Sir Robert George Caldwell Kinahan,

ERD ERD may refer to: * Érd, a city in Hungary * Berdyansk Airport, in Ukraine * Economic Relations Division (Bangladesh), of the Bangladeshi Ministry of Finance * Elastic recoil detection * Emergency repair disk * Emergency Reserve Decoration, a Bri ...

(24 September 1916 – 2 May 1997) was a politician, businessman and a senior member of the

Orange Order The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants, particularly those of Ulster Scots people, Ulster Sco ...

in Northern Ireland. In his obituary, he was described as one of the last of the "county elite" to remain a high-ranking member of the Orange Order during the turbulent years of

The Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...

, when it became potentially dangerous to belong. In his personal life he deplored bigotry and was almost expelled from the Orange Order for having attended a Roman Catholic funeral service.Obituary
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

'', 28 May 1997

Background

Born in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingd ...

to Henry Kinahan and Blanche Grierson Kinahan, daughter of the

Bishop of Connor The Bishop of Connor is an episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Connor in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The title is currently used by the Church of Ireland, but in the Roman Catholic Church it has been united with ano ...

and

Bishop of Down and Dromore The Bishop of Down and Dromore is the Ordinary of the Church of Ireland Diocese of Down and Dromore in the Province of Armagh. The diocese is situated in the north east of Ireland, which includes all of County Down, about half of the city of Bel ...

, Robin Kinahan was educated at

Stowe Stowe may refer to: Places United Kingdom *Stowe, Buckinghamshire, a civil parish and former village **Stowe House **Stowe School *Stowe, Cornwall, in Kilkhampton parish * Stowe, Herefordshire, in the List of places in Herefordshire * Stowe, Linco ...

. Upon leaving school he went straight into the family firm with a Vintners' Company scholarship, which took him to

Oporto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

and

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture ...

, this facilitated his knowledge of wine and the French language.

War years

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

he joined the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

, the 8th (Belfast) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, serving briefly in France before the

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label= French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed ...

and London before ending up in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

under

General Slim Field Marshal William Joseph Slim, 1st Viscount Slim, (6 August 1891 – 14 December 1970), usually known as Bill Slim, was a British military commander and the 13th Governor-General of Australia. Slim saw active service in both the First an ...

Political career

Following the war he entered politics as councillor for Belfast Oldpark, where in 1948 he defeated Labour activist Billy Blease. In 1956 he was appointed High Sheriff of Belfast. He served in the Belfast Corporation for 10 years before becoming a Stormont Member of Parliament for Belfast Clifton, defeating the incumbent

independent Unionist Independent Unionist has been a label sometimes used by candidates in elections in the United Kingdom, indicating a support for British unionism (not to be confused with trade unionism). It is most popularly associated with candidates in elect ...

Norman Porter. He was an MP for only a few months as he could not resist the opportunity to be lord mayor of Belfast. In 1961 he earned the

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

which accompanied the lord mayorship at that time. He was Lord Mayor from 1959 to 1961, the youngest person to have done so at that time. In 1969, he was appointed High Sheriff of Antrim.

Orange Order

In the family firm, ''Lyle and Kinahan'' wine and spirit merchants, which was founded by his paternal grandfather, there was a large contingent of Catholic workers and Kinahan would often relate how, before

, they turned out to cheer him on 12 July as he walked with his lodge to the "field". He was almost expelled from the Orange Order for having attended a Roman Catholic funeral service.

Personal life

In 1963, following his family firm being taken over in 1961, he acquired Castle Upton and for £53,000. He and his wife, Coralie de Burgh, an artist (and daughter of Captain Charles de Burgh, The Lodge, Seaforde, County Down), set about restoring it from an almost ruinous state. He and his wife had two sons and three daughters. His son, Danny Kinahan, was appointed to the

Northern Ireland Assembly sco-ulster, Norlin Airlan Assemblie , legislature = Seventh Assembly , coa_pic = File:NI_Assembly.svg , coa_res = 250px , house_type = Unicameral , house1 = , leader1_type = ...

in 2009 and was a successful

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule ...

candidate in the

2011 Northern Ireland Assembly election The 2011 Northern Ireland Assembly election took place on Thursday, 5 May, following the dissolution of the Northern Ireland Assembly at midnight on 24 March 2011. It was the fourth election to take place since the devolved assembly was establis ...

having been elected to

Antrim Borough Council Antrim Borough Council was the local authority of Antrim in Northern Ireland. It merged with Newtownabbey Borough Council on 1 April 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland to become Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Counci ...

in 2005. At the 2015 general election, Danny was elected MP for South Antrim.

Later life

Unlike many Unionists he agreed, reluctantly, to serve on the short-lived Northern Ireland Advisory Commission, set up with seven Protestant and four Catholic members by William Whitelaw, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, after the suspension of Stormont in 1972 and the imposition of direct rule. He served as chairman of the

Ulster Bank Ulster Bank ( ga, Banc Uladh) is a large retail bank, and one of the traditional Big Four (banking)#Ireland, Big Four Irish clearing banks. The Ulster Bank Group is subdivided into two separate legal entities: NatWest, National Westminster Ban ...

(1970–1982) – he made a point of visiting every branch of the bank, vice Lord Lieutenant of Belfast (1976–1985), Lord Lieutenant of Belfast (1985–1991). He died at the age of 80.

Publications

''Behind Every Great Man …?'' (published in 1992)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinahan, Robin 1916 births 1997 deaths High Sheriffs of Belfast High Sheriffs of Antrim Royal Artillery officers British Army personnel of World War II Lord-Lieutenants of Belfast Lord Mayors of Belfast Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 1958–1962 Members of the Senate of Northern Ireland 1957–1961 People educated at Stowe School Ulster Unionist Party members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland for Belfast constituencies Ulster Unionist Party members of the Senate of Northern Ireland Ulster Unionist Party councillors Knights Bachelor