{{short description|Irish nationalist journalist, barrister, parliamentarian and mercenary}} {{Use British English|date=August 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = James Patrick Mahon | image = James Patrick Mahon, Vanity Fair, 1885-01-17.jpg | alt = | caption = Caricature by [[Leslie Ward|Spy]] published in ''[[Vanity Fair (UK magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'' in 1885. | constituency_MP = [[Clare (UK Parliament constituency)|Clare]] | parliament = United Kingdom | alongside = [[William Nugent Macnamara]] | term_start = 1830 | term_end = 1830 | predecessor = {{unbulleted list| [[Daniel O'Connell]] | [[Lucius O'Brien, 13th Baron Inchiquin|Lucius O'Brien]]}} | successor = {{unbulleted list| [[William Nugent Macnamara]] | [[Maurice O'Connell (MP)|Maurice O'Connell]]}} | constituency_MP2 = [[Ennis (UK Parliament constituency)|Ennis]] | parliament2 = United Kingdom | term_start2 = 1847 | term_end2 = 1852 | predecessor2 = [[Hewitt Bridgeman]] | successor2 = [[John David Fitzgerald]] | constituency_MP3 = Clare | parliament3 = United Kingdom | term_start3 = 1879 | term_end3 = 1885 | predecessor3 = [[Sir Bryan O'Loghlen, 3rd Baronet|Bryan O'Loghlen]] | successor3 = ''Constituency abolished'' | constituency_MP4 = [[County Carlow (UK Parliament constituency)|County Carlow]] | parliament4 = United Kingdom | term_start4 = 1887 | term_end4 = 1891 | predecessor4 = [[John Aloysius Blake]] | successor4 = [[John Hammond (Irish politician)|John Hammond]] | birth_name = Charles James Patrick Mahon | birth_date = {{birth date|1800|3|17|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Ennis]], [[County Clare]], Ireland | death_date = {{death date and age|1891|6|15|1800|3|17|df=y}} | death_place = [[South Kensington]], [[London]], England | party = [[Irish Parliamentary Party|Nationalist]] | other_party = [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig]] }} '''Charles James Patrick Mahon''' (17 March 1800 – 15 June 1891), known as the '''O'Gorman Mahon''' or '''James Patrick Mahon''', was an [[Irish nationalism|Irish nationalist]] journalist, [[barrister]], [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|parliamentarian]] and international [[mercenary]].
==Personal life== Mahon, the eldest of four children, was born into a prominent Roman Catholic family in [[Ennis]], [[County Clare]]. His father, Patrick Mahon of New Park, participated in the [[Irish Rebellion of 1798|Rebellion of 1798]] while his mother, Barbara, was a significant heiress, being the only daughter of James O'Gorman of Ennis.<ref name="odnb" /> Mahon received his education at [[Clongowes Wood College]], where he was among the earliest pupils, and later at [[Trinity College Dublin]], where he earned his BA in 1822 and his MA in law in 1832. Prior to his father's death in 1821, Mahon received an annual allowance of £500. Following his father's death, he inherited half of the family property and also became a magistrate for Clare. He subsequently adopted the title "the O'Gorman Mahon," with O'Gorman being his mother's maiden name.<ref name="odnb">"Mahon, Charles James Patrick", ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]''.</ref> This move was partly intended to create the false impression that he was the head of the Mahon clan.<ref name="riches">"[http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/claremuseum/news_events/ogorman_mahon.htm Riches of Clare: The O'Gorman Mahon]", ''Clare Champion'', 13 September 2002.</ref>
In 1830, Mahon married Christina, the daughter of John O'Brien of Dublin. Christina was an heiress with property valued at £60,000 in her own right, which provided Mahon with the resources to pursue election to parliament. Despite their marriage, the couple spent little time together, and Christina died in Paris in 1877, apart from Mahon. Together, they had one son named St John, who died in 1883.<ref name="odnb" />
Born in a time when duelling was relatively common in Ireland, Mahon later claimed to have instigated and fought thirteen [[duel]]s; and in these, to have been injured in six but to have drawn blood in seven.<ref name="riches" /> These enhanced the tall, striking Mahon's dashing reputation.<ref name="odnb" />
