John Dillon

For other people named John Dillon, seeJohn Dillon (disambiguation).

John Dillon
Dillon,c. 1915
Member of ParliamentforEast Mayo
In office 27 November 1885 – 14 December 1918
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Éamon de Valera
Member of ParliamentforTipperary
In office 8 April 1880 – 23 March 1883 Serving withPatrick James Smyth
Preceded by	Stephen Moore Edmund Dwyer Gray
Succeeded by	Patrick James Smyth Thomas Mayne
Leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party
In office 6 March 1918 – 14 December 1918
Preceded by	John Redmond
Succeeded by	Joseph Devlin
Leader of the Irish National Federation
In office 1892–1900
Preceded by	Justin McCarthy
Succeeded by	Merged into IPP
Personal details
Born	(1851-09-04)4 September 1851 Blackrock, Dublin,Ireland
Died	4 August 1927(1927-08-04)(aged 75) London,England
Political party	Irish Parliamentary Party Irish National Federation Home Rule League
Spouse	Elizabeth Mathew ​ ​ (m.1895; died 1907)​
Relations	Anne Deane(aunt)
Children	6, includingMyles DillonandJames Dillon
Parent	John Blake Dillon(father)
Education	Catholic University School Trinity College Dublin Catholic University of Louvain Royal College of Surgeons

John Dillon(4 September 1851 – 4 August 1927) was an Irish politician fromDublin,who served as aMember of Parliament(MP) for over 35 years and was the last leader of theIrish Parliamentary Party.By political disposition, Dillon was an advocate ofIrish nationalism,originally a follower ofCharles Stewart Parnell,supporting land reform andIrish Home Rule.

Early life

John Dillon was born inBlackrock, Dublin,a son of the former "Young Irelander"John Blake Dillon(1814–1866). Following the premature death of both his parents, he was partly raised by his father's niece,Anne Deane.He was educated atCatholic University School,atTrinity College Dublinand at theCatholic University of Louvainin Belgium. He afterwards studied medicine at theRoyal College of Surgeonsin Dublin, then ceased active involvement in medicine after he joinedIsaac Butt'sHome Rule Leaguein 1873, winning notice in 1879 when he attacked Butt's weak parliamentary handling of Irish Home Rule. His family's financial means enabled him to turn and devote all his energies to political life.

He became a leading land reform agitator as a member of the original committee of theIrish National Land League,spearheading the policy of"boycotting"advocated byMichael Davittwith whom he was allied in close friendship. He entered theParliament of the United Kingdomin 1880 as member forCounty Tipperary,and was at first an ardent supporter ofCharles Stewart Parnell.He travelled to the United States with Parnell on a fund-raising mission for the Land League. On his return, he denouncedWilliam Ewart Gladstone'sLand Law (Ireland) Act 1881as achieving nothing for small farmers. His views on agrarian reform and on Home Rule led him to be branded an extremist, which resulted in his arrest from May until August 1881 under theIrish Coercion Act.

Radical reformer

"The Plan of Campaign". Caricature byApepublished inVanity Fairin 1887

Again imprisoned for agitation in October 1881 together with Parnell,William O'Brienand others inKilmainham Gaol,he signed theNo Rent Manifestoin solidarity although not fully in agreement with it. Parnell sought to end theLand Warby agreeing to theKilmainham Treatyafter which they were released from prison in May 1882. Shortly afterwards they received the freedom of the city of Dublin. Unhappy with Parnell's "New Departure"and because his health had suffered, heresigned his seat in Parliamenton 6 March 1883,and retired from politics toColoradoin America where his brother lived. Returning in 1885, Parnell nominated him as the Irish Parliamentary Party candidate forEast Mayoin thegeneral election in November 1885,where he was returned unopposed.He represented the constituency without a break until 1918.

