Robert James McMordie, KC (31 January 1849 – 25 March 1914) was an Irish barrister, politician, and

Lord Mayor of Belfast The Lord Mayor of Belfast is the leader and chairperson of Belfast City Council, elected annually from and by the City's 60 Councillors#UnitedKingdom, councillors. The Lord Mayor also serves as the representative of the city of Belfast, welcomin ...

. Son of the Rev. J A McMordie, he was born in Cumran, County Down, and educated at the Royal Academical Institution, Belfast and

Queen's College, Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

. He received an M.A. from Queen's University. In 1874 he took silk, practising until 1899. In 1885 he married Julia Gray, daughter of Sir William Gray of

West Hartlepool West Hartlepool was a predecessor of Hartlepool, County Durham, England. It developed in the Victorian era and took the name from its western position in the parish of what is now known as the Headland. The former town was originally formed ...

, in 1885. He was a Unionist member of the Belfast Corporation from 1907, serving as the city's Lord Mayor during the turbulent years from 1910 until his sudden death in 1914. Member of parliament for East Belfast from December 1910, McMordie was President of the Irish Industrial Development Association, Belfast. His statue stands in the grounds of

Belfast City Hall Belfast City Hall ( ga, Halla na Cathrach Bhéal Feirste; Ulster-Scots: ''Bilfawst Citie Haw'') is the civic building of Belfast City Council located in Donegall Square, Belfast, Northern Ireland. It faces North and effectively divides the comm ...

. In 1912 he helped to establish the

Young Citizen Volunteers of Ireland Young may refer to: * Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents * Youth, the time of life when one is young, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood Music * The Young, an American roc ...

, an entity which, until its merger into the

Ulster Volunteers The Ulster Volunteers was an Irish unionist, loyalist paramilitary organisation founded in 1912 to block domestic self-government ("Home Rule") for Ireland, which was then part of the United Kingdom. The Ulster Volunteers were based in the ...

, spanned much of the province of

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...

from isolated loyalist outposts on the Atlantic coast of

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconn ...

to East Belfast, a Unionist heartland. The inauguration was in Belfast on 10 September 1912. "Each member was to pay 2s. 6d. on joining the YCVs and a further 6d. each month: he was to attend weekly drills, there to learn modified military and police drill, single stick, rifle and baton exercises, signalling, knot-tying and other such exercises. If possible he was also to gain some knowledge of life saving and ambulance work..."McMordie quote
/ref> Lord Mayor McMordie died at Cabin Hill,

Knock, Belfast Victoria was one of the nine district electoral areas (DEA) in Belfast, Northern Ireland, from 1985 to 2014, when it was mostly replaced by the Ormiston district. Located in the east of the city, the district elected seven members to Belfast ...

, aged 65. The hall in Queen's University Students Union was named after him until renamed the Mandela Hall.

Quote

''In times of difficulty men had to carry their guns while they followed the plough… the nation or the people that had lost the fighting instinct was sure to be swamped by others who possessed that instinct.''

References

External links

*
Ulster-Scots & Irish Unionist Resource - YCV - Young Citizen Volunteers
at www.ulster-scots.co.uk *http://www.greengairsthistle.com/ycv.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:McMordie, Robert James 1849 births 1914 deaths Ulster Unionist Party councillors Irish Presbyterians Lawyers from Belfast Lord Mayors of Belfast People from County Down Alumni of Queen's University Belfast People educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution 19th-century King's Counsel Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Belfast constituencies (1801–1922) UK MPs 1910–1918 19th-century Irish businesspeople