Brian_O'Rourke_(politician)

Brian O'Rourke (politician)

Brian O'Rourke (politician)

Irish politician and businessman (1874–1956)

Bernard Brian O'Rourke[lower-alpha 1] (3 November 1874[1] – c.1 July 1956[2]) was an Irish politician and businessman from Inniskeen, County Monaghan.[1]

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O'Rourke inherited a farm and corn mill outside Inniskeen and acquired a larger mill in Dundalk. He bought Belleek Pottery in 1918 and co-founded Arklow Pottery in 1934.[2] Initially a supporter of the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP), he was elected to Carrickmacross urban district council in 1899 and Monaghan County Council in 1905, and made a justice of the peace (JP) in 1906. He broke with the IPP when the Irish Volunteers split on the outbreak of World War I and IPP leader John Redmond advocated supporting the British war effort. For endorsing the 1916 Easter Rising, O'Rourke was interned and dismissed as a JP.[1] During the Irish War of Independence he was a magistrate in the Dáil Courts.[1] He supported the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty. Several of his properties were damaged by anti-Treaty forces in the Irish Civil War.[3]

After the 1922 creation of the Irish Free State, O'Rourke was the fourth of 30 members of Seanad Éireann elected by members of the 3rd Dáil,[4] serving a nine-year term and being re-elected in 1931 for another nine years,[5] cut short by the Seanad's 1936 abolition.[6] He was a member of Cumann na nGaedheal and its successor Fine Gael,[6] for which he stood unsuccessfully in the Monaghan constituency in the 1937 general election.[7] He returned to the reconstituted Seanad at the April 1938 election on the Industrial and Commercial Panel.[6] Except for a gap from 1925 to 1929, he remained a county councillor until 1945.[1]

O'Rourke married Clare Clinton in 1907; they had four daughters and three sons.[1] His papers from the Irish revolutionary period were deposited at University College Dublin in 1993.[1]

References

Footnotes

  1. Called "Bernard" in some sources and "Brian" in others.

Sources

  • Dooley, Terence A. M. (2004). Inniskeen, 1912–1918: The Political Conversion of Bernard O'Rourke. Four Courts Press. ISBN 978-1-85182-816-6.

Citations

  1. [1]
    "P117: Papers of Bernard O'Rourke: Descriptive Catalogue" (PDF). UCD Archives. p. iv: Biographical history. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  2. [2]
    "Obituary: Mr. B. O'Rourke". The Irish Times. 2 July 1956. p. 5. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  3. [3]
    Young, Jean (2017). "The Big House in County Louth 1912–1923". In Hall, Donal; Martin, Maguire (eds.). County Louth and the Irish Revolution: 1912–1923. Irish Academic Press. p. 162. ISBN 978-1-911024-59-0.
  4. [4]
    "Result of Elections to Seanad". Dáil Éireann (3rd Dáil) debates. Oireachtas. 8 December 1922. Retrieved 26 March 2020.; Department of Local Government (February 1923). Report on the conduct of the first election to Seanad Éireann (PDF). Official publications. Vol. P.Pro 2/1923. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  5. [5]
    "Senators Elected at Triennial Election". Seanad Éireann (1931 Seanad) debates. Oireachtas. 9 December 1931. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  6. [6]
    "Brian O'Rourke". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  7. [7]
    "Brian O'Rourke". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
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