34 Facts About Henry Grattan

Henry Grattan was an Irish politician and lawyer who campaigned for legislative freedom for the Irish Parliament in the late 18th century from Britain.

Henry Grattan was a Member of the Irish Parliament from 1775 to 1801 and a Member of Parliament in Westminster from 1805 to 1820.

Henry Grattan has been described as a superb orator and a romantic.

Henry Grattan was born at Fishamble Street, Dublin, and baptised in the nearby church of St John the Evangelist in 1746.

Henry Grattan attended debates in the British House of Commons regularly, and enjoyed visiting the celebrated Grecian Coffee House in Devereux Court, where he met Oliver Goldsmith.

Henry Grattan entered the Irish Parliament for Charlemont in 1775, sponsored by Lord Charlemont, just as Flood had damaged his credibility by accepting office.

Henry Grattan quickly superseded Flood in the leadership of the national party, not least because his oratorical powers were unsurpassed among his contemporaries.

Henry Grattan was expelled in 1798, but was re-admitted on 9 August 1806.

One of the first acts of Henry Grattan's parliament was to prove its loyalty to the Constitution by passing a vote for the support of 20,000 sailors for the Royal Navy.

Henry Grattan was loyal to the Crown and the British connection.

Henry Grattan was anxious to achieve moderate parliamentary reform, and, unlike Flood, he favoured Catholic Emancipation.

Henry Grattan opposed the policy of protective duties in favour of Pitt's commercial propositions in 1785 for establishing Free Trade between Great Britain and Ireland.

Henry Grattan supported the government for a time after 1782, and spoke and voted for the repressive legislation that followed the Whiteboy violence in 1785; but as the years passed and without Pitt's personal favour towards parliamentary reform resulting in legislation, he gravitated towards the opposition, agitated for commutation of tithes in Ireland, and supported the Whigs on the regency question in 1788.

In 1790, Henry Grattan was elected for Dublin City, a seat he held until 1798.

Henry Grattan was as anxious as Flood had been to retain the legislative power in the hands of men of property.

Henry Grattan had a strong conviction that while Ireland could best be governed by the Irish, democracy in Ireland would inevitably turn to plunder and anarchy.

The Catholic question had come to the fore, and when a powerful section of the Whigs joined Pitt's ministry in 1794, Lord Fitzwilliam, who shared Henry Grattan's views, was appointed Viceroy, expectations for further Catholic relief were raised.

Fitzwilliam privately asked Henry Grattan to propose a Bill for Catholic emancipation, promising British government support.

Henry Grattan warned the government in a series of masterly speeches of the lawless condition to which Ireland had been driven.

Henry Grattan was cruelly lampooned by James Gillray as a rebel leader for his liberal views and his stance against a political union with the Kingdom of Great Britain.

The constitution of Henry Grattan's parliament offered no security, as the differences over the regency question had made evident that in matters of imperial interest the policy of the Irish parliament and that of Great Britain would be in agreement.

Henry Grattan's popularity had declined, and the fact that his proposals for parliamentary reform and Catholic emancipation had become the watchwords of the United Irishmen had brought him the bitter hostility of the governing classes.

Henry Grattan was dismissed from the Privy Council; his portrait was removed from the hall of Trinity College; the Merchant Guild of Dublin struck his name off their rolls.

On 15 January 1800, the Irish Parliament met for its last session; on the same day Henry Grattan secured by purchase a seat for Wicklow; and at a late hour, while the debate was proceeding, he appeared to take his seat, and was cheered from the galleries.

Henry Grattan's strength gave way when he rose to speak, and he obtained leave to address the House sitting.

When Fox and William Grenville came into power in 1806 Henry Grattan, who sat at this time for Dublin City, was offered, but refused to accept, an office in the government.

Henry Grattan supported the veto, but a more radical Catholic party was now arising in Ireland under the leadership of Daniel O'Connell, and Henry Grattan's influence gradually declined.

Henry Grattan seldom spoke in Parliament after 1810, the most notable exception being in 1815, when he separated himself from the Whigs and supported the final struggle against Napoleon.

Henry Grattan died at his home in Portman Square on 4 June 1820, and was buried in Westminster Abbey close to the tombs of Pitt and Fox.

Henry Grattan's statue is in St Stephen's Hall in the Palace of Westminster.

Henry Grattan thought only of Ireland; lived for no other object; dedicated to her his beautiful fancy, his elegant wit, his manly courage, and all the splendour of his astonishing eloquence.

Henry Grattan Bridge crossing the river Liffey between Parliament Street on the south side of Dublin and Capel Street on the north side is named in his honour.

The building housing the faculty of Law and Government at Dublin City University has been named the Henry Grattan Building in his honour.

Henry Grattan Square was constructed between 1806 and 1826 at the instigation of the Duke of Devonshire.