William Field

Who was William Field?

William Field was an Irish butcher from Dublin, and a nationalist politician. From 1892 to 1918 he was Member of Parliament for Dublin St Patrick's, taking his seat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

His father was a supporter of Young Ireland. Born at Blackrock, County Dublin, he was educated at Harcourt Street School, Dublin, and at the Catholic University, Dublin. He ran one of the biggest butchers' businesses in Dublin and was president of the National Meat Traders’ Federation. He was also a member of Blackrock Urban District Council and Dublin Port and Docks Board. J. J. Horgan described him in 1905 as "a venerable figure with a wide-brimmed hat and picturesque appearance reminiscent of Buffalo Bill".

D.P. Moran's weekly paper The Leader often published caricatures of him in the period 1912-18.

Field was politically active from the 1870s and had extensive connections in the labour movement and in 'Irish Ireland' organizations such as the Gaelic Athletic Association and Gaelic League. In the bitter 1892 general election, standing as a Parnellite, he took the St Patrick’s seat in the Parnellite stronghold of Dublin from the sitting anti-Parnellite Nationalist MP William Martin Murphy by the wide margin of 3,991 votes to 1,110. Thereafter he retained this seat unopposed through five successive general elections, joining the Irish Parliamentary Party when the two factions reunited in 1900. At the 1918 general election he was defeated by Countess Markievicz of Sinn Féin by more than two to one.