He was one of the prime movers in theIrish Land League's famousPlan of Campaigninstigated byTimothy Healyand organised byTimothy Harrington,which provided, that in the case of excessive rents the tenant should pay his rent to the Land League instead of the landlord, and in case of eviction be supported by the general fund. Dillon was compelled by the Court of Queens Bench in December 1886 to find securities for good behaviour, but two days later he was arrested while receiving rents onLord Clanricarde's estate atPortumna,County Galway.In this instance, the jury disagreed,but in April 1887 he was again imprisoned under Coercion and upon release, he resumed agrarian agitation with a speech during a demonstration in September where O'Brien was on trial inMitchelstownduring which the crowd threw stones at the police who then shot three civilians, known as the "Mitchelstown massacre". When in 1888 he defended Munster farmers he was again imprisoned for six months under the provisions of the new Criminal Law Procedure Bill, or Coercion Act. In all he was imprisoned six times.

Anti-Parnellite course

A portrait style photograph of Dillon,c.the 1880s

He was released in September, and in the spring of 1889 sailed for Australia and New Zealand, where he collected funds for the Nationalist party. On his return to Ireland he was again arrested, but, being allowed bail, sailed to America, and failed to appear at the trial. He returned to Ireland by way ofBoulogne,where he and William O'Brien held long and indecisive discussions with Parnell after his divorce crisis over his continued leadership of the Irish Parliamentary Party. When these broke down they surrendered to the police in February, and were interned in Galway gaol from where they were released in July 1890.

Both he and O'Brien had become increasingly perturbed with the tenor of Irish politics as epitomised byTimothy Healy.After Parnell's divorce case, the leader refused to step down and the party split. Dillon was one of his strongest opponents and joined the majority anti-Parnellite block, theIrish National Federation(INF), withJustin McCarthybecoming its leader.John Redmondled the minority pro-ParnelliteIrish National League(INL) after Parnell's death later in 1891. When theLiberalsreclaimed office in 1892 Dillon took part in the negotiations on the second Home Rule Bill, theIrish Government Bill 1893,which was rejected by theHouse of Lords.Although he never lost sight of home rule or the land question, particularly the evicted tenants, he now concentrated on the day-to-day running of the INF as deputy chairman.

Party manoeuvrings

When home rule became postponed after theConservative Partyreturned to power in 1895, Dillon took the opportunity to expel Healy from his influence in the party. He also opposedHorace Plunkettin his attempts to bringUnionistsand Nationalists together, and his efforts to help small farmers through his cooperative movement. In November Dillon married Elizabeth Mathew at theBrompton Oratorywho bore him six children. In February 1896 he took over as chairman of the INF on McCarthy's resignation. That autumn he arranged a convention of the Irish race, which included 2,000 delegates from various parts of the world. In 1897 Dillon opposed in the House of Commons the Address toQueen Victoriaon the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee, on the ground that her reign had not been a blessing to Ireland, and he showed the same uncompromising attitude in 1901 when a grant toLord Robertswas under discussion, accusing him of systematised inhumanity. He was suspended on 20 March 1902 for violent language addressed toJoseph Chamberlain,calling the thenColonial Secretarya "damned liar".

Dillon was present in January 1898 whenWilliam O'Brienlaunched his "United Ireland League"(UIL) from an agrarian platform inBallina,County Mayo. Though helping to establish its constitution Dillon was very ambivalent about this new association, marking the first strains in the O'Brien-Dillon relationship. The year was also eventful with the attainment of theLocal Government (Ireland) Act 1898which put the administration of local affairs into Irish hands, not at all favoured by Dillon before attaining full Home Rule. O'Brien's UIL spread rapidly, forcing the divided factions, the INL and the INF, of the Irish Parliamentary Party to reunite under Redmond in 1900, with Dillon as deputy Party leader. He faithfully supported Redmond in the following years.

