John Blake Dillon (5 May 1814 – 15 September 1866) was an
IrishIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
writer and Politician who was one of the founding members of the
Young IrelandYoung Ireland was a political, cultural and social movement, which was to revolutionise the way that Irish nationalism was perceived as a political force in Irish society...
movement.
John Blake Dillon was born in the town of
BallaghaderreenBallaghaderreen is a town in County Roscommon, Ireland. It is located on the N5 National primary road. The town has become a bottleneck on the N5 route in recent years and the opening of the Charlestown bypass down the road has exacerbated the problem as traffic is funneled into Ballaghaderreen...
, on the border of Co.
MayoCounty Mayo is one of the traditional counties of Ireland and is located within the province of Connacht. It was named after the village of Mayo . Mayo is the secondlargest of Ireland’s 32 counties in area and 15th largest in terms of population...
and Co.
RoscommonCounty Roscommon is one of the traditional counties of Ireland and is located within the province of Connacht. It was named after the town of Roscommon. The county covers an area of ....
.
He was educated at
St. Patrick's CollegeSt Patrick's College, Maynooth is the "National Seminary for Ireland", Pontifical University, and was a college of the National University of Ireland. The college and seminary often called Maynooth College located at Maynooth, Ireland. The college was officially established as the Roman Catholic...
,
MaynoothMaynooth is a university town located in north County Kildare, Ireland, home to both a branch of the National University of Ireland and a Papal University and Ireland's main Roman Catholic seminary, St. Patrick's College...
, leaving after only two years there, having decided that he was not meant for the priesthood. He later studied law at
Trinity CollegeTrinity College Dublin , corporately designated as the Provost, Fellows and Scholars of the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", and is the only constituent college of...
,
DublinDublin is the largest city and capital of Ireland. It is officially known in Irish as Baile Átha Cliath or Áth Cliath ; the English name comes from the Irish Dubh Linn meaning "black pool". It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the...
(TCD), and in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
, before being called to the Irish Bar.
John Blake Dillon (5 May 1814 – 15 September 1866) was an
IrishIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
writer and Politician who was one of the founding members of the
Young IrelandYoung Ireland was a political, cultural and social movement, which was to revolutionise the way that Irish nationalism was perceived as a political force in Irish society...
movement.
John Blake Dillon was born in the town of
BallaghaderreenBallaghaderreen is a town in County Roscommon, Ireland. It is located on the N5 National primary road. The town has become a bottleneck on the N5 route in recent years and the opening of the Charlestown bypass down the road has exacerbated the problem as traffic is funneled into Ballaghaderreen...
, on the border of Co.
MayoCounty Mayo is one of the traditional counties of Ireland and is located within the province of Connacht. It was named after the village of Mayo . Mayo is the secondlargest of Ireland’s 32 counties in area and 15th largest in terms of population...
and Co.
RoscommonCounty Roscommon is one of the traditional counties of Ireland and is located within the province of Connacht. It was named after the town of Roscommon. The county covers an area of ....
.
He was educated at
St. Patrick's CollegeSt Patrick's College, Maynooth is the "National Seminary for Ireland", Pontifical University, and was a college of the National University of Ireland. The college and seminary often called Maynooth College located at Maynooth, Ireland. The college was officially established as the Roman Catholic...
,
MaynoothMaynooth is a university town located in north County Kildare, Ireland, home to both a branch of the National University of Ireland and a Papal University and Ireland's main Roman Catholic seminary, St. Patrick's College...
, leaving after only two years there, having decided that he was not meant for the priesthood. He later studied law at
Trinity CollegeTrinity College Dublin , corporately designated as the Provost, Fellows and Scholars of the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", and is the only constituent college of...
,
DublinDublin is the largest city and capital of Ireland. It is officially known in Irish as Baile Átha Cliath or Áth Cliath ; the English name comes from the Irish Dubh Linn meaning "black pool". It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the...
(TCD), and in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
, before being called to the Irish Bar. It was during his time at TCD that he first met and befriended
Thomas DavisThomas Osborne Davis was a revolutionary Irish writer who was the chief organizer and poet of the Young Ireland movement.-Early life:...
.
