born June 27, 1846, Avondale, County Wicklow, Ire.
died Oct. 6, 1891, Brighton, Sussex, Eng.
Irish nationalist leader.
After an education at the University of Cambridge, he returned to Ireland and served in the British Parliament (1875–91), introducing obstructionist legislative tactics to call attention to Ireland's needs. In 1877 he became president of the Home Rule Confederation. He was jailed for making violent speeches against the new land act (1881–82), then released to curb an increase in terrorist acts. Reaction against the Phoenix Park murders enabled him to unite factions in Ireland to win support for parliamentary measures, such as William E. Gladstone 's Home Rule proposals. He remained popular in Ireland until he was named in the divorce suit of his mistress, Katherine O'Shea (1890).