he was elected mp for north leitrim as an anti-parnellite nationalist in 1892, winning comfortably over the unionist candidate with 87% of the vote. he retained the seat unopposed in 1895. at this election he also challenged the parnellite willie redmond in east clare, losing by only 57 votes in a poll of over 6,500. in 1900, standing for the reunited irish parliamentary party, he was again challenged in north leitrim by a unionist, but again won comfortably, with 91% of the vote. in april 1901 he was imprisoned for six months following conviction for ‘seditious libel’ on account of an article on jury packing in sligo published in his newspaper. the article had attacked jurymen who had convicted two men of intimidating persons who rented farms from which the former owners had been evicted. on his release he was given a celebratory lunch by the lord mayor of dublin. in september the following year, he stood before the irish court of bankruptcy after a petition from the crown solicitor for sligo, but this apparently did not affect his political standing. in 1906 he was returned unopposed both for north leitrim and for north sligo, and chose to sit for the latter constituency, which he represented until his death in 1909.