Everything about William Redmond totally explained
William Michael Charlton Redmond DSO (
1886 –
17 April 1932) was the son of
John Redmond, the
Irish nationalist politician and leader of the
Irish Parliamentary Party from 1900 to 1918. He served as an
MP in the
House of Commons of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as well as a
Teachta Dála (Deputy) of
Dáil Éireann, the lower House of the Irish parliament. During
World War I served as officer with an
Irish regiment on the
Western Front. He was one of a dynasty of Liberal and Irish Nationalist politicians who are commemorated in Redmond Square in the town of
Wexford.
Early career
Redmond was educated at
Clongowes Wood College and
Trinity College Dublin.
Redmond was elected MP for
Tyrone East at the
December 1910 general election and supported the passing of the
Home Rule Act 1914.
When his father called for support for the British and
Allied war effort in the
First World War, Redmond joined with the
National Volunteers in the
New British Army and served on the
Western Front for the duration of the war, first in the
Royal Dublin Fusiliers and then in the
Irish Guards, rose to the rank of captain and was awarded the
DSO. His fellow MP and uncle
Willie Redmond, John's brother, also joined up and was killed in 1917. Three other MPs also served,
J. L. Esmonde,
Stephen Gwynn,
D. D. Sheehan and former MP
Tom Kettle.
When his father died in March 1918, William Archer Redmond resigned his Tyrone seat and successfully defended his father's seat of
Waterford. Famously he campaigned in his army uniform and wearing a black armband. His victory ended a run of
Sinn Féin victories at by-elections and gave a big, albeit temporary, boost to the morale of supporters of the
Irish Parliamentary Party.
In the
general election of December 1918, he was re-elected for Waterford City, becoming one of only two Irish Parliamentary Party MPs outside the six counties of
Northern Ireland, and he spoke out strongly in the House of Commons against British military policy in Ireland during the
Irish War of Independence.
Into the Dáil
Following independence, Redmond was elected as an
Independent Nationalist deputy and
member of the 4th Dáil for
Waterford in the
1923 Irish Free State election. In 1926, he co-founded the
National League Party, appealing to former supporters of the Irish Parliamentary Party, ex-servicemen, and others, including
Unionists, alienated by the policies of the
Cumann na nGaedhael government. The new party did quite well, winning eight seats in the
general election of June 1927.
However Redmond alarmed his supporters by entering into a voting pact with the
Labour Party and
Fianna Fáil to bring down the Cumann na nGaedhael government, and replace it with a minority Labour Party–National League administration supported from outside by Fianna Fáil. The attempt failed and in the ensuing general election in
September 1927, the Party won only one seat in addition to Redmond's own. The following year the National League was dissolved and in 1931 Redmond joined Cumann na nGaedhael. He died in 1932 and was succeeded as Cumann na nGaedhael deputy for Waterford by his wife,
Bridget Redmond.
Further Information
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