{{Short description|Irish politician}} {{EngvarB|date=October 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}} thumb|right|220px '''Arthur MacMurrough Kavanagh''' (25 March 1831 – 25 December 1889) was an Irish politician. His middle name is spelt '''MacMorrough''' in some contemporaneous sources.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}<ref>{{cite news |title=Review of the Year |work=Freeman's Journal |date=30 December 1889}}</ref>
==Biography== Arthur MacMurrough Kavanagh was born on 25 March 1831 at Borris House in County Carlow, the son of Thomas Kavanagh MP and artist Lady Harriet Margaret Le Poer Trench, daughter of the second Earl of Clancarty. His father traced his lineage to the medieval Kings of Leinster through Art MacMurrough-Kavanagh and furthermore being an 8th generation descendant of Cahir mac Art Kavanagh, 1st Baron of Ballyane.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kavanagh (No.1) family genealogy - Irish Pedigrees |url=https://www.libraryireland.com/Pedigrees1/kavanagh-1-heremon.php |access-date=2025-03-05 |website=www.libraryireland.com}}</ref> He had two older brothers, Charles and Thomas, and one sister, Harriet or "Hoddy." Arthur Kavanagh was born with only the rudiments of arms and legs,<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Kavanagh, Arthur MacMorrough|volume=15|page=701}}</ref> though the cause of this birth defect is unknown.
His mother insisted that he be brought up and have opportunities like any other child<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Finn |first=Clodagh |date=2022-12-17 |title=Clodagh Finn: The Irish mummy who went to Egypt in 1846 – with three children in tow |url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/arid-41030138.html |access-date=2022-12-17 |website=Irish Examiner |language=en}}</ref> and placed him in the care of the doctor Francis Boxwell, who believed that an armless and legless child could live a productive life.<ref name=Times/> Kavanagh learnt to ride horses at the age of three by being strapped to a special saddle and managing the horse with the stumps of his arms. With the help of the surgeon Sir Philip Crampton, Lady Harriet had a mechanical wheelchair constructed for her son, and encouraged him to ride horses and engage in other outdoor activities.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-10-04 |title=The Incredible Mr Kavanagh |url=https://turtlebunbury.com/document/arthur-kavanagh/ |access-date=2022-12-17 |website=Turtle Bunbury Irish Histories |language=en-GB}}</ref> He also went fishing, hunted animals, drew pictures, and wrote stories, with mechanical devices supplementing his physical capacities.<ref name="EB1911"/> His mother taught him how to write and paint holding pens and brushes in his mouth.<ref name=":0" />
In 1846, Lady Harriet took three of her children, Thomas, Harriet and Arthur, travelling to the Middle East for two years. Arthur Kavanagh nearly drowned in the Nile when he fell in whilst fishing and was rescued by a local antiquities salesman who dived in to pull him out.<ref name=":0" />
In 1849, Kavanagh's mother discovered that he had been having affairs with girls on the family estate, so she sent him into exile to Uppsala, and then to Moscow with his brother and a clergyman, whom he came to hate.<ref name=Times/> He travelled extensively in Egypt, Anatolia, Persia, and India between 1846 and 1853;<ref name="EB1911"/> in India, his letter of credit from his mother was cancelled when she discovered that he had spent two weeks in a harem, so he persuaded the East India Company to hire him as a despatch rider.<ref name=Times/> Other sources say that this was due to the death of his eldest brother Charles of consumption in December 1851, which left him with only 30 shillings.<ref>{{cite book|title=The world's strangest mysteries|year=1987|publisher=Gallery Books|location=New York|isbn=0-8317-9678-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/worldsstrangestm0000unse/page/647 647]|chapter=The Limbless Wonder|chapter-url-access=registration|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/worldsstrangestm0000unse/page/647}}</ref>
