Irish politician (1862–1935)
Sir Thomas Henry Grattan Esmonde, 11th Baronet, (21 September 1862 – 15 September 1935) was an Irish Home Rule nationalist politician and author.
Politics.
Esmonde represented the Irish Parliamentary Party as an MP for the constituencies of 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. 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 the younger Henry Grattan (making him a great-grandson of the pre-Union Irish statesman Henry Grattan).
In July 1891, he married Alice Donovan of Tralee.
Alice and Esmonde had five children:
Alice died in December 1922, and in September 1924 Esmonde married Anna Frances Levins.
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.
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). He died in Dublin, six days before his 73rd birthday.
In 1902 he founded the Enniscorthy Echo in co-operation with William Sears.
Honours.
Knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre.
References.
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