While working for
The Morning Register newspaper he met
Charles Gavan DuffySir Charles Gavan Duffy, KCMG Irish nationalist and Australian colonial politician, was the 8th Premier of Victoria and one of the most colourful figures in Victorian political history. Duffy was born in Dublin Street, Monaghan Town, County Monaghan, Ireland, the son of a Catholic shopkeeper...
, with whom he and Davis founded
The NationThe Nation was an Irish nationalist weekly newspaper, published in the 19th century. The Nation was printed first at 12 Trinity Street, Dublin, on 15 October 1842, until 6 January 1844...
in 1842, which was dedicated to promoting Irish nationalism and all three men became important members of
Daniel O'ConnellDaniel O'Connell , known as The Liberator, or The Emancipator, was an Irish political leader in the first half of the nineteenth century...
's Repeal Association, which advocated the repeal of the
Act of Union 1800The Acts of Union 1800 describe two complementary Acts, namely:* the Union with Ireland Act 1800 , an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain, and...
between
Great BritainThe Kingdom of Great Britain, also known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain, was a sovereign state in northwest Europe, in existence from 1707 to 1801...
and Ireland.
The young wing of the party, of which they were key members with
William Smith O'BrienWilliam Smith O'Brien was an Irish Nationalist and Member of Parliament and leader of the Young Ireland movement.-Early life:...
and
Thomas Francis MeagherThomas Francis Meagher was an Irish nationalist, a Union Army general during the American Civil War, and American politician. In his younger years he was an Irish revolutionary, fighting for Ireland's independence from British rule. He was known as "Meagher of the Sword" due to his fiery...
, came to be known as
Young IrelandYoung Ireland was a political, cultural and social movement, which was to revolutionise the way that Irish nationalism was perceived as a political force in Irish society...
and advocated the threat of force to achieve repeal of the Act of Union. This was in contrast to the committed pacifism of O'Connell's "Old Ireland" wing. This posturing eventually led to the
Young Ireland rebellionThe Young Irelander Rebellion was a failed uprising of the Young Ireland political movement, which took place on July 29, 1848 in the village of Ballingarry, County Tipperary, Ireland.-Origins:1848 was a year of revolutions throughout continental Europe...
of 1848 where a countryside devastated by the Irish Potato Famine failed to rise up and support the rebels.
According to fellow
Irish nationalistIrish nationalism comprises political and social movements and sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and a sense of pride in Ireland and the Irish people...
, Justin McCarthy:
"...it has been said of him that while he strongly discouraged the idea of armed rebellion, and had no faith in the possibility of Ireland's succeeding by any movement of insurrection, yet when Smith O'Brien risked Ireland's chances in the open field, he cast his lot with his leader and stood by his side in Tipperary."
After the failure of Young Ireland's uprising, Dillon fled Ireland, escaping first to
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
and, eventually, to the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, where he served the New York Bar.
Dillon returned to Ireland on amnesty in 1855 and in 1865 was elected as a Member of Parliament for
TipperaryTipperary, also known as Tipperary County, was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, which from 1801 to 1885 returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.-Boundaries:...
. By now he advocated a
FederalA federation , also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign state characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government...
union of Britain and Ireland and denounced the violent methods advocated by the
Irish Republican BrotherhoodThe Irish Republican Brotherhood was a secret oath-bound fraternal organisation dedicated to the establishment of an "independent democratic republic" in Ireland during the mid-19th and early 20th centuries...
or Fenian movement.
John Blake Dillon died of
choleraCholera, sometimes known as Asiatic or epidemic cholera, is an infectious gastroenteritis caused by enterotoxin-producing strains of the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. Transmission to humans occurs through eating food or drinking water contaminated with Vibrio cholerae from other cholera patients...
in
KillarneyKillarney is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is located north of the MacGillicuddy Reeks, on the northeastern shore of the Lough Lein/Leane which are part of Killarney National Park. The town and its surrounding region is home to St...
, aged 52, and is buried in
Glasnevin CemeteryGlasnevin Cemetery , officially known as Prospect Cemetery, is the largest nondenominational cemetery in Ireland. It first opened in 1832 and is located in Glasnevin, Dublin.-History:...
