Maurice George Moore

Who was Maurice George Moore?

Colonel Maurice George Moore CB was an Irish soldier, author and politician.

Moore was the second of four sons born to George Henry Moore of Moore Hall, County Mayo, and Mary Blake of Ballinafad, County Galway. His elder brother was the writer, George A. Moore. He was born at Moore Hall, Ballyglass, County Mayo and was educated in Mayo and at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst where he trained as an officer. Moore married Evelyn, daughter of John Stradford Handcock of Dunmore, County Galway and they had two sons, Maurice and Ulick. Moore joined the Connaught Rangers Regiment of the British army in 1874 and saw action in the Xhosa Wars and the Anglo-Zulu War. During the Second Boer War he was present at the battles of Ladysmith, Colenso, Spion Kop and Vaal Krantz. He was highly regarded and decorated, and received the rank of brevet colonel in 1902.

However, his horror at the creation of concentration camps and British military ill-treatment of Boer civilians led to him writing anonymous articles which were published in the Freeman's Journal, which brought attention to the matters. He retired from the army on 16 July 1906. Moore was a fluent Irish language speaker and had spoken it with fellow members of the Connaught Rangers – and was a supporter of the Gaelic League. In 1903 he started evening schools in Mayo, teaching the language and Irish history, supporting the 1909 introduction of Irish as a compulsory subject for the National University of Ireland. This brought him into conflict with the catholic bishops. He was also heavily involved in rural development and was an early supporter of the Irish co-operative movement.