Matthew Harris (politician)
Encyclopedia
Matthew Harris (1826–13 April 1890) was an Irish
Fenian
, Land Leaguer
, nationalist
politician and MP.
in the House of Commons
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
and, as member of the Irish Parliamentary Party
, represented Galway East
from 1885 to his death in 1890.
Born in Athlone to Peter and Ann Harris, he spent most of his adult life in Ballinasloe, Co Galway, where he worked as a building contractor
. His grandfather, Peter Harris, was executed in Monasterevin
by British forces for his role in the Irish Rebellion of 1798
.
He was involved in all the major 19th-century political movements of Irish nationalism
, and was in the turn a Repealer
, a Young Irelander, before moving to join the Fenians, where he became the main Fenian
representative in east County Galway
and south County Roscommon
.
From 1865 to 1880 he was an active Fenian and the representative of the West of Ireland on the Supreme Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood
. In 1880 with Michael Davitt
, he was retired from the Supreme Council, and thereafter his energies were devoted primarily to the land struggle
. In the same year, he worked on the T. P. O'Connor
's election campaign in the Galway Borough
election.
In the 1885 general election
he was elected as MP for Galway East. He made his election victory speech in Athenry and said that when he would enter the House of Commons, he would:
'go into the house the citadel of the enemy,...I go there not for the purpose of assisting that house or the members of that House, in any effort they make to oppress Ireland. If I go in there it will be alone in the interests of my country, and I shall face them in the interests of our common humanity against that monstrous government...that government of inequity that has done more evil than any government has ever done since the creation of the world'.
Harris pledged ‘not to deviate a hairs breath away from principle’, i.e. achieving peasant proprietorship for tenants and the total abolition of landlords and promised to quit the Parliamentary Party if he believed that they were not progressing in the direction that had to be followed. He reminded the people that they needed to work together for the independence of Ireland, and asked them to
'keep a strong and determined animus against England in your hearts and do not mind the English for they are your enemies. They have destroyed and every day endeavour to destroy you....keep a firm front against these men...the organisation may be objectionable in one sense, but as long as it is against England it has good in it'.
Along with other Land League leaders, he was indicted in 1887 under the Coercion Act for conspiracy in relation to his involvement in the Plan of Campaign
.
During the Parnell Commission
of 1888 Sir Henry James
cross-examined Harris, as treasurer of the Land League, as to whether anything had been paid to the Clan na Gael
. The other treasurer, the late John Dillon, had left for Australia. Harris declared that the figure Sir Henry James mentioned did not appear in the books of the League.
He was married to Mary Martha (Molly) Bennett of Ahascragh
. His granddaughter Norah Walker (1900–1985) was the wife of Irish poet Austin Clarke
. Harris's great-grandson is the Irish playwright Ulick O'Connor
. The former Kildare
Teachtaí Dála Patrick Dooley
and Thomas Harris
were also related to Matt Harris.
recalls an incident in 1881, when the leaders of the Land League decided to meet in Paris
to avoid arrest in the United Kingdom
.
Timothy Michael Healy
described how Harris was an inspiration for younger Irish nationalists:
Harris died from stomach cancer on 13 April 1890, and is buried at Creagh cemetery, Ballinasloe. A monument was unveiled by John Dillon
to his memory in 1907.
The inscription on the Matthew Harris monument reads:
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...
Fenian
Fenian
The Fenians , both the Fenian Brotherhood and Irish Republican Brotherhood , were fraternal organisations dedicated to the establishment of an independent Irish Republic in the 19th and early 20th century. The name "Fenians" was first applied by John O'Mahony to the members of the Irish republican...
, Land Leaguer
Irish National Land League
The Irish Land League was an Irish political organization of the late 19th century which sought to help poor tenant farmers. Its primary aim was to abolish landlordism in Ireland and enable tenant farmers to own the land they worked on...
, 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 and MP.
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,...
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....
and, 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 Galway East
East Galway (UK Parliament constituency)
East 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. From 1922 it was not represented in the UK Parliament.-Members of...
from 1885 to his death in 1890.
Born in Athlone to Peter and Ann Harris, he spent most of his adult life in Ballinasloe, Co Galway, where he worked as a building contractor
General contractor
A general contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and communication of information to involved parties throughout the course of a building project.-Description:...
. His grandfather, Peter Harris, was executed in Monasterevin
Monasterevin
Situated 63 km from Dublin on the R445 road, Monasterevin has been relieved of much through traffic by the opening in 2004 of a new section of the M7 motorway bypassing the town on the N7 Dublin to Limerick route...
by British forces for his role in the Irish Rebellion of 1798
Irish Rebellion of 1798
The Irish Rebellion of 1798 , also known as the United Irishmen Rebellion , was an uprising in 1798, lasting several months, against British rule in Ireland...
