Timothy Charles Harrington (1851 – 12 March 1910) was an Irish journalist, barrister,

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 Member of Parliament (MP) 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 ...

Biography

He was born in

Castletownbere Castletownbere (), or Castletown Berehaven, is a port town in County Cork, Ireland. It is on the Beara Peninsula by Berehaven Harbour. A regionally important fishing port, the town also serves as a commercial and retail hub for the local hinterl ...

, County Cork in 1851; son of Denis Harrington and his wife, Eileen (née O'Sullivan). He was educated at the

Catholic University of Ireland The Catholic University of Ireland (CUI; ) was a private Catholic Church, Catholic university in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1851 following the Synod of Thurles in 1850, and in response to the Queen's University of Ireland and its assoc ...

and

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 ...

. As a 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 ...

, he represented

Westmeath County Westmeath (; or simply ) 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 Eastern and Midland Region. It formed part of the historic Kingdom of ...

from February 1883 to November 1885. In 1885 he was elected for the new constituency of Dublin Harbour, which he represented until his death in 1910. He served as

Lord Mayor of Dublin The Lord Mayor of Dublin () is the honorary title of the chairperson ( ) of Dublin City Council which is the local government body for the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The incumbent, since December 2024, is Fine Gael councillor Emma ...

three times from 1901 to 1904. He owned two newspapers, ''United Ireland'' and the ''Kerry Sentinel'' and was a member of the so-called

Bantry Bantry () is a town in the civil parish of Kilmocomoge in the barony of Bantry on the southwest coast of County Cork, Ireland. It lies in West Cork at the head of Bantry Bay, a deep-water gulf extending for to the west. The Beara Peninsula i ...

band of prominent nationalist politicians from the Bantry vicinity. They were also more pejoratively known as the Pope's brass band. Tim Healy was another prominent member of this unofficial group. In 1884, Harrington published a pamphlet, "Maamtrasna Massacres - Impeachment of the Trials" in which he dismantled the Crown Prosecution's case against the eight men accused of the

murders Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse ...

of the Joyce family on 17 August 1882. He provided evidence that Crown Prosecutor George Bolton had deliberately suppressed evidence that would have acquitted Myles Joyce, who was hanged, and four men who were sentenced to twenty years of penal servitude. Harrington was secretary and chief organiser of 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 ...

(INL), a supporter 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 ...

and was largely responsible for devising the agrarian

Plan of Campaign The Plan of Campaign was a strategy, stratagem adopted in Ireland between 1886 and 1891, co-ordinated by Irish politicians for the benefit of tenant farmers, against mainly absentee landlord, absentee and rack-rent landlords. It was launched to ...

in 1886. He became a Parnellite Nationalist when the party split in 1891 continuing as secretary of the INL. In 1897 he proclaimed himself an

Independent Nationalist Independent Nationalist () is a political title frequently used by Irish nationalists when contesting elections to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom Great Britain and Ireland not as members of the Irish Parliamentary Party, in the lat ...

and sided with

William O'Brien William O'Brien (2 October 1852 – 25 February 1928) was an Irish nationalist, journalist, agrarian agitator, social revolutionary, politician, party leader, newspaper publisher, author and Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of ...

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 ...

from its early days. He was briefly considered as a possible alternative to

John Redmond John Edward Redmond (1 September 1856 – 6 March 1918) was an Irish nationalism, Irish nationalist politician, barrister, and Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), MP in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. He was best known as leader ...

as leader of the re-united Irish Parliamentary Party in 1900 when he stood in the general election that year as a Nationalist again. Thereafter he became excluded from Redmond's closed circle of confidants, he retained sympathy with O'Brien, and represented the interests of the tenant farmers at the 1902

Land Conference The Land Conference was a successful conciliatory negotiation held in the Mansion House in Dublin, Ireland between 20 December 1902 and 4 January 1903. In a short period it produced a unanimously agreed report recommending an amiable solution to t ...

negotiations which led to the enactment of the unprecedented

Wyndham Wyndham may refer to: *Wyndham (name), a surname and given name Places Australia *City of Wyndham, an LGA (local government area) in Victoria * Shire of Wyndham-East Kimberley, a LGA in Western Australia * Wyndham Important Bird Area, Western Aust ...

Land Purchase (Ireland) Act 1903 The Land Acts (officially Land Law (Ireland) Acts) were a series of measures to deal with the question of tenancy contracts and peasant proprietorship of land in Ireland in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Five such acts were introduced by ...

. Harrington is celebrated by a statue erected in 2001 at the east end of

near the Millbrook bar. On Saturday, 7 September 1901, the

, Harrington kicked off at the official ceremony to open

Bohemian FC Bohemian Football Club ( Irish: An Cumann Peile Bóihéamach), more commonly referred to as Bohemians or Bohs, is an Irish professional association football club based in Dublin. Bohemians compete in the Premier Division of the League of Irela ...

's new home,

Dalymount Park Dalymount Park (Irish language, Irish: ''Páirc Chnocán Uí Dhálaigh'') is a Association football, football stadium in Phibsborough on the Northside Dublin, Northside of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., ...

References

Sources

* '' Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Vol. II 1886–1918'', edited by M. Stenton & S. Lees (The Harvester Press 1978) * '' Who's Who of "The Long Gestation" Irish Nationalist Life 1891–1918'', Patrick Maume, Gill & Macmillan (1999)

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harrington, Timothy 1851 births 1910 deaths 19th-century Irish people Irish journalists Activists for Irish land reform Irish barristers Irish Parliamentary Party MPs Parnellite MPs Independent Nationalist MPs United Irish League Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Dublin constituencies (1801–1922) Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Westmeath constituencies (1801–1922) UK MPs 1880–1885 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 Lord mayors of Dublin Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Politicians from County Kerry Politicians from County Cork Lawyers from County Cork Writers from County Cork People from Castletownbere