Purcell O'Gorman, Vanity Fair, 1875-03-13

Purcell O'Gorman (1820 – 24 November 1888) was an

Irish nationalist Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of cu ...

politician and Member of Parliament in the

House of Commons of the United Kingdom The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 me ...

, elected as a member of the

Home Rule League The Home Rule League (1873–1882), sometimes called the Home Rule Party, was an Irish political party which campaigned for home rule for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, until it was replaced by the Irish Parliam ...

to represent

Waterford City "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

. He was elected only once, in the

1874 United Kingdom general election The 1874 United Kingdom general election saw the incumbent Liberals, led by William Gladstone, lose decisively, even though it won a majority of the votes cast. Benjamin Disraeli's Conservatives won the majority of seats in the House of Commo ...

, and served until 1880.

Life

A scion of the

landed gentry The landed gentry, or the ''gentry'', is a largely historical British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. While distinct from, and socially below, the British peerage, th ...

of Ireland,Sir Bernard Burke, ''A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Ireland'' (Harrison & sons, 1899), p. 344 but a Roman Catholic, O'Gorman was born in Kilkenny, the son of the successful

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

Nicholas Purcell O'Gorman QC,Brendan Barrington, ed., ''The Dublin Review'' issues 10–13 (2003), p. 15 who was the Secretary of

Daniel O'Connell Daniel O'Connell (I) ( ga, Dónall Ó Conaill; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilizat ...

Catholic Association The Catholic Association was an Irish Roman Catholic political organisation set up by Daniel O'Connell in the early nineteenth century to campaign for Catholic emancipation within Great Britain. It was one of the first mass-membership politica ...

. He was educated at Clongowes, a

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

school, then at the age of sixteen matriculated at

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 ...

. There he graduated BA in law in 1840. On 3 February 1843 he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant into the

Ceylon Rifle Regiment The Ceylon Rifle Regiment (CRR) was a regular native regiment formed by the British in Ceylon. Its history goes back to 1795. The nucleus of the Regiment was two companies of Malays recruited from among prisoners at St Helena. In 1795 there were ...

. On 9 December 1845 he transferred to the 90th Foot (Perthshire Volunteers) as a Lieutenant and was promoted Captain on 2 April 1852. He served in the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

from 1854 to 1855, and on 17 August 1855 sold his commission.'O'GORMAN, Purcell', in Frederic Boase, ed., ''Modern English Biography: I-Q'' (1897), p. 1,887: "O'GORMAN, Purcell (2 son of the preceding). b. 1820; educ. Trin. coll. Dublin, B.A. 1840; 2 lieut. Ceylon regiment 3 Feb. 1843 ; lieut. 90 foot 9 Dec. 1845, captain 2 April 1852, sold out 17 Aug. 1855; served in Crimean war 1854-5; M.P. Waterford 1874–80. d. Springfield, co. Kilkenny 24 Nov 1888." O'Gorman served as one of Waterford's two

members of parliament from February 1874 until 1880. In March 1875, barely a year after his election to the House of Commons, he was caricatured by "Ape" ( Carlo Pellegrini) in the London ''Vanity Fair'' magazine as "The Joker for Waterford". O'Gorman died at Springfield,

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny ( gle, Contae Chill Chainnigh) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the South-East Region. It is named after the city of Kilkenny. Kilkenny County Council is the local authority for the cou ...

, in November 1888.

Private life

In 1853, O'Gorman married Sarah, a daughter of Thomas Mellor, of Ashton, Lancashire, and they had one son and two daughters. They settled at Bellevue, in

County Clare County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Southern Region and the province of Munster, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 118,817 ...

.Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd, ed., ''Burke's Irish Family Records'' (London: Burkes Peerage Ltd., 1976), p. 212 In 1860 their elder daughter, Frances Alice O'Gorman, married Captain E. J. Anderson,

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

. He was later a Brigadier-General.''Kelly's Handbook to the Titled, Landed and Official Classes'' (Kell's Directories, 1918), p. 90 In 1905 their younger daughter, Mary O'Gorman, became the second wife of Lt. Colonel Robert Thomas Carew, a former High Sheriff of

County Waterford County Waterford ( ga, Contae Phort Láirge) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is part of the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region. It is named ...

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:OGorman, Purcell 1820 births 1888 deaths Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Home Rule League MPs Parnellite MPs People educated at Clongowes Wood College Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Waterford constituencies (1801–1922) UK MPs 1874–1880