.
He was involved in all the major 19th-century political movements of Irish nationalism
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...
, and was in the turn a Repealer
Repeal Association
The Repeal Association was an Irish mass membership political movement set up by Daniel O'Connell to campaign for a repeal of the Act of Union of 1800 between Great Britain and Ireland....
, a Young Irelander, before moving to join the Fenians, where he became the main Fenian
Irish Republican Brotherhood
The Irish Republican Brotherhood was a secret oath-bound fraternal organisation dedicated to the establishment of an "independent democratic republic" in Ireland during the second half of the 19th century and the start of the 20th century...
representative in east County Galway
County Galway
County Galway is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the city of Galway. Galway County Council is the local authority for the county. There are several strongly Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county...
and south County Roscommon
County Roscommon
County Roscommon is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the town of Roscommon. Roscommon County Council is the local authority for the county...
.
From 1865 to 1880 he was an active Fenian and the representative of the West of Ireland on the Supreme Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood
Irish Republican Brotherhood
The Irish Republican Brotherhood was a secret oath-bound fraternal organisation dedicated to the establishment of an "independent democratic republic" in Ireland during the second half of the 19th century and the start of the 20th century...
. In 1880 with Michael Davitt
Michael Davitt
Michael Davitt was an Irish republican and nationalist agrarian agitator, a social campaigner, labour leader, journalist, Home Rule constitutional politician and Member of Parliament , who founded the Irish National Land League.- Early years :Michael Davitt was born in Straide, County Mayo,...
, he was retired from the Supreme Council, and thereafter his energies were devoted primarily to the land struggle
Land War
The Land War in Irish history was a period of agrarian agitation in rural Ireland in the 1870s, 1880s and 1890s. The agitation was led by the Irish National Land League and was dedicated to bettering the position of tenant farmers and ultimately to a redistribution of land to tenants from...
. In the same year, he worked on the T. P. O'Connor
T. P. O'Connor
Thomas Power O'Connor , known as T. P. O'Connor and occasionally as Tay Pay, was a journalist, an Irish nationalist political figure, and a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland for nearly fifty years.-Biography:O'Connor was born in...
's election campaign in the Galway Borough
Galway Borough (UK Parliament constituency)
Galway Borough was a United Kingdom Parliament constituency, in Ireland. It returned one MP 1801–1832, two MPs 1832–1885 and one thereafter. It was an original constituency represented in Parliament when the Union of Great Britain and Ireland took effect on 1 January 1801.-Boundaries:This...
election.
In 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 was elected as MP for Galway East. He made his election victory speech in Athenry and said that when he would enter the House of Commons, he would:
'go into the house the citadel of the enemy,...I go there not for the purpose of assisting that house or the members of that House, in any effort they make to oppress Ireland. If I go in there it will be alone in the interests of my country, and I shall face them in the interests of our common humanity against that monstrous government...that government of inequity that has done more evil than any government has ever done since the creation of the world'.
Harris pledged ‘not to deviate a hairs breath away from principle’, i.e. achieving peasant proprietorship for tenants and the total abolition of landlords and promised to quit the Parliamentary Party if he believed that they were not progressing in the direction that had to be followed. He reminded the people that they needed to work together for the independence of Ireland, and asked them to
'keep a strong and determined animus against England in your hearts and do not mind the English for they are your enemies. They have destroyed and every day endeavour to destroy you....keep a firm front against these men...the organisation may be objectionable in one sense, but as long as it is against England it has good in it'.
Along with other Land League leaders, he was indicted in 1887 under the Coercion Act for conspiracy in relation to his involvement in 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...
.
During the Parnell Commission
Parnell Commission
The Parnell Commission was a judicial inquiry in the late 1880s into allegations of crimes by Irish parliamentarian Charles Stewart Parnell which resulted in his vindication.-Background:...
of 1888 Sir Henry James
Henry James, 1st Baron James of Hereford
Henry James, 1st Baron James of Hereford GCVO, PC, QC , known as Sir Henry James between 1873 and 1895, was an Anglo-Welsh lawyer and statesman. Initially a Liberal, he served under William Ewart Gladstone as Solicitor General in 1873 and as Attorney-General between 1873 and 1874 and 1880 and 1885...
cross-examined Harris, as treasurer of the Land League, as to whether anything had been paid to the Clan na Gael
Clan na Gael
The Clan na Gael was an Irish republican organization in the United States in the late 19th and 20th centuries, successor to the Fenian Brotherhood and a sister organization to the Irish Republican Brotherhood...
