
Sir Thomas Henry Grattan Esmonde, 11th Baronet, (21 September 1862 – 15 September 1935) was an Irish
Home Rule
Home rule is the government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governan ...
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...
politician and author.
Politics
Esmonde represented 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 nati ...
as an
MP for the constituencies of
South Dublin
South Dublin () is a county in Ireland, within the province of Leinster and the Eastern and Midland Region. It is one of three successor counties to County Dublin, which was disestablished for administrative purposes in 1994. South Dublin Cou ...
from 1885 to 1892;
West Kerry from 1892 to 1900; and
North Wexford from 1900 to 1918. He also sat as an
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States
* Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
Senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...
in the
Oireachtas
The Oireachtas ( ; ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of the president of Ireland and the two houses of the Oireachtas (): a house ...
from 1922 to 1934.
He was
High Sheriff of County Waterford
The High Sheriff of County Waterford was the Sovereign's judicial representative in County Waterford. Initially, an office for a lifetime, assigned by the Sovereign, the High Sheriff became an annual appointment following the Provisions of Oxford ...
in 1887.
Personal life
He was the son of
Sir John Esmonde, 10th Baronet and his wife Louisa, daughter of the younger
Henry Grattan
Henry Grattan (3 July 1746 – 4 June 1820) was an Irish politician and lawyer who campaigned for legislative freedom for the Irish Parliament in the late 18th century from Britain. He was a Member of the Irish Parliament (MP) from 1775 to 18 ...
(making him a great-grandson of the pre-
Union Irish statesman
Henry Grattan
Henry Grattan (3 July 1746 – 4 June 1820) was an Irish politician and lawyer who campaigned for legislative freedom for the Irish Parliament in the late 18th century from Britain. He was a Member of the Irish Parliament (MP) from 1775 to 18 ...
).
In July 1891, he married Alice Donovan of
Tralee
Tralee ( ; , ; formerly , meaning 'strand of the River Lee') is the county town of County Kerry in the south-west of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is on the northern side of the neck of the Dingle Peninsula, and is the largest town in ...
.
Alice and Esmonde had five children:
*Alngelda Barbara Mary Grattan Esmonde
*Eithne Moira Grattan Esmonde; married her second cousin
Sir Anthony Esmonde, 15th Baronet
*Patricia Alison Louisa Grattan Esmonde
*
Sir Osmond Esmonde, 12th Baronet
Sir Osmond Thomas Grattan Esmonde, 12th Baronet (4 April 1896 – 22 July 1936) was an Irish diplomat and Cumann na nGaedheal (and later Fine Gael) politician.
Early life
He was born in Ballynastragh, Gorey, County Wexford in 1896, the eldest ...
(1896–1936)
*John Henry Grattan Esmonde (1899–1916); killed in the
Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland () was a naval battle between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet, under Vice-Admiral Reinhard Scheer, durin ...
Alice died in December 1922, and in September 1924 Esmonde married
Anna Frances Levins.
[
Esmonde's home, Ballynastragh House, located near ]Gorey
Gorey () is a market town in north County Wexford, Ireland. It is bypassed by the main N11 road (Ireland), M11 Dublin to Wexford road. The town is also connected to the Gorey railway station, railway network along the same route. Local newspape ...
, County Wexford
County Wexford () 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. Named after the town of Wexford, it was ba ...
, and dating from the 17th century, was burned down on 9 March 1923 by members of the anti-Treaty
The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty (), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain an ...
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various Resistance movement, resistance organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperiali ...
. The house was rebuilt on a much smaller scale in 1937.
Esmonde was a frequent traveller and author of articles on Irish folklore and antiquities, as well as a memoir, ''Hunting Memories of Many Lands'' (1920). He died in Dublin, six days before his 73rd birthday.
In 1902 he founded the Enniscorthy Echo in co-operation with William Sears.
Honours
Knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity.
The concept of a knighthood ...
of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre Order of the Holy Sepulchre or Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre may refer to:
* Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Catholic), chivalric order belonging to the Holy See (the Roman Catholic Church)
* Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Orthodox), chivalric ...
.Notable Irish Members (Historic): Sir Thomas Grattan Esmonde
/ref>
See also
*Families in the Oireachtas
There is a tradition in Irish politics of having family members succeed each other, frequently in the same parliamentary seat. This article lists families where two or more members of that family have been members ( TD or Senator) of either of th ...
References
External links
Esmonde Family Tree
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Esmonde, Thomas Henry
1862 births
1935 deaths
Baronets in the Baronetage of Ireland
Irish Parliamentary Party MPs
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Dublin constituencies (1801–1922)
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Kerry constituencies (1801–1922)
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Wexford constituencies (1801–1922)
UK MPs 1885–1886
UK MPs 1886–1892
UK MPs 1892–1895
UK MPs 1895–1900
UK MPs 1900–1906
UK MPs 1906–1910
UK MPs 1910
UK MPs 1910–1918
Members of the 1922 Seanad
Members of the 1925 Seanad
Members of the 1928 Seanad
Members of the 1931 Seanad
Politicians from County Wexford
Thomas
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the A ...
High sheriffs of County Waterford
Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre
Independent members of Seanad Éireann
People from Gorey
Anti-Parnellite MPs