William Archer Redmond DSO (16 October 1886 – 17 April 1932) was an Irish

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

politician. He served as an 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 ...

as well as a

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms such as ''Member of Parlia ...

(TD) of

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( , ; ) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house).Article 15.1.2º of the Constitution of Ireland reads: ...

. He was one of the few people to have served in both the House of Commons and in the

Oireachtas The Oireachtas (, ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the bicameral parliament of Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of: *The President of Ireland *The two houses of the Oireachtas ( ga, Tithe an Oireachtais): **Dáil Éireann ...

. During World War I, he served in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

as an officer with an Irish regiment on the Western Front. He was the son of

John Redmond John Edward Redmond (1 September 1856 – 6 March 1918) 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 sovere ...

, the leader 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 nationa ...

from 1900 to 1918, and was one of a dynasty of Liberal and Irish Nationalist politicians who are commemorated in Redmond Square in

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 Nat ...

town.

Early and personal life

William Archer Redmond was born on 16 October 1886 in London, the only son of three children of John Redmond and his wife Johanna. Redmond was educated at Clongowes Wood College and

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 ...

. On 18 November 1930, he married Bridget Mallick of the Curragh,

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...

. They had no children.

Parliamentary and military career

He was elected as MP for Tyrone East at the December 1910 general election and supported the passing of the 1914 Home Rule Act. When his father called for support for the British and Allied war effort in World War I, Redmond joined the

National Volunteers The National Volunteers was the name taken by the majority of the Irish Volunteers that sided with Irish Parliamentary Party leader John Redmond after the movement split over the question of the Volunteers' role in World War I. Origins The Na ...

in the New British Army and served on the Western Front for the duration of the war, first in the

Royal Dublin Fusiliers The Royal Dublin Fusiliers was an Irish infantry Regiment of the British Army created in 1881, one of eight Irish regiments raised and garrisoned in Ireland, with its home depot in Naas. The Regiment was created by the amalgamation of two Brit ...

and then in the

Irish Guards The Irish Guards (IG), is one of the Foot Guards regiments of the British Army and is part of the Guards Division. Together with the Royal Irish Regiment, it is one of the two Irish infantry regiments in the British Army. The regiment has partic ...

, rose to the rank of captain and was awarded the DSO. His fellow MP and uncle

Willie Redmond William Hoey Kearney Redmond (13 April 1861 – 7 June 1917) was an Irish nationalist politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP), was a lawyer and soldier Denman, Terence in: McGuire, James and Quinn, James (eds): ''Dictionary of Iris ...

, John's brother, also joined up and was killed in 1917. Three other Irish Nationalist MPs also served, J. L. Esmonde,

Stephen Gwynn Stephen Lucius Gwynn (13 February 1864 – 11 June 1950) was an Irish journalist, biographer, author, poet and Protestant Nationalist politician. As a member of the Irish Parliamentary Party he represented Galway city as its Member of Parliame ...

, D. D. Sheehan and former MP Tom Kettle. When his father died in March 1918, William Archer Redmond resigned his Tyrone seat and successfully defended his father's seat of

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

at the subsequent by-election. Famously he campaigned in his army uniform and wearing a black armband. His victory ended a run of

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur ...

victories at by-elections and gave a big, albeit temporary, boost to the morale of supporters of the

. He did not take part in the

First Dáil The First Dáil ( ga, An Chéad Dáil) was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 1919 to 1921. It was the first meeting of the unicameral parliament of the revolutionary Irish Republic. In the December 1918 election to the Parliament of the Unite ...

. In the general election of December 1918, he was re-elected for Waterford City, becoming one of only two Irish Parliamentary Party MPs outside the six counties of

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

, and he spoke out strongly in the House of Commons against British military policy in Ireland during the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi- ...

Dáil career

Following independence, Redmond was elected as an

Independent Nationalist Independent Nationalist ( ga, Náisiúnach Neamhspleách) is a political title frequently used by Irish nationalists when contesting elections to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom Great Britain and Ireland not as members of the Irish ...

deputy in the

4th Dáil Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

for

at the 1923 general election. In 1926, he co-founded the National League Party, appealing to former supporters of the Irish Parliamentary Party, ex-servicemen, and others, including Unionists, alienated by the policies of the

Cumann na nGaedheal Cumann na nGaedheal (; "Society of the Gaels") was a political party in the Irish Free State, which formed the government from 1923 to 1932. In 1933 it merged with smaller groups to form the Fine Gael party. Origins In 1922 the pro-Treaty G ...

government. The new party won eight seats at the June 1927 general election. However Redmond alarmed his supporters by supporting a motion of no confidence placed by Labour Party and

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christian ...

to bring down the Cumann na nGaedheal government, and replace it with a minority Labour Party–National League administration supported from outside by Fianna Fáil. The attempt failed and in the ensuing general election in September 1927, the party won only two seats, including Redmond. The following year the National League was dissolved and in 1931 Redmond joined Cumann na nGaedheal. He died in April 1932. No by-election was held for the vacancy. His wife Bridget Redmond was elected as a Cumann na nGaedheal TD for Waterford at the 1933 general election.

References

External links

*
Department of the Taoiseach: Irish Soldiers in the First World War
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Redmond, William Archer 1886 births 1932 deaths Irish Parliamentary Party MPs UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs 1918–1922 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Tyrone constituencies (1801–1922) Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Waterford constituencies (1801–1922) Royal Dublin Fusiliers officers Irish Guards officers Irish people of World War I Companions of the Distinguished Service Order British Army personnel of World War I Members of the 4th Dáil Members of the 5th Dáil Members of the 6th Dáil Members of the 7th Dáil Independent TDs National League Party TDs Politicians from County Wexford

William William is a male Male (symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or ovum, in the process of fertilization. A male organism cannot reproduce sex ...

Alumni of Trinity College Dublin People educated at Clongowes Wood College Politicians from County Waterford Cumann na nGaedheal TDs Spouses of Irish politicians

Early and personal life

Parliamentary and military career

Dáil career

See also

References

External links