In 1851, Kavanagh succeeded to the family estates and the title of The MacMurrough following the death of his older brother Thomas. He served as High Sheriff of County Kilkenny for 1856 and High Sheriff of Carlow for 1857.{{Citation needed|date=January 2018}} A Conservative and a Protestant, he sat in Parliament for County Wexford from 1866 to 1868, and for County Carlow from 1868 to 1880.<ref name="EB1911"/> On being elected, he had to be placed on the Tory benches by his manservant; the Speaker, Evelyn Denison, gave a special dispensation to allow the manservant to stay in the chamber during sittings.<ref name=Times>{{cite news|work=The Times|date=9 February 2011|page=6|title=The truly remarkable Kavanagh MP|url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/ireland-world/article/the-truly-remarkable-kavanagh-mp-jh5ffrqd7zt|author=David Cohen}}{{subscription required}}</ref> Kavanagh was opposed to the disestablishment of the (Anglican) Church of Ireland, but supported the Landlord and Tenant (Ireland) Act 1870. On losing his seat in 1880, William Ewart Gladstone appointed him to the Bessborough Commission, but he disagreed with its conclusions and published his own dissenting report. In 1886, he was made a member of the Privy Council of Ireland.<ref name="EB1911"/>
Kavanagh died of pneumonia on 25 December (Christmas Day) 1889 in London aged 58, and was buried in Ballicopagan cemetery.<ref>[http://www.kavanaghfamily.com/notable/Art/art.htm Arthur MacMurrough Kavanagh: 1831–1889] Clan Caomhánach</ref><ref>[http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~irlcar2/Ballicopagan_Cemetery.htm Ballicopagan Cemetery], Ancestry.com</ref> He was succeeded in the title of the MacMurrough by his son, Walter MacMurrough Kavanagh, who also served as MP for County Carlow from 1908 to 1910. The 1901 novel ''The History of Sir Richard Calmady'', written by Lucas Malet (pseudonym of Mary St Leger Kingsley), is based on his life.
==Family== Kavanagh married his cousin, Mary Frances Forde-Leathley, in 1855. Assisted by his wife, he was a philanthropic landlord, active county magistrate, and chairman of the board of guardians.<ref name="EB1911"/> Together, they had seven children:
* Eva (died 1896) * May (died 1949) * Agnes (died 1932) * Walter (died 1922) * Arthur (died 1882) * Charles (died 1950) * Osborne (died 1897)
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{Internet Archive author |sname=Arthur MacMurrough Kavanagh}} * [http://www.kavanaghfamily.com/notable/Art/art.htm Arthur MacMurrough Kavanagh: 1831–1889] * {{Hansard-contribs | mr-arthur-kavanagh | Arthur MacMorrough Kavanagh }} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20101221063818/http://thelongridersguild.com/Historical_J-O.htm Kavanagh on 'The Long Riders' Guild'] * [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20592861 'Disability history month: Arthur MacMorrough Kavanagh' on BBC News] * [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03wt91b Arthur MacMurrough Kavanagh] at BBC Arts
{{s-start}} {{s-par|uk}} {{succession box | title=Member of Parliament for County Wexford | years=1866–1868 | before=Sir James Power | before2=John George | after=John Talbot Power | after2=Matthew Peter D'Arcy | with = Sir James Power, Bt }} {{succession box | title=Member of Parliament for County Carlow | years=1868–1880 | before=Henry Bruen<br />Denis Pack-Beresford | after=Edmund Dwyer Gray<br />Donald Horne Macfarlane | with = Henry Bruen }} {{s-hon}} {{succession box | before=The Earl of Bessborough | title=Lord Lieutenant of Carlow | years=1880–1889 | after=The Lord Rathdonnell}} {{s-end}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kavanagh, Arthur MacMurrough}} Category:1831 births Category:1889 deaths Category:People from Borris, County Carlow Category:Lord-lieutenants of Carlow Category:British politicians with disabilities Category:Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Carlow constituencies (1801–1922) Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Wexford constituencies (1801–1922) Category:UK MPs 1865–1868 Category:UK MPs 1868–1874 Category:UK MPs 1874–1880 Category:Irish Conservative Party MPs Arthur Category:High sheriffs of County Kilkenny Category:High sheriffs of Carlow Category:Irish politicians with disabilities Category:19th-century Irish politicians Category:Irish chiefs of the name Category:Politicians from County Clare