Jeremiah Jordan J.P. (1830 – 31 December 1911) was an Irish

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 from

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of and had a population of 63,585 as of 2021. Enniskillen is the ...

. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1885 to 1892, and from 1893 to 1910, taking his seat 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 of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the union of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland into one sovereign state, established by the Acts of Union 1800, Acts of Union in 1801. It continued in this form until ...

Early life

Jordan was born in Tattenbar, eldest son of Samuel Jordan, farmer, and was educated at the Mullinaburtlin National School, as well as at the

Portora Royal School Portora Royal School located in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, was one of the 'free schools' founded by the royal charter in 1608, by James I, making it one of the oldest schools in Ireland at the time of its closure. Origina ...

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 14,086 at the 2011 censu ...

.Directory: ''Who was Who, 1897-1916'', p.386 He is buried in Aghavea

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

churchyard, situated about 3 miles outside the village of Maguiresbridge in

. A merchant by profession, he became a member of the Fermanagh Urban Council, the Enniskillen Board of Guardians, the Fermanagh C.C. and of the Joint Committee of the Asylum for Tyrone and

Fermanagh Historically, Fermanagh (), as opposed to the modern County Fermanagh, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Fermanagh. ''Fir Manach'' originally referred to a distinct kin group of alleged Laigin or ...

. He was connected with Temperance and kindred movements for many years. He was a member of the Tenant's Association, the

Land League The Irish National Land League ( Irish: ''Conradh na Talún''), also known as the Land League, was an Irish political organisation of the late 19th century which organised tenant farmers in their resistance to exactions of landowners. Its prima ...

, the

Irish National League The Irish National League (INL) was a nationalist political party in Ireland. It was founded on 17 October 1882 by Charles Stewart Parnell as the successor to the Irish National Land League after this was suppressed. Whereas the Land League ...

and the

United Irish League The United Irish League (UIL) was a nationalist political party in Ireland, launched 23 January 1898 with the motto ''"The Land for the People"''. Its objective to be achieved through agrarian agitation and land reform, compelling larger grazi ...

(UIL), successively. In 1902 he became the first nationalist chairman of Fermanagh County Council. The local branch of the UIL in Enniskillen which was largely dominated by working-class members was disaffiliated after it criticised merchants who dominated nationalist politics in the town – notably Jeremiah Jordan and his successor, Patrick Crumley – for decorating shops with Union Jacks and subscribing to a military monument.

Political career

From 1865, Jordan supported the Liberal party in Enniskillen municipal and parliamentary elections against the dominant Cole

Earl of Enniskillen Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ''countess'' is used. The tit ...

and Crichton Earl of Erne interests. In the early 1870s he joined the Home Rule League of

Isaac Butt Isaac Butt (6 September 1813 – 5 May 1879) was an Irish barrister, editor, politician, Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, economist and the founder and first leader of a number of Irish nationalist par ...

and spoke alongside Butt at an Enniskillen meeting in 1873. In 1880 he joined the

and helped to secure extensive Protestant support for it in Fermanagh by arguing that it was a law-abiding body whose principal aim was to help

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

and

Bright Bright may refer to: Common meanings *Bright, an adjective meaning giving off or reflecting illumination; see Brightness *Bright, an adjective meaning someone with intelligence People * Bright (surname) * Bright (given name) *Bright, the stage na ...

overcome resistance to further land reform. Most of this Protestant support died away after the

Land Law (Ireland) Act 1881 The Land Law (Ireland) Act 1881 (44 & 45 Vict. c. 49) was the second Land Acts (Ireland), Irish land act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Background The Liberal Party (UK), Liberal government of William Ewart Gladstone had previ ...

and the agrarian violence of 1881–82. After the

Kilmainham Treaty The Kilmainham Treaty was an informal agreement reached in May 1882 between Liberal British prime minister William Ewart Gladstone and the Irish nationalist leader Charles Stewart Parnell. Whilst imprisoned in Kilmainham Gaol, Parnell moved in ...

Jordan definitively committed himself to nationalism by joining the

. A

Protestant Nationalist Protestant Irish Nationalists are adherents of Protestantism in Ireland who also support Irish nationalism. Protestants have played a large role in the development of Irish nationalism since the eighteenth century, despite most Irish nationa ...

member 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 nati ...

, Jordan was elected at the 1885 general election as MP for the Western division of County Clare. His only opponent was a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

, who won less than 4% of the votes. He was returned unopposed in

1886 Events January * January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British rule in Burma, British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885. * January 5–January 9, 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson ...

. When the Irish Party split in 1891 over the leadership 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 ...

, Jordan was the first Nationalist MP to call for Parnell's resignation, partly because of his close association with the English Methodist spokesman

Hugh Price Hughes Hugh Price Hughes (8 February 1847 – 17 November 1902) was a Welsh Methodist clergyman and religious reformer. He served in multiple leadership roles in the Wesleyan Methodist Church. He organised the West London Methodist Mission, a key Me ...

. At the 1892 general election he did not stand again in West Clare (where the Parnellite

candidate won a large majority), but in North Fermanagh, where he lost the seat to a Unionist candidate. However, the election in South Meath was voided after an electoral petition, and at the resulting

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

on 17 February 1893, Jordan won the seat in a close contest with the Parnellite candidate. At the 1895 general election, Jordan narrowly lost the South Meath seat to Parnell's older brother, John Howard Parnell.Walker, op. cit., page 155 However, he had also stood in South Fermanagh, where he was elected with a comfortable majority. He was returned in that constituency at the

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15 ...

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

and January 1910.Walker, op. cit., page 350 By then he was 80 years old, and after suffering a series of strokes he did not contest the December 1910 general election. He died a year later at High Street, Enniskillen, aged 81, according to some accounts, or 83, according to his death certificate.

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jordan, Jeremiah 1830 births 1911 deaths Protestant Irish nationalists Irish Anglicans Irish Parliamentary Party MPs Anti-Parnellite MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Clare constituencies (1801–1922) Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Fermanagh constituencies (1801–1922) Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Meath 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 Members of Fermanagh County Council Politicians from County Fermanagh People educated at Portora Royal School