William Archer Redmond

Who was William Archer Redmond?

William Archer Redmond sat for Wexford as a member of the Home Rule Party led by Isaac Butt from 1872 to 1880, and was the father of the Irish Parliamentary Leader John Redmond.

Willie Redmond was the son of Patrick Walter Redmond Esq., J.P., D.L., of Ballytrent House, County Wexford, magistrate, High Sheriff and Deputy Lieutenant of Co. Wexford, by his wife, Esther Kearney of Rocklands or Rockville, County Wexford. He was the nephew of John Edward Redmond who had sat for the same seat, also as a Liberal M.P., and who is commemorated in Redmond Square in Wexford.

He was educated at Stonyhurst College and Bonn, before graduating from Trinity College Dublin. He was an ardent supporter of Home Rule, and attended the Home Rule Conference of 1873 where he proposed many important resolutions. In his election address in 1872, he said,

Under the name of Home Rule, I will at once declare my conviction that Ireland possesses the indefeasible right to be governed by an Irish Parliament.