,
DublinDublin is the largest city and capital of Ireland. It is officially known in Irish as Baile Átha Cliath or Áth Cliath ; the English name comes from the Irish Dubh Linn meaning "black pool". It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the...
.
He was the father of
John DillonJohn Dillon was an Irish land reform agitator, Irish Home Rule activist, nationalist politician, Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and last leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party.-Early life:John Dillon was born in Blackrock, Dublin...
, and grandfather of
James DillonJames Matthew Dillon was an Irish politician and leader of Fine Gael from 1959 to 1965.James M. Dillon was born in Dublin. He was the son of John Dillon, the last leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party , which had been swept away by Sinn Féin in the 1918 general election.-Early life:He was...
.
Additional Reading
- The Politics of Irish Literature: from Thomas Davis to W.B. Yeats, Malcolm Brown, Allen & Unwin, 1973.
- John Mitchel, A Cause Too Many, Aidan Hegarty, Camlane Press.
- Thomas Davis, The Thinker and Teacher, Arthur Griffith, M.H. Gill & Son 1922.
- Brigadier-General Thomas Francis Meagher His Political and Military Career,Capt. W. F. Lyons, Burns Oates & Washbourne Limited 1869
- Young Ireland and 1848, Dennis Gwynn, Cork University Press 1949.
- Daniel O'Connell The Irish Liberator, Dennis Gwynn, Hutchinson & Co, Ltd.
- O'Connell Davis and the Collages Bill, Dennis Gwynn, Cork University Press 1948.
- Smith O’Brien And The “Secession”, Dennis Gwynn,Cork University Press
- Meagher of The Sword, Edited By Arthur Griffith, M. H. Gill & Son, Ltd. 1916.
- Young Irelander Abroad The Diary of Charles Hart, Edited by Brendan O'Cathaoir, University Press.
- John Mitchel First Felon for Ireland, Edited By Brian O'Higgins, Brian O'Higgins 1947.
- Rossa's Recollections 1838 to 1898, Intro by Sean O'Luing, The Lyons Press 2004.
- Labour in Ireland, James Connolly, Fleet Street 1910.
- The Re-Conquest of Ireland, James Connolly, Fleet Street 1915.
- John Mitchel Noted Irish Lives, Louis J. Walsh, The Talbot Press Ltd 1934.
- Thomas Davis: Essays and Poems, Centenary Memoir, M. H Gill, M.H. Gill & Son, Ltd MCMXLV.
- Life of John Martin, P. A. Sillard, James Duffy & Co., Ltd 1901.
- Life of John Mitchel, P. A. Sillard, James Duffy and Co., Ltd 1908.
- John Mitchel, P. S. O'Hegarty, Maunsel & Company, Ltd 1917.
- The Fenians in Context Irish Politics & Society 1848-82, R. V. Comerford, Wolfhound Press 1998
- William Smith O'Brien and the Young Ireland Rebellion of 1848, Robert Sloan, Four Courts Press 2000
- Irish Mitchel, Seamus MacCall, Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd 1938.
- Ireland Her Own, T. A. Jackson, Lawrence & Wishart Ltd 1976.
- Life and Times of Daniel O'Connell, T. C. Luby, Cameron & Ferguson.
- Young Ireland, T. F. O'Sullivan, The Kerryman Ltd. 1945.
- Irish Rebel John Devoy and America's Fight for Irish Freedom, Terry Golway, St. Martin's Griffin 1998.
- Paddy's Lament Ireland 1846-1847 Prelude to Hatred, Thomas Gallagher, Poolbeg 1994.
- The Great Shame, Thomas Keneally, Anchor Books 1999.
- James Fintan Lalor, Thomas, P. O'Neill, Golden Publications 2003.
- Charles Gavan Duffy: Conversations With Carlyle (1892), with Introduction, Stray Thoughts On Young Ireland, by Brendan Clifford, Athol Books, Belfast, ISBN 0 85034 1140. (Pg. 32 Titled, Foster’s account Of Young Ireland.)
- Envoi, Taking Leave Of Roy Foster, by Brendan Clifford and Julianne Herlihy, Aubane Historical Society, Cork.
- The Falcon Family, or, Young Ireland, by M. W. Savage, London, 1845. (An Gorta Mor)Quinnipiac University