Charles James Patrick Mahon (17 March 1800 – 15 June 1891), known as the O'Gorman Mahon or James Patrick Mahon, 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 cult ...

journalist,

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

, parliamentarian and international

mercenary A mercenary is a private individual who joins an armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rather t ...

Personal life

Mahon, the eldest of four children, was born into a prominent Roman Catholic family in

Ennis Ennis ( , meaning 'island' or 'river meadow') 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 Cou ...

County Clare County Clare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern part of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council ...

. His father, Patrick Mahon of New Park, participated in the Rebellion of 1798 while his mother, Barbara, was a significant heiress, being the only daughter of James O'Gorman of Ennis. Mahon received his education at

Clongowes Wood College Clongowes Wood College SJ is a Catholic voluntary boarding school for boys near Clane, County Kildare, Ireland, founded by the Jesuits in 1814. It features prominently in James Joyce's semi-autobiographical novel '' A Portrait of the Artist ...

, where he was among the earliest pupils, and later at

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

, where he earned his BA in 1822 and his MA in law in 1832. Prior to his father's death in 1821, Mahon received an annual allowance of £500. Following his father's passing, he inherited half of the family property and also became a magistrate for Clare. He subsequently adopted the title "the O'Gorman Mahon," with O'Gorman being his mother's maiden name."Mahon, Charles James Patrick", ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

''. This move was partly intended to create the false impression that he was the head of the Mahon clan.Riches of Clare: The O'Gorman Mahon
, ''Clare Champion'', 13 September 2002. In 1830, Mahon married Christina, the daughter of John O'Brien of Dublin. Christina was an heiress with property valued at £60,000 in her own right, which provided Mahon with the resources to pursue election to parliament. Despite their marriage, the couple spent little time together, and Christina died in Paris in 1877, apart from Mahon. Together, they had one son named St John, who died in 1883. Born in a time when duelling was relatively common in Ireland, Mahon later claimed to have instigated and fought thirteen

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people with matched weapons. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and later the small sword), but beginning in ...

s; and in these, to have been injured in six but to have drawn blood in seven. These enhanced the tall, striking Mahon's dashing reputation.

Politics

In 1826, Mahon joined the newly formed

Catholic Association The Catholic Association was an Irish Roman Catholic political organization set up by Daniel O'Connell in the early nineteenth century to campaign for Catholic emancipation within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was one of ...

.Guide to the O'Gorman Mahon Papers 1824 – 1892
The

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

Library. He encouraged fellow member

Daniel O'Connell Daniel(I) O’Connell (; 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 mobilisation of Catholic Irelan ...

to stand for election at the

1828 Clare by-election The 1828 Clare (UK Parliament constituency), Clare by-election was notable as this was the first time since the reformation that an openly Roman Catholic MP, Daniel O'Connell was elected. The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1793 had extended the franc ...

. O'Connell's election, in which Mahon played a large role, persuaded the British Government to pass the

Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 ( 10 Geo. 4. c. 7), also known as the Catholic Emancipation Act 1829, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that removed the sacramental tests that barred Roman Catholics in the United Kingdom f ...

, which finalised the process of Catholic Emancipation and permitted

Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

to sit in the British Parliament. As a result, when Mahon was elected for

Clare Clare may refer to: Places Antarctica * Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land Australia * Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley * Clare Valley, South Australia Canada * Clare (electoral district), an electoral district * Cl ...

at the 1830 general election, he was entitled to take his seat. However, during the election campaign he quarrelled with O'Connell, and after his election he was unseated for bribery. He was subsequently acquitted, and stood again at the 1831 election, but was defeated by two O'Connell-backed candidates, one of whom was his old schoolfriend Maurice O'Connell, Daniel O'Connell's son. Mahon gave up on politics, became deputy lieutenant of Clare, and captain of the local

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

. At the 1847 general election, Mahon was elected for

, and declared himself a Whig in favour of Irish Repeal. However, he opposed the

Young Irelanders Young Ireland (, ) was a political and cultural movement in the 1840s committed to an all-Ireland struggle for independence and democratic reform. Grouped around the Dublin weekly ''The Nation'', it took issue with the compromises and clerical ...

, and narrowly lost his seat at the 1852 election. After exploits abroad he returned to Ireland in 1871 and was a founding 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 ...

. Nearly ruined by his ventures, he even ended up at the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

as a consequence of his dealings, but was acquitted. He was defeated in Ennis at the 1874 general election, and also at the Clare by-election in 1877. Finally, he won the

1879 Clare by-election The 1879 Clare by-election was fought on 15 May 1879. The by-election was fought due to the resignation of the incumbent Home Rule MP, Bryan O'Loghlen Sir Bryan O'Loghlen, 3rd Baronet (pronounced and sometimes spelt Brian O'Lochlen; 27 Ju ...

, and held the seat at the 1880 general election. He was a close associate of

Charles Stewart Parnell Charles Stewart Parnell (27 June 1846 – 6 October 1891) was an Irish nationalist politician who served as a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom from 1875 to 1891, Leader of the Home Rule Leag ...

, who he successfully nominated for the leadership of the League in 1880, but in 1885 was dropped as a party candidate because of his age and his tendency to vote with the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

in Parliament. He was also embroiled in a court case disputing the will of his son, St John Mahon, who died in 1884. Parnell personally ensured Mahon was a candidate at the 1887 Carlow by-election, which he won at the age of 87 as a Nationalist. By this point, Mahon was the oldest MP in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. He died at his home in

South Kensington South Kensington is a district at the West End of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with the advent of the ra ...

while still in office. Mahon had served alongside

William O'Shea Captain William Henry O'Shea (1840 – 22 April 1905) was an Irish soldier and Member of Parliament. He is best known for being the ex-husband of Katharine O'Shea, the long-time mistress of the Irish nationalist leader Charles Stewart Parnell ...

as an MP, and the two were close friends. He introduced him and

Katharine O'Shea Katharine Parnell (née Wood; 30 January 1846 – 5 February 1921), known before her second marriage as Katharine O'Shea and popularly as Kitty O'Shea, was an English woman of aristocratic background whose adulterous relationship with Irish ...

