at Roscommon, and was educated locally. He was secretary of one of the first Home Rule County organizations, the branch started in Co. Roscommon at the beginning of the movement. In about 1877 he succeeded O'Conor Eccles as proprietor of the ''Roscommon Messenger''. He was Chairman of the

town commissioners Town commissioners were elected local government bodies that existed in urban areas in Ireland from the 19th century until 2002. Larger towns with commissioners were converted to urban districts by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898, with ...

of the borough of

Roscommon Roscommon (; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60, N61 and N63 roads. The name Roscommon is derived from Coman mac Faelchon who buil ...

from 1880 until his death. For a time, he was a justice of the peace, but was dismissed on account of his Nationalist opinions. He spent 7 months as a suspect in prison in Galway and Monaghan in 1881 and 1882.''Roscommon Messenger'', 26/6/1897 He won the new seat of South Leitrim by a huge majority over the Conservative candidate in the 1885 general election and was then returned unopposed in the 1886 general election. When the Irish Parliamentary Party split over

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 ...

’s leadership in 1890, Hayden supported Parnell. He did not contest South Leitrim in the 1892 general election, but stood in his native seat of South Roscommon where he defeated the sitting

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 ...

Andrew Commins by a comfortable margin, taking 63 per cent of the vote in a straight fight. He was one of only nine pro-Parnellites elected to Parliament in that election. In the 1895 general election the prominent anti-Parnellite

John Dillon John Dillon (4 September 1851 – 4 August 1927) was an Irish politician from Dublin, who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for over 35 years and was the last leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party. By political disposition Dillon was an a ...

attempted to oust him from South Roscommon, by standing there as well as in his own seat of Mayo East. Dillon however made little dent in his majority, Hayden taking 58 per cent of the vote, again in a straight fight. Luke Hayden was a popular local figure and his funeral cortège in the county town of Roscommon on 25 June 1897 was over a mile long. The following month, he was succeeded in his South Roscommon seat by his younger brother

John Patrick Hayden John Patrick Hayden (25 April 1863 – 3 July 1954) was an Irish nationalist politician. As a member of the Irish Parliamentary Party, he served in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1897 to 1918 as Memb ...

, also a Parnellite, who was returned unopposed.

Footnotes

References

* Brian M. Walker (ed.), ''Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922'', Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, 1978 * ''Irish Daily Independent'', 24 and 26 June 1897 * ''The Times'' (London), 1 December 1885 and 25 June 1897 * ''Roscommon Messenger'', 26 June 1897 * ''Who Was Who, 1897-1916'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Hayden, Luke 1850 births 1897 deaths Irish Parliamentary Party MPs Politicians from County Roscommon Parnellite MPs UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Leitrim constituencies (1801–1922) Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Roscommon constituencies (1801–1922)