A-Remarkable-Tail-er-of-the-19th-Century-Nugent-MacNamara

William Nugent Macnamara or M'Namara (c. 1776 – 11 November 1856) was an Irish landowner and Member of Parliament. He was the eldest son of Irish MP Francis Macnamara of Doolin and was educated at a Dublin seminary. He entered the local militia as a captain of grenadiers, later gaining promotion to major. He was appointed

High Sheriff of Clare The High Sheriff of Clare was a High Sheriff title. Records show that the title was in existence from at least the late 16th century, though it is not used today in the modern Republic of Ireland. The title existed within County Clare in the west ...

for 1798–99, successfully keeping order during the Irish rebellion, and succeeded his father in 1815 as landlord of

Doolin Doolin () is a coastal village in County Clare, Ireland, on the Atlantic coast. It is southwest of the spa town of Lisdoonvarna and 4 miles from the Cliffs of Moher. It is a noted centre of traditional Irish music, which is played nightly in i ...

. He later acquired

Ennistymon House Ennistymon House (sometimes also Ennistimon House) was a former country house in the village of Ennistymon, County Clare in Ireland. Built on the elevated site of a medieval castle it has now been incorporated into the Falls Hotel. History In ...

by marriage into the Finucane family. He travelled about, including to the continent, between 1814 and 1816. When in Dublin in 1815 he acted as second to

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 ...

(the Liberator) in his famous

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon Code duello, rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the r ...

with John D'Esterre in which O'Connell fatally wounded D'Esterre. In 1830 he was elected MP for Clare to take the place of O'Connell, who sat instead for Waterford. He was then re-elected in 1831, 1832 and 1847, retiring in 1852. He died in 1856 and was buried in the family vault at Doolin. He had married Susannah, daughter and co-heiress of the High Court

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

Matthias Finucane of Lifford and Ann O'Brien of Ennistymon House (her parents were divorced, an unusual step for the time), with whom he had a son, Francis, and four daughters. He was succeeded by Francis, an Army officer who had been an

Repeal Association The Repeal Association was an Irish mass membership political movement set up by Daniel O'Connell in 1830 to campaign for a repeal of the Acts of Union of 1800 between Great Britain and Ireland. The Association's aim was to revert Ireland to th ...

MP for

Ennis Ennis () is the county town of County Clare, in the mid-west of Ireland. The town lies on the River Fergus, north of where the river widens and enters the Shannon Estuary. Ennis is the largest town in County Clare, with a population of 25,27 ...

. Susannah died aged 39 in 1816 and is buried in St. Anne's Parish Church, Dublin, alongside their daughter Honoria (wife of Edmond John Armstrong) who died in 1838. Among his descendants was

Caitlin Thomas Caitlin Thomas (née Macnamara; 8 December 1913 – 31 July 1994) was an author and the wife of the poet and writer Dylan Thomas. Their marriage was a stormy affair, fuelled by alcohol and infidelity, though the couple remained together until Dy ...

, the author and wife of the celebrated poet

Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Under ...

. He was described by a contemporary as "''a Protestant in religion, a Catholic in politics, and a Milesian in descent''".

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Macnamara, William Nugent Date of birth unknown 1856 deaths People from County Clare 19th-century Irish people High Sheriffs of Clare Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Clare constituencies (1801–1922) UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832 UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs 1835–1837 UK MPs 1837–1841 UK MPs 1841–1847 UK MPs 1847–1852 Year of birth uncertain Irish Repeal Association MPs