Count Arthur John Moore was a wealthy Irish Catholic

Catholic

The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

 and nationalist politician.

Background and education

Born in Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

, Moore was the son of Charles Moore

Charles Moore (Irish MP)

Charles Moore was an Irish politician. He served in the British Parliament from 1865 to 1869 as Member of Parliament for Tipperary.-References:...

 who had served as 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) for the Tipperary constituency

Tipperary (UK Parliament constituency)

Tipperary, 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:...

 from 1865 to 1869. He was educated at Ushaw College

Ushaw College

Ushaw College was a Roman Catholic seminary near Durham, England that closed in 2011. Ushaw was the principal seminary in the north of England for the training of Catholic priests.-History:...

, Durham

Durham

Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...

, and married Mary Lucy Clifford of Hatherton Hall, Stafford

Stafford

Stafford is the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies approximately north of Wolverhampton and south of Stoke-on-Trent, adjacent to the M6 motorway Junction 13 to Junction 14...

, daughter of Sir Charles Clifford, on 7 February 1877. They resided at Mooresfort, Lattin, County Tipperary

County Tipperary

County Tipperary is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster and is named after the town of Tipperary. The area of the county does not have a single local authority; local government is split between two authorities. In North Tipperary, part of the Mid-West Region, local...

, Ireland.

Political career

Moore was elected at the 1874 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1874

-Seats summary:-References:* F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* British Electoral Facts 1832-1999, compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher *...

 as a Home Rule League

Home Rule League

The Home Rule League, sometimes called the Home Rule Party, was a political party which campaigned for home rule for the country of Ireland from 1873 to 1882, when it was replaced by the Irish Parliamentary Party.-Origins:...

 MP for Clonmel

Clonmel (UK Parliament constituency)

Clonmel was a United Kingdom Parlbiament constituency, in Ireland, returning one MP. It was an original constituency represented in Parliament when the Union of Great Britain and Ireland took effect on 1 January 1801.-History:...

, holding the seat in the Parliament of the United Kingdom

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

 until the constituency's abolition for the 1885 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1885

-Seats summary:-See also:*List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1885*Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918*Representation of the People Act 1884*Redistribution of Seats Act 1885-References:...

. He returned to the House of Commons briefly as an 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...

 MP, after winning a by-election

By-election

A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

 on 16 February 1899 for the Londonderry City

Londonderry City (UK Parliament constituency)

Londonderry City was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system .-Boundaries and Boundary Changes:...

, but held the seat only until the general election the following year

United Kingdom general election, 1900

-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1900*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...

. He also held the offices of Deputy Lieutenant

Deputy Lieutenant

In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....

, Justice of the Peace

Justice of the Peace

A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

 and was High Sheriff

High Sheriff

A high sheriff is, or was, a law enforcement officer in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.In England and Wales, the office is unpaid and partly ceremonial, appointed by the Crown through a warrant from the Privy Council. In Cornwall, the High Sheriff is appointed by the Duke of...

 in 1877. He was affiliated with the section of the Irish Party led by T.M. Healy and his defeat as MP for Londonderry city in 1900 was partly due to the hostility of the dominant faction led by John Dillon

John Dillon

John Dillon was an Irish land reform agitator from Dublin, an Irish Home Rule activist, a nationalist politician, a Member of Parliament for over 35 years, and the last leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party....

.

Papal honours

Moore was made a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory

Order of St. Gregory the Great

The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great , was established on September 1, 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election.It is one of the five orders of knighthood of the Holy See...

 and Chamberlain of Honour

Papal chamberlain

Papal chamberlain was one of the highest honours that could be bestowed on a Catholic layman by the Pope, and was often given to members of noble families. It was mostly an honorary position, but a chamberlain served the Pope for one week per year during official ceremonies...

 to the Pope and was created a Papal Count by Pope Leo XIII

Pope Leo XIII

Pope Leo XIII , born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci to an Italian comital family, was the 256th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903...

 in 1879.

Philanthropy

Moore financed the building of Ferryhouse

Ferryhouse

St Joseph’s Industrial School, generally referred to as Ferryhouse, is located four kilometres east of Clonmel, in South Tipperary, Ireland. The original building was erected in 1884 by Count Arthur Moore, a wealthy local Catholic as a reformatory for boys...

 Industrial School for Catholic boys near Clonmel. In 1884 he handed it over to the charge of the Rosminian Order

Rosminians

The Rosminians, officially the Institute of Charity or Societas a charitate nuncupata, are a Roman Catholic religious congregation founded by Antonio Rosmini and first organised in 1828....

 to be run by them.

He also financed the foundation of Mount St Joseph Abbey at Roscrea

Roscrea

Roscrea is a small heritage town in North Tipperary, Ireland. The town has a population of 4,910. Its main industries include meat processing and pharmaceuticals. It is a civil parish in the historical barony of Ikerrin...

, where he is buried.

External links