Tomás Antonio O'Horán y Argüello (1775–1848) was a Mexican lawyer, magistrate and senator, resident most of his life in

Mérida, Yucatán Mérida () is the capital of the Mexican state of Yucatán, and the largest city in southeastern Mexico. The city is also the seat of the eponymous Municipality. It is located in the northwest corner of the Yucatán Peninsula, about 35 km (22 ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Tomas was born somewhere in the Yucatán region, the son of John O'Horan, a native of

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

, Ireland, and María Gertrudis de Argüello y Monte, of

Campeche Campeche (; yua, Kaampech ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Campeche ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Campeche), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. Located in southeast Mexico, it is bordered by ...

. John had come to the Yucatán region by way of the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

. Tomas was educated at the Seminario Conciliar of Campeche from about 1794 to 1799 and subsequently was a professor of law there. He served from October 1823 to April 1825 as a member of the Second Triumvirate (ruling council) of the United Provinces of Central America, serving as Chairman every third month. He served in the

Mexican Senate The Senate of the Republic, ( es, Senado de la República) constitutionally Chamber of Senators of the Honorable Congress of the Union ( es, Cámara de Senadores del H. Congreso de la Unión), is the upper house of Mexico's bicameral Congres ...

representing Yucatán in 1835. Subsequently, he was also a magistrate in Mérida. Tomas married Gertrudis Escudero de la Rocha with whom he had several children. One of his sons, Tomás O'Horán y Escudero (1819–1867) became a general in the Mexican armed forces who fought against the French invasion in 1862, and was appointed Governor and Military Commander of the

State of Mexico The State of Mexico ( es, Estado de México; ), officially just Mexico ( es, México), is one of the 32 federal entities of the United Mexican States. Commonly known as Edomex (from ) to distinguish it from the name of the whole country, it is ...

by Benito Juárez, but later served as Prefect of the Valley of Mexico under the French, and was shot by the forces of Benito Juárez in 1867 after they re-took

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

. Another son, Agustín Jorge O'Horán Escudero (1828–1884) was a medical doctor for whom the oldest hospital in Mérida is named.

References

*''Diccionario Porrúa'', 6th Edition, Editorial Porrúa, Mexico City, 1995 *Archivo General Nacional, México *''Biografía del Dr. Agustín Jorge O'Horán Escudero'', by Arturo Erosa Barbachano, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, 2005

External links

Dictionary of Irish Latin American Biography
1775 births 1848 deaths Mexican people of Irish descent People from Mérida, Yucatán 19th-century Mexican judges Heads of state of the Federal Republic of Central America 19th-century Mexican politicians Politicians from Yucatán (state) {{Mexico-law-bio-stub