. The other treasurer, the late John Dillon, had left for Australia. Harris declared that the figure Sir Henry James mentioned did not appear in the books of the League.
He was married to Mary Martha (Molly) Bennett of Ahascragh
Ahascragh
Ahascragh is a village in east Galway, Ireland. It is located north-west of Ballinasloe on the Ahascragh/Bunowen River, a tributary of the River Suck. The R358 regional road passes through the village.-History:...
. His granddaughter Norah Walker (1900–1985) was the wife of Irish poet Austin Clarke
Austin Clarke (poet)
thumb|300px|Austin Clarke Bridge in [[Templeogue]]Austin Clarke was one of the leading Irish poets of the generation after W. B. Yeats. He also wrote plays, novels and memoirs...
. Harris's great-grandson is the Irish playwright Ulick O'Connor
Ulick O'Connor
Ulick O'Connor is an Irish writer, historian and critic.-Early life:Born in Rathgar, County Dublin in 1928, O'Connor attended St. Mary's College, Rathmines and later University College Dublin, where he studied law and philosophy, becoming known as a keen sporting participant, especially in boxing,...
. The former Kildare
Kildare
-External links:*******...
Teachtaí Dála Patrick Dooley
Patrick Dooley
Patrick Dooley was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician.A native of Athy, County Kildare and a schoolteacher, he was a Teachta Dála for the Kildare constituency from 1957 to 1965. Dooley was related to Kildare TD Thomas Harris and to the Fenian, Land Leaguer and MP Matthew Harris.-References:...
and Thomas Harris
Thomas Harris (Irish politician)
Thomas Harris was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician.A native of Clane, County Kildare, Harris fought with the Maynooth contingent in 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin....
were also related to Matt Harris.
Harris in the words of others
William O'BrienWilliam 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...
recalls an incident in 1881, when the leaders of the Land League decided to meet in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
to avoid arrest in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
While we were waiting for Parnell, Mat Harris afforded comic relief. On the Sunday before his arrival Mat and I walked the Boulevards in a foggy frost, cursing his neglect. Suddenly Matt asked could I get him a glass of whiskey. I steered for the Café de la PaixCafé de la PaixCafé de la Paix is a famous café in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was designed by Charles Garnier, the architect of the Paris Opéra...
as a likely venue, but no whiskey was then stocked there. I told this to Mat, and proposed brandy. He grumbled, but ordered a "fine champagne." The waiter poured out a tot into a tiny liqueur glass, to Mat's wonderment. "What's that?" he asked. "Fine champagne, monsieur." Mat, glass in hand, surveyed him. Disdaining its insignificance, he threw off its contents, but muttered to the Frenchman, "No wonder the Prussians licked ye!"
Timothy Michael Healy
Timothy Michael Healy
Timothy Michael Healy, KC , also known as Tim Healy, was an Irish nationalist politician, journalist, author, barrister and one of the most controversial Irish Members of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
described how Harris was an inspiration for younger Irish nationalists:
Mat was a power in Connaught, and possessed a flow of humour. We youngsters sat at his feet as a veteran to hear him discourse of old times. He once proclaimed, as we pastured on soda and milk, while he drank punch in the Imperial Hotel, Dublin: "I'd rather be at my own humble fireside in Ballinasloe after my third tumbler of punch, than drinking soda and milk in the best hotel in Europe!"
Death
In January, 1890, from his deathbed, when Biggar died, Mat wrote me a letter of condolence as Joe's closest friend. Its end was: "I foresee that Biggar's loss portends a great misfortune to the Irish Cause."Harris died from stomach cancer on 13 April 1890, and is buried at Creagh cemetery, Ballinasloe. A monument was unveiled 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....
to his memory in 1907.
The inscription on the Matthew Harris monument reads:
Writings
- Harris, Matthew, The improvement of rivers and reclamation of waste lands ... considered in relation to the Shannon, its tributaries, and the districts through which they flow. A letter addressed to ... B. Disraeli, M.P., Dublin: McGlashan & Gill, 1876.
- Harris, Matthew, Matthew Harris on the political situation, [n.p., 1880]
- Harris, Matthew, Land reform: a letter to the council of the Irish National Land League, Dublin: Gill, 1881.
Sources
- A new Dictionary of Irish History: From 1800, D.J. Hickey & J.E. Doherty, Gill & MacMillan, Dublin/Norway, 2003, ISBN 0 7171 2520 3
- Fenian Memories, Dr. Mark F. Ryan, Edited by T.F. O'Sullivan, M. H. Gill & Son, LTD, Dublin, 1945