Sir Thomas Esmonde, 11th Baronet
Irish politician (1862–1935)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sir Thomas Henry Grattan Esmonde, 11th Baronet, KHS (21 September 1862 – 15 September 1935) was an Irish Home Rule nationalist politician and author.[2]
Sir Thomas Esmonde | |
|---|---|
Esmonde in 1907 | |
| Senator | |
| In office 11 December 1922 – 12 December 1934 | |
| Member of Parliament for North Wexford | |
| In office October 1900 – December 1918 | |
| Preceded by | Thomas Joseph Healy |
| Succeeded by | Roger Sweetman |
| Member of Parliament for West Kerry | |
| In office July 1892 – October 1900 | |
| Preceded by | Edward Harrington |
| Succeeded by | Thomas O'Donnell |
| Member of Parliament for South Dublin | |
| In office December 1885 – July 1892 | |
| Preceded by | New constituency |
| Succeeded by | Horace Plunkett |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 21 September 1862 County Wexford, Ireland |
| Died | 15 September 1935 (aged 72) County Wexford, Ireland |
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Politics
Esmonde represented the Irish Parliamentary Party as an MP for the constituencies of South Dublin from 1885 to 1892; West Kerry from 1892 to 1900; and North Wexford from 1900 to 1918. He also sat as an independent Senator in the Oireachtas from 1922 to 1934.[3][4] He was High Sheriff of County Waterford in 1887.[2]
Personal life
He was the son of Sir John Esmonde, 10th Baronet and his wife Louisa, daughter of the younger Henry Grattan (making him a great-grandson of the pre-Union Irish statesman Henry Grattan).[5]
In July 1891, he married Alice Donovan of Tralee.[6] Alice and Esmonde had five children:
- Alngelda Barbara Mary Grattan Esmonde
- Eithne Moira Grattan Esmonde; married her second cousin Sir Anthony Esmonde, 15th Baronet
- Patricia Alison Louisa Grattan Esmonde
- Sir Osmond Esmonde, 12th Baronet (1896–1936)
- John Henry Grattan Esmonde (1899–1916); killed in the Battle of Jutland
Alice died in December 1922, and in September 1924 Esmonde married Anna Frances Levins.[6]
Esmonde's home, Ballynastragh House, located near Gorey, County Wexford, and dating from the 17th century, was burned down on 9 March 1923 by members of the anti-Treaty Irish Republican Army. The house was rebuilt on a much smaller scale in 1937.[7]
Esmonde was a frequent traveller and author of articles on Irish folklore and antiquities, as well as a memoir, Hunting Memories of Many Lands (1920).[2] He died in Dublin, six days before his 73rd birthday.[2]
In 1902 he founded the Enniscorthy Echo in co-operation with William Sears.[9]