==Politics== In 1826, Mahon joined the newly formed [[Catholic Association]].<ref name="papers">[http://ead.lib.uchicago.edu/view.xqy?id=ICU.SPCL.MAHON&c=o Guide to the O'Gorman Mahon Papers 1824 – 1892], The [[University of Chicago]] Library.</ref> He encouraged fellow member [[Daniel O'Connell]] to stand for election at the [[1828 County Clare by-election]]. O'Connell's election, in which Mahon played a large role, persuaded the British Government to pass the [[Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829]], which finalised the process of [[Catholic Emancipation]] and permitted [[Catholic Church|Catholics]] to sit in the British Parliament.<ref name="odnb" />
As a result, when Mahon was elected for [[Clare (UK Parliament constituency)|Clare]] at the [[1830 United Kingdom general election|1830 general election]], he was entitled to take his seat. However, during the election campaign he quarrelled with O'Connell, and after his election he was unseated for bribery.<ref name="odnb" /> He was subsequently acquitted, and stood again at the [[1831 United Kingdom general election|1831 election]], but was defeated by two O'Connell-backed candidates,<ref name="papers" /> one of whom was his old schoolfriend [[Maurice O'Connell (MP)|Maurice O'Connell]], Daniel O'Connell's son. Mahon gave up on politics, became [[lord lieutenant|deputy lieutenant]] of Clare, and captain of the local [[militia]].<ref name="odnb" />
At the [[1847 United Kingdom general election|1847 general election]], Mahon was elected for [[Ennis (UK Parliament constituency)|Ennis]], and declared himself a [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig]] in favour of [[Irish Repeal]]. However, he opposed the [[Young Irelanders]], and narrowly lost his seat at the [[1852 United Kingdom general election|1852 election]].<ref name="odnb" />
After exploits abroad he returned to Ireland in 1871 and was a founding member of the [[Home Rule League]]. Nearly ruined by his ventures, he even ended up at the [[Old Bailey]] as a consequence of his dealings, but was acquitted.<ref name="odnb" /> He was defeated in Ennis at the [[1874 United Kingdom general election|1874 general election]], and also at the [[1877 County Clare by-election|County Clare by-election in 1877]]. Finally, he won the [[1879 County Clare by-election]], and held the seat at the [[1880 United Kingdom general election|1880 general election]].
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 (UK)|Liberal Party]] in Parliament.<ref name="odnb" /> He was also embroiled in a court case disputing the will of his son, St John Mahon, who died in 1884.<ref name="papers" />
Parnell personally ensured Mahon was a candidate at the [[1887 County Carlow by-election]], which he won at the age of 87 as a Nationalist. By this point, Mahon was the oldest MP in the [[Palace of Westminster|House of Commons]] of the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]].<ref name="odnb" /> He died at his home in [[South Kensington]] while still in office.<ref name="odnb" />
Mahon had served alongside [[William O'Shea]] as an MP, and the two were close friends. He introduced him and [[Katharine O'Shea]], his wife, to Parnell. After Parnell was named in the O'Sheas' divorce case in 1890, Mahon split with Parnell, siding with the [[Irish National Federation]]. However, Parnell attended Mahon's funeral in [[Glasnevin Cemetery]] a few months later.<ref name="odnb" />
==Travels== Mahon became a [[barrister]] in 1834, but the following year, he left for Paris. There he associated with [[Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord]], becoming a favourite at [[Louis-Philippe]]'s court<ref name="odnb" /> and working as a journalist. He travelled the world, spending time in both Africa, where he befriended [[Ferdinand de Lesseps]], engineer of the [[Suez Canal]],<ref name="riches" /> and South America, before returning to Ireland in 1846.<ref name="odnb" />
Following his defeat in the 1852 election, Mahon returned to Paris, then travelled on to [[St Petersburg]], where he served in the Imperial Bodyguard. During this period, he journeyed through lands from [[Finland]] (where he hunted bear with the tsarevich) to [[Siberia]].<ref name="odnb" /> He then travelled across China, [[India]] and [[Arabia]]. His finances largely exhausted, he served as a mercenary in the Ottoman and Austrian armies before returning to England in 1858. Late that year, he left for South America, where he attempted to finance the construction of a [[canal]] through Central America. He investigated the disappearance of Commander [[Lionel Lambert]], captain of the paddle sloop {{HMS|Vixen|1841|6}}, on which Mahon had voyaged, and forced the [[Government of Peru|Peruvian Government]] to instigate an investigation which revealed that Lambert had been murdered. He reported these findings to [[Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston|Lord Palmerston]], a former Parliamentary colleague.<ref name="papers" />
