John Dillon

For the American judge and author of Municipal Corporations (1872), see John Forrest Dillon (1831-1914)

John Dillon (September 4, 1851 - August 4, 1927) was an Irish nationalist politician. The son of John Blake Dillon (1816-1866), he was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and afterwards studied medicine. Dillon entered parliament in 1880 as member for Tipperary, and was at first an ardent supporter of Charles Stewart Parnell. He was arrested in May 1881 under the Coercion Act, and again in October, after two months of freedom.

In 1883 he resigned his seat for reasons of health, but was returned unopposed in 1885 for East Mayo, which he continued to represent until 1918. He was one of the prime movers in the Irish Land League's famous plan of campaign, which provided that the tenant should pay his rent to the National League instead of the landlord, and in case of eviction be supported by the general fund. Dillon was compelled by the court of queens bench on the December 14, 1886 to find securities for good behaviour, but two days later he was arrested while receiving rents on Lord Clanricardes estates. In this instance the jury disagreed, but in June 1888 under the provisions of the new Criminal Law Procedure Bill he was condemned to six months imprisonment. He was, however, released in September, and in the spring of 1889 sailed for Australia and New Zealand, where he collected funds for the Nationalist party. On his return to Ireland he was again arrested, but, being allowed bail, sailed to America, and failed to appear at the trial. He returned to Ireland by way of Boulogne, where he and William O'Brien held long and indecisive conferences with Parnell. They surrendered to the police in February, and were released from Galway gaol in July.

After the divorce case in which the leader of the Irish Nationalist Party, Parnell, was named, most of the party turned against him, Dillon being one of his strongest opponents. Parnell refused to step down and the party split, with Justin McCarthy becoming leader of the majority. John Redmond led the minority grouping after the death of Parnell later in 1891. Dillon took over the leadership of the Anti-Parnellites in 1892. The two parties reunited in 1900 with John Redmond as leader and Dillon as deputy leader.

In the autumn of 1896 he arranged a convention of the Irish race, which included 2,000 delegates from various parts of the world. In 1897 Dillon opposed in the House the Address to Queen Victoria on the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee, on the ground that her reign had not been a blessing to Ireland, and he showed the same uncompromising attitude in 1901 when a grant to Lord Roberts was under discussion, accusing him of systematized inhumanity. He was suspended on the March 20 for violent language addressed to Mr Chamberlain.

In his approach to Irish self-government under Home Rule he took a more uncompromising stand to Redmond's, who during the Ulster crisis of 1913 was prepared to concede a large measure of local autonomy to Ulster, which was unthinkable for Dillon, who putting the integrity of Ireland foremost, poured scorn on Edward Carson's threat of civil war as being a gigantic bluff. He only agreed with utter reluctance to Redmond conceding to six counties temporarily opting out of the Home Rule Act 1914, then suspended until the end of the Great War.

After the 1916 revolt he personally intervened with Lloyd George to prevent executions, with some partial success. Attacking the Government in the House of Commons, it was apparent how unbridgeble the chasm in Anglo-Irish relations had became. After Redmond's death in March 1918 he followed him as leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party, opposing with tooth and nail the threat of conscription a month later. He made clear in September that the goal of Home Rule was "the establishment of national self-government, including full and complete executive, legislative and fiscal power", and that national solidarity was essential.

It was left to Dillon to fight a last gallant but unsuccessful campaign in the general election of 1918 which swept his party, but certainly not its tradition, into oblivion.

He married in 1895 to Elizabeth (d. 1907), daughter of Lord Justice J. C. Mathew. His son was James Dillon, leader of the Centre Party and of Fine Gael.