, his wife, to Parnell. After Parnell was named in the O'Sheas' divorce case in 1890, Mahon split with Parnell, siding with the

Irish National Federation 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 ...

. However, Parnell attended Mahon's funeral in

Glasnevin Cemetery Glasnevin Cemetery () is a large cemetery in Glasnevin, Dublin, Ireland which opened in 1832. It holds the graves and memorials of several notable figures, and has a museum. Location The cemetery is located in Glasnevin, Dublin, in two part ...

a few months later.

Travels

Mahon became a

in 1834, but the following year, he left for Paris. There he associated with

Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (; ; 2 February 1754 – 17 May 1838), 1st Prince of Benevento, then Prince of Talleyrand, was a French secularization, secularized clergyman, statesman, and leading diplomat. After studying theology, he b ...

, becoming a favourite at

Louis-Philippe Louis Philippe I (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850), nicknamed the Citizen King, was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, the penultimate monarch of France, and the last French monarch to bear the title "King". He abdicated from his throne ...

's court and working as a journalist. He travelled the world, spending time in both Africa, where he befriended

Ferdinand de Lesseps Ferdinand Marie, Comte de Lesseps (; 19 November 1805 – 7 December 1894) was a French Orientalist diplomat and owner of Main Idea of the Suez Canal, which in 1869 joined the Mediterranean and Red Seas, substantially reducing sailing distan ...

, engineer of the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

, and South America, before returning to Ireland in 1846. Following his defeat in the 1852 election, Mahon returned to Paris, then travelled on to

St Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, where he served in the Imperial Bodyguard. During this period, he journeyed through lands from

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

(where he hunted bear with the tsarevich) to

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

. He then travelled across China,

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

. His finances largely exhausted, he served as a mercenary in the Ottoman and Austrian armies before returning to England in 1858. Late that year, he left for South America, where he attempted to finance the construction of a

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

through Central America. He investigated the disappearance of Commander Lionel Lambert, captain of the paddle sloop , on which Mahon had voyaged, and forced the

Peruvian Government The Republic of Peru is a unitary state with a multi-party semi-presidential system. The current government was established by the 1993 Constitution of Peru. The government is composed of three branches, being executive, judicial, and legisla ...

to instigate an investigation which revealed that Lambert had been murdered. He reported these findings to

Lord Palmerston Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (20 October 1784 – 18 October 1865), known as Lord Palmerston, was a British statesman and politician who served as prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1855 to 1858 and from 1859 to 1865. A m ...

, a former Parliamentary colleague. Mahon then returned to soldiery. He served in a number of forces, often in honorary positions. In

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

he was appointed a general in the government forces during the

Uruguayan Civil War The Uruguayan Civil War, also known in Spanish as the ''Guerra Grande'' ("Great War"), was a series of armed conflicts between the leaders of Uruguayan independence. While officially the war lasted from 1839 until 1851, it was a part of armed ...

. He also claimed to have commanded a Chilean fleet during the

Chincha Islands War The Chincha Islands War, also known as Spanish–South American War (), was a series of coastal and naval battles between Spain and its former colonies of Peru, Chile, Ecuador, and Bolivia from 1865 to 1879. The conflict began with Spain's seiz ...

and to have served as a colonel in

Pedro II of Brazil ''Don (honorific), Dom'' PedroII (Pedro de Alcântara João Carlos Leopoldo Salvador Bibiano Francisco Xavier de Paula Leocádio Miguel Gabriel Rafael Gonzaga; 2 December 1825 – 5 December 1891), nicknamed the Magnanimous (), was the List o ...

's army. Later legends claimed that he was made an

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

while in Brazil. When Mahon heard that the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

had broken out, he went to fight for the Union. In 1866, he returned to Paris, where he was made a

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

in a regiment of chasseurs by Louis-Napoleon, but in 1877, he moved to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, where he became a close associate of

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (; born ''Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck''; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898) was a German statesman and diplomat who oversaw the unification of Germany and served as ...

. He was plagued by debts in this period, seeking money in speculative ventures, and in 1871 he returned to Ireland.

References

External links

*
Guide to the O'Gorman Mahon Papers 1824-1892
at th
University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahon, James Patrick 1800 births 1891 deaths 19th-century Irish writers Burials at Glasnevin Cemetery Home Rule League MPs Irish journalists Irish barristers Irish Parliamentary Party MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Carlow constituencies (1801–1922) Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Clare constituencies (1801–1922) Irish mercenaries Irish soldiers in the Austrian Army Irish generals Irish duellists Politicians from County Clare UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1847–1852 UK MPs 1874–1880 UK MPs 1880–1885 UK MPs 1886–1892 Whig (British political party) MPs for Irish constituencies Alumni of Trinity College Dublin People educated at Clongowes Wood College Irish expatriates in France Irish expatriates in Bulgaria Irish expatriates in Austria-Hungary Irish expatriates in Germany Irish expatriates in the United States 19th-century journalists Irish male journalists Irish Repeal Association MPs Anti-Parnellite MPs People from Ennis 19th-century Irish lawyers Lawyers from County Clare