sentences:  He was a close associate of Charles Stewart Parnell, who he successfully nominated for the leadership of the League in 1880, but in 1885 was dropped as a party candidate because of his age and his tendency to vote with the Liberal Party in Parliament.He was also embroiled in a court case disputing the will of his son, St John Mahon, who died in 1884.Parnell personally ensured Mahon was a candidate at the 1887 Carlow by-election, which he won at the age of 87 as a Liberal.