Mahon then returned to soldiery. He served in a number of forces, often in honorary positions.<ref name="papers" /> In [[Uruguay]] he was appointed a general in the government forces during the [[Uruguayan Civil War]]. He also claimed to have commanded a Chilean fleet during the [[Chincha Islands War]] and to have served as a colonel in [[Pedro II of Brazil]]'s army.<ref name="odnb" /> Later legends claimed that he was made an [[archbishop]] while in Brazil.<ref name="papers" />
When Mahon heard that the [[American Civil War]] had broken out, he went to fight for the Union.<ref name="papers" /> In 1866, he returned to Paris, where he was made a [[colonel]] in a regiment of chasseurs by [[Louis-Napoleon]], but in 1877, he moved to [[Berlin]], where he became a close associate of [[Otto von Bismarck]]. He was plagued by debts in this period, seeking money in speculative ventures, and in 1871 he returned to Ireland.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{hansard-contribs | the-ogorman-mahon |The O'Gorman Mahon }} *[https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/scrc/findingaids/view.php?eadid=ICU.SPCL.MAHON Guide to the O'Gorman Mahon Papers 1824-1892] at the [https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/scrc/ University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center] {{s-start}} {{s-par|uk}} {{succession box |title=Member of Parliament for [[Clare (UK Parliament constituency)|Clare]] |years=[[1830 United Kingdom general election|1830]]–1830 | with = [[William Nugent Macnamara]] |before=[[Daniel O'Connell]]<br />[[Lucius O'Brien, 13th Baron Inchiquin|Lucius O'Brien]] |after=[[William Nugent Macnamara]]<br />[[Maurice O'Connell (MP)|Maurice O'Connell]] }} {{succession box |title=Member of Parliament for [[Ennis (UK Parliament constituency)|Ennis]] |years=[[1847 United Kingdom general election|1847]]–[[1852 United Kingdom general election|1852]] |before=[[Hewitt Bridgman]] |after=[[John David Fitzgerald]] }} {{s-bef |before=[[Sir Bryan O'Loghlen, 3rd Baronet|Bryan O'Loghlen]] }} {{s-ttl |title=Member of Parliament for [[Clare (UK Parliament constituency)|Clare]] |years=[[1879 County Clare by-election|1879]]–[[1885 United Kingdom general election|1885]] }} {{s-non | reason = Constituency abolished }} {{succession box | title = Member of Parliament for [[County Carlow (UK Parliament constituency)|County Carlow]] | before = [[John Aloysius Blake]] | after = [[John Hammond (Irish politician)|John Hammond]] | years = [[1887 County Carlow by-election|1887]]–[[1891 County Carlow by-election|1891]] }} {{s-off}} {{succession box |title=Oldest Member of Parliament<br />(not Father of the House)|before=[[Michael Thomas Bass]]?|after=[[Charles Pelham Villiers]]|years=1883–1885}} {{succession box |title=Oldest Member of Parliament<br />(not Father of the House)|before=[[Charles Pelham Villiers]]|after=[[Charles Pelham Villiers]]|years=1887–1891}} {{s-end}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahon, James Patrick}} [[Category:1800 births]] [[Category:1891 deaths]] [[Category:19th-century Irish writers]] [[Category:Burials at Glasnevin Cemetery]] [[Category:Home Rule League MPs]] [[Category:Irish journalists]] [[Category:Irish barristers]] [[Category:Irish Parliamentary Party MPs]] [[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 Clare constituencies (1801–1922)]] [[Category:Irish mercenaries]] [[Category:Irish soldiers in the Austrian Army]] [[Category:Irish generals]] [[Category:Irish duellists]] [[Category:Politicians from County Clare]] [[Category:UK MPs 1830–1831]] [[Category:UK MPs 1847–1852]] [[Category:UK MPs 1874–1880]] [[Category:UK MPs 1880–1885]] [[Category:UK MPs 1886–1892]] [[Category:Whig (British political party) MPs for Irish constituencies]] [[Category:Alumni of Trinity College Dublin]] [[Category:People educated at Clongowes Wood College]] [[Category:Irish expatriates in France]] [[Category:Irish expatriates in Bulgaria]] [[Category:Irish expatriates in Austria-Hungary]] [[Category:Irish expatriates in Germany]] [[Category:Irish expatriates in the United States]] [[Category:19th-century journalists]] [[Category:19th-century male journalists]] [[Category:Irish male journalists]] [[Category:Irish Repeal Association MPs]] [[Category:Anti-Parnellite MPs]] [[Category:People from Ennis]] [[Category:19th-century Irish lawyers]] [[Category:Lawyers from County Clare]]