Conciliation unthinkable

Dillon played a decisive role in opposing O'Brien's "doctrine of conciliation" in Irish politics, especially during the 1902Land Conferenceand after O'Brien won the subsequentWyndhamLand Purchase (Ireland) Act 1903.O'Brien was viciously attacked by Dillon, who bore an instinctive dislike of negotiations with landlords, unwilling to accommodate thelandlord class,he never shed his mistrust of dialogue with Unionists. His theory was that agrarian unrest better favoured achieving Home Rule by putting relentless pressure on landlords and the government. His attacks and those of the party'sFreeman's Journalalienated O'Brien who left the Party in November 1903.O'Brien's engagement during 1904–5 with theIrish Reform Associationand his appraising of the 1907Irish Council Billwere equally condemned by Dillon who despised all dealings with the "hereditary enemy". The ensuing breach never healed. Dillon subsequently gained control of the UIL through his protégé, its new secretaryJoseph Devlin,MP forBelfast West,with whom Dillon always maintained a close alliance.

With the UIL and the IPP practically fused into a single body, Dillon later had MP members associated with O'Brien's policy of conciliation, amongst themThomas O'DonnellandD. D. Sheehan,expelled as "factionists" from the party. The Home Rule Movement, influenced very greatly by Dillon, reverted to a narrow traditional stand, which opposed any chance of an inclusive nationalism and failed to include new interests within Catholic society. His Home Rule Movement was largely a confessional ethnic body, sustained largely by theAncient Order of Hibernians,an exclusively Catholic and secret fraternity, largely under the control of his close associate Joe Devlin. Dillion's Home Rule Movement was characterised by permanent class war and did not facilitate the working of the Wyndham Land Act; conflict above victory.

Dillon suffered occasional health incapacities causing irregular attendance atWestminster,particularly when his wife died in 1907 though after the Liberals returned to power in1906,he was more often consulted. Between 1910 and 1914 the Irish Home Rule question re-emerged, introduced by Prime MinisterH. H. Asquith.In his approach to Irish self-government under Home Rule took a more uncompromising stand than Redmond's, who during theUlstercrisis of 1913 was prepared to concede a large measure of local autonomy to Ulster. On 15 and 16 January Dillon spent lunch at the Commons with one of his closest supporters, Guardian editor,C. P. Scott,and ardent home ruler, he urged the Irish leader to lobby the new Labour MPs.It was unthinkable for Dillon, who put the integrity of Ireland foremost: he poured scorn onEdward Carson'sUlster Unionist Partyand theirUlster Volunteers' threat of civil war as being a gigantic bluff. Scott courted Dillon's opinion most assiduously at theBath Cluband his Manchester home in favour of "gradual strengthening of the military force in Ulster", without support the police might "cave in altogether"."Incredibly weak" Dillon was unable to prevent Carson's amendments to Crewe's Home Rule bill.Likewise Dillon condemned O'Brien's newAll-for-Ireland League's proposals for concessions to Ulster as encouraging their demands. He remained inflexible at various meetings, including theBuckingham PalaceConference's endeavour to settle the problem of Ulster. He agreed only reluctantly to Redmond conceding to six counties temporarily opting out of theHome Rule Act 1914,which in September receivedRoyal Assentbut was suspended for the duration of World War I.

Dillon was a strong opponent of giving women the vote, telling a group of women that "women's suffrage will I believe, be the ruin of our western civilisation. It will destroy the home, challenging the headship of man, laid down by God. It may come in your time - I hope not in mine."

