William Field (Irish politician)

William Field (June 1843 – April 29, 1935) was an Irish nationalist politician and MP. in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and as member of the Irish Parliamentary Party represented Dublin St Patrick's from 1892 to 1918. His father was a supporter of Young Ireland. Born at Blackrock, Co. 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 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 until he was defeated in 1918 by Countess Markiewicz of Sinn Féin by more than two to one. He presented himself as a labour representative, though he denounced socialism; he attended early Irish trade union congresses as representative of the "Knights of the Plough" a farm lsbourers' body. He was essentially a "Labour nationalist" believing Irish workers and employers shared a common interest in developing Irish industry. The 1911 Census shows him living, unmarried, at 6 Main Street, Blackrock. James Joyce's Ulyses contains numerous casual references to a cattle traders' meeting addressed by Field, who expresses criticism of the quarantine imposed on Irish districts where cattle are suffering from foot and mouth disease.

elected writings

* "Distress in the West and South of Ireland", Dublin, M. H. Gill, 1898
* "Irish Railways compared with State-owned and Managed Lines", Dublin, Irish Independent Printing and Publishing Co., 1898
* "Irish Industry and Treasury Tactics", Dublin, J. Duffy & Co., 1909
* "Town Tenants’ Texts", Dublin, John Falconer, 1915
* "Housing Homily: Dublin Domiciles", Dublin, Cahill & Co., 1916

ources

* John J. Horgan, "Parnell to Pearse: Some Recollections and Reflections", Dublin: Browne & Nolan, 1949
* Patrick Maume, "The Long Gestation: Irish Nationalist Life 1891-1918", Dublin: Gill & Macmillan
* Brian M. Walker (ed.), "Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922", Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, 1978
* "Who Was Who, 1929–1940"

External links

* [http://www.marxists.org/archive/connolly/1898/09/home.htm Contemporary debate by James Connolly]