Denis Kilbride was an Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 nationalist

Irish nationalism

Irish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...

 politician, who as member of the Irish Parliamentary Party

Irish Parliamentary Party

The Irish Parliamentary Party was formed in 1882 by Charles Stewart Parnell, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nationalist Members of Parliament elected to the House of Commons at...

 represented South Kerry

South Kerry (UK Parliament constituency)

South Kerry was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning one Member of Parliament 1885–1922.Prior to the United Kingdom general election, 1885 the area was part of the Kerry constituency. Following the Anglo Irish Agreement and the formation of the Irish Free State in 1922, the area was...

 (1887–1895), and North Galway

North Galway (UK Parliament constituency)

North Galway was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning one Member of Parliament 1885–1922.Prior to the United Kingdom general election, 1885 the area was part of the Galway County constituency...

 (1895–1900) and South Kildare

South Kildare (UK Parliament constituency)

South Kildare was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning one Member of Parliament 1885–1922.Prior to the 1885 general election the area was part of the Kildare constituency. From 1922 it was not represented in the UK Parliament....

 (1903–1918) as an Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) in the House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

 of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....

.

He was educated at Clongowes Wood.

Kilbride was evicted, along with other subtenants of the 5th Marquess of Lansdowne

Henry Petty-FitzMaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne

Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, KG, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, PC was a British politician and Irish peer who served successively as the fifth Governor General of Canada, Viceroy of India, Secretary of State for War, and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs...

, was evicted from his 500 acres (2 km²) holding during the Luggacurran evictions, Stradbally, County Laois

County Laois

County Laois is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Midlands Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It was formerly known as Queen's County until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. The county's name was formerly spelt as Laoighis and Leix. Laois County Council...

, in March 1887.

Kilbride's rent was 760 pounds a year, although the holding was valued at only 450. Although he was a large tenant, he and other tenants adopted the Plan of Campaign

Plan of Campaign

The Plan of Campaign was a stratagem adopted in Ireland between 1886 and 1891, co-ordinated by Irish politicians for the benefit of tenant farmers, against mainly absentee and rack-rent landlords. It was launched to counter agricultural distress caused by the continual depression in prices of dairy...

.

To raise awareness of the evictions, Kilbride travelled with William O'Brien

William O'Brien

William O'Brien was an Irish nationalist, journalist, agrarian agitator, social revolutionary, politician, party leader, newspaper publisher, author and Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...

 to Canada, where the Marquess of Lansdowne was governor general

Governor General of Canada

The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...

, and the USA.

In August 1902, he was charged under the Offences against the Person Act 1861

Offences Against The Person Act 1861

The Offences against the Person Act 1861 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It consolidated provisions related to offences against the person from a number of earlier statutes into a single Act...

 with incitement to murder - during the course of a speech against an eviction - of Major-General Devinish Meares. That December, he was found guilty and sentenced to eight months' imprisonment.

After the passing of the Evicted Tenants Act, 1908, some of this holding, but not his house, was returned to him.

He died at his residence in Luggacurran in 1924 and was buried in Clopook cemetery.

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