Uncompromising stand for peace

With the outbreak of the Great War Dillon accepted Redmond's decision to follow Britain's support of theAllied war effort,but he abstained from recruiting for theIrish divisions.The1916 Risingtook the Irish Party by surprise. He intervened withDavid Lloyd Georgeto halt the 90 sentences of execution pronounced by "field court-martial" (in camerawithout defence or jury) undermartial lawbyGeneral Maxwellafter he declared the rebellion "treason in time of war". He told Scott his party must support Conscription or lose the election.But on 10 January, they did just that "to make their protest" with Lib-Lab assistance. Dillon insisted that if they went ahead they would "fill the whole country" with the same type of radicals, as opposed to imprisonment. This would leave the radicals with as many supporters as could "fit in a single gaol cell". He attacked the Government in the House of Commons and declared that the rebels were "wrong", but had fought "a clean fight". Intervention to halt the executions after the 15th; an unbridgeable chasm in Anglo-Irish relations. The secret trials and executions had changed public opinion into sympathy for the rebels. He was involved in May 1916 with Lloyd George's futile attempt to implement Home Rule after the Rising, which failed in July on the issue of the exclusion or not of Ulster. He declined a nomination to theIrish Conventionon Home Rule in 1917.

After Redmond's death on 6 March 1918, Dillon returned to Ireland to take up the party leadership. When the allied armies on theWestern Frontwere hit and thrown into a temporary severe retreat by theGerman spring offensive,which decimated the10thand16thIrish divisions, the Government attempted a month later in panic toextend conscription to Ireland,which Dillon opposed with tenacity, and in protest withdrew all Irish Members from the House of Commons. The attempt to impose conscription jointly linked with implementing Home Rule disgusted the wider Irish public and resulted in an immediate swing of support toSinn Féinwhich precipitated their election landslide after the war.

Dillon attempted to persuade the Government in July 1918 to implement Irish self-government by introducing a motion for self-determination in the Commons. He made clear in September that the goal of Home Rule could only be "the establishment of national self-government, including full and complete executive, legislative and fiscal power", and that national solidarity was essential. But he completely underestimated the need to offer provisions for Ulster concerns, a fatal misjudgement shared by most Nationalists and Republicans alike.

It was left to Dillon to fight a last campaign in thegeneral election of December 1918.After a failure to reach a pact with Sinn Féin, his party was swept into oblivion. He was defeated in East Mayo byÉamon de Valera's 8,975 votes to his 4,514.Retiring from politics, Dillon was not spared witnessing the violent epoch of theAnglo-Irish War,the implementation of Home Rule inNorthern Ireland,the ensuingPartition of Irelandendorsed by theIrish Free Stateand the resultingIrish Civil War.

Family background

He got married in 1895 toElizabeth,daughter of Lord Justice J. C. Mathew,who bore him six children. Tall and slim he cut an imposing figure, his personal reputation hampered at times by a pessimistic and gloomy nature as well as conservative views on labour and women. He died in a London nursing home at the age of 76, on 4 August 1927, and was buried four days later inGlasnevin cemetery,Dublin. There is a street named after him in Dublin's Liberties, beside the oldIveagh Market.

One of his six children wasJames Mathew Dillon(1902–1986), a prominent Irish politician and leader of theNational Centre Partyand ofFine Gael(1957–1966), alsoMinister for Agriculture.

Commemoration

John Dillon Street inDublin cityis named after him.

Notes

Bibliography

• Lyons, F. S. L.(1968).John Dillon: A biography.London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.ISBN0-7100-2887-3.
• Maume, Patrick (1999).Who's Who in The long gestation.London: Gill & Macmillan.ISBN0-7171-2744-3.
• Hickey, D. J.; Doherty, J. E. (2003).A new Dictionary of Irish History from 1800.Gill & MacMillan.ISBN0-7171-2520-3.
• unknown (1990). "John Dillon".Irish Dictionary of National Biography.
• Callanan, Frank; Quinn, James (2009). McGuire, James (ed.). "John Dillon".Dictionary of Irish Biography, from the Earliest Times to the Year 2002.3.Dublin: Royal Irish Academy: Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-0-521-19976-6.
• This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Dillon, John".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 273.

• D. D. Sheehan.Ireland Since ParnellatProject Gutenberg

External links

• Hansard1803–2005:contributions in Parliament by John Dillon
• "Archival material relating to John Dillon".UK National Archives.
• Newspaper clippings about John Dillonin the20th Century Press Archivesof theZBW