Sir
Thomas Esmonde
KHS
Sir Thomas Esmonde
Esmonde in 1907
Senator
In office
December 1922 – December 1934
Member of Parliament for
North Wexford
In office
October 1900 – December 1918
Preceded byThomas Joseph Healy
Succeeded byRoger Sweetman
Member of Parliament for
West Kerry
In office
July 1892 – October 1900
Preceded byEdward Harrington
Succeeded byThomas O'Donnell
Member of Parliament for
South Dublin
In office
December 1885 – July 1892
Preceded byNew Creation
Succeeded byHorace Plunkett
Personal details
Born(1862-09-21)21 September 1862
County Wexford, Ireland
Died15 September 1935(1935-09-15) (aged 72)
County Wexford, Ireland
Political party
Spouses
  • Alice Donovan
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1891; died 1922)​
  • ​
    (m. 1924)​
Parent
Residence(s)Ballynastragh House, Gorey, County Wexford
Ballynastragh House, County Wexford, home of the Esmonde family – from a drawing published 1826.[1]

Sir Thomas Henry Grattan Esmonde, 11th Baronet, KHS (21 September 1862 – 15 September 1935) was an Irish Home Rule nationalist politician and author.[2]

Politics

Esmonde was elected Irish Parliamentary Party MP for the constituencies 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.

Personal life

He was the son of Sir John Esmonde, 10th Baronet and his wife Louisa, daughter of Henry Grattan.[5]

In July 1891, he married Alice Donovan of Tralee.[6] Alice and Esmonde had five children:

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]

Sir Thomas Esmonde, 11th Baronet
CrestOut of a mural crown Gules a head in profile wearing a helmet all Proper.
BlazonErmine on a chief Gules three mullets Argent.
MottoMalo Mori Quam Foedari (Had Rather Die Than Be Dishonoured)[8]

In 1902 he founded the Enniscorthy Echo in co-operation with William Sears.[9]

Honours

Knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ by George Petrie from Brewer, Vol. 2: where it is stated that it was published by Sherwood 1 May 1826 and engraved by James Sargant Storer and Henry Sargant Storer
  2. 1 2 3 "Sir T. H. Gratton Esmonde: Nationalist Whip and Sinn Fein Senator". The Times. 16 September 1935. p. 14.
  3. ↑ "President's nominees for Seanad". Houses of the Oireachtas. 6 December 1922. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  4. ↑ "Thomas Esmonde". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  5. ↑ Robert Henry Mair, ed. (1886). Debrett's House of Commons and The Judicial Bench 1886. London: Dean and Son. p. 48. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  6. 1 2 Maume, Patrick. "Esmonde, Sir Thomas Henry Grattan". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  7. ↑ "The destruction of Ballynastragh House, Gorey, March 1923". The Archaeology of Conflict: Wexford in the Civil War, 1922–1923. 17 February 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
  8. ↑ Debrett's Peerage. 1878.
  9. ↑ "Sears, William". Dictionary of Irish Biography. October 2009. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  10. ↑ Notable Irish Members (Historic): Sir Thomas Grattan Esmonde
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