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 cult ...

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 memb ...

, 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. He was elected only once, in the

1874 United Kingdom general election The 1874 United Kingdom general election was held between 31 January to 17 February 1874. The Conservatives under the leadership of Benjamin Disraeli won a decisive victory against the incumbent governing Liberals under William Ewart Gladstone, ...

, and served until 1880.

Life

A scion of the

landed gentry The landed gentry, or the gentry (sometimes collectively known as the squirearchy), is a largely historical Irish and British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. It is t ...

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 jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

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(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 ...

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 ...

. He was educated at Clongowes, a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

school, then at the age of sixteen matriculated 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 ...

. 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 United Kingdom, 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 ...

. 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 between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

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 February 1843; lieut. 90 foot 9 Dec. 1845, captain 2 April 1852, sold out 17 August 1855; served in Crimean war 1854-5; M.P. Waterford 1874–80. d. Springfield, co. Kilkenny 24 November 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 () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is named after the City status in Ir ...

, 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 () 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 ...

.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 the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

. 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 () 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 Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is named after the city of Waterford. ...

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