Arthur Champion (Irish politician)

Last updated

Arthur Champion (died 23 October 1641) was an Anglo-Irish politician and landowner. He was murdered by Irish rebels early in the Irish Rebellion of 1641. [1]

Biography

Little is known of Champion's early life. By the mid-1630s, he was a merchant based in Dublin, engaged in the cloth trade through Chester. He had also become a moneylender and was among those advancing money to Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Burlington in 1634, 1635 and 1636. This financial and mercantile activity enabled Champion to purchase land and by June 1639 he was living at Shannock, County Fermanagh. In 1639 he was appointed High Sheriff of Fermanagh, and following year he was made a justice of the peace and purchased the manor at Coole. In 1640 he was elected as a Member of Parliament for Enniskillen in the Irish House of Commons. However, parliamentary records do not show him making any speeches or sitting on any committees. [1]

Early on the morning of 23 October 1641, a group of Champion's Irish tenants, working to the orders of Rory Maguire, murdered Champion in one of the first events of the Irish Rebellion of 1641. [2] The group had arrived at Champion's Shannock house on the pretence of seeing him in his capacity as a justice of the peace; upon Champion's appearance, he was killed with knives. The rebels also killed several of Champions guests, including Thomas Ironmonger, Humphrey Littlebury and Christopher Lynas, and refused to allow their bodies to be buried for several weeks. News of the murder quickly spread in Ulster, enabling some Protestant settler communities to prepare to resist the rebels. [1]

Champion had married Alice Allen at the Church of St. John the Evangelist, Dublin on 27 May 1621. At the time of his death, Champion had £6,971 owed to him be debtors. In his will, he left money for the maintenance of services at the Church of Ireland's Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irish Confederate Wars</span> Ethno-religious conflict within Ireland between 1641 and 1653

The Irish Confederate Wars, also called the Eleven Years' War, took place in Ireland between 1641 and 1653. It was the Irish theatre of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, a series of civil wars in the kingdoms of Ireland, England and Scotland – all ruled by Charles I. The conflict had political, religious and ethnic aspects and was fought over governance, land ownership, religious freedom and religious discrimination. The main issues were whether Irish Catholics or British Protestants held most political power and owned most of the land, and whether Ireland would be a self-governing kingdom under Charles I or subordinate to the parliament in England. It was the most destructive conflict in Irish history and caused 200,000–600,000 deaths from fighting as well as war-related famine and disease.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Felim O'Neill of Kinard</span> Irish politician and soldier (1604–1653)

Sir Phelim Roe O'Neill of Kinard was an Irish politician and soldier who started the Irish rebellion in Ulster on 23 October 1641. He joined the Irish Catholic Confederation in 1642 and fought in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms under his cousin, Owen Roe O'Neill, in the Confederate Ulster Army. After the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland O’Neill went into hiding but was captured, tried and executed in 1653.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irish Rebellion of 1641</span> Rebellion by Catholics in Ireland

The Irish Rebellion of 1641 was a Catholic-led uprising in Ireland, whose demands included an end to anti-Catholic discrimination, greater Irish self-governance, and return of confiscated Catholic lands. Its timing was partially driven by the political dispute between Charles I and his opponents in England and Scotland, which the rebels feared would lead to an invasion and further anti-Catholic measures. Beginning as an attempted coup d'état by Catholic gentry and military officers, it developed into a widespread rebellion and ethnic conflict with English and Scottish Protestant settlers. It ultimately resulted in the 1641 to 1652 Irish Confederate Wars, part of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, with up to 20% of the Irish population becoming casualties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nine Years' War (Ireland)</span> 1593–1603 Irish war against Tudor conquest

The Nine Years' War, sometimes called Tyrone's Rebellion, took place in Ireland from 1593 to 1603. It was fought between an Irish alliance—led mainly by Hugh O'Neill of Tyrone and Hugh Roe O'Donnell of Tyrconnell—against English rule in Ireland, and was a response to the ongoing Tudor conquest of Ireland. The war was fought in all parts of the country, but mainly in the northern province of Ulster. The Irish alliance won some important early victories, such as the Battle of Clontibret (1595) and the Battle of the Yellow Ford (1598), but the English won a victory against the alliance and their Spanish allies in the siege of Kinsale (1601–02). The war ended with the Treaty of Mellifont (1603). Many of the defeated northern lords left Ireland to seek support for a new uprising in the Flight of the Earls (1607), never to return. This marked the end of Gaelic Ireland and led to the Plantation of Ulster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisnarick, County Fermanagh</span> Human settlement in Northern Ireland

Lisnarick or Lisnarrick is a small village in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, 4 km west of Irvinestown. It is situated in the civil parish of Derryvullan and historic barony of Lurg. The village was once known as Archdalestown after the nearby Castle Archdale. In the 2011 Census it had a population of 238.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enniskillen Castle</span>

Enniskillen Castle is situated in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It was originally built in the 16th century and now contains the Fermanagh County Museum and a museum for the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards and Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tully Castle</span>

Tully Castle is a castle situated in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, near the village of Blaney, on Blaney Bay on the southern shore of Lower Lough Erne. The Blaney area takes its name from Sir Edward Blaney, who was among the English advance party sent to Fermanagh to organise the Plantation.

Sir Rory O'Moore, also known Sir Roger O'Moore or O'More or Sir Roger Moore, was an Irish landowner, and is most notable for being one of the four principal organizers of the Irish Rebellion of 1641.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Bingham (soldier)</span> English soldier and naval commander

Sir Richard Bingham was an English soldier and naval commander. He served under Queen Elizabeth I during the Tudor conquest of Ireland and was appointed governor of Connacht.

Hugh McShane O'Neill was an early modern Irish nobleman and rebel associated with the McShanes of Glenconkeyne and Killetra. This group was also called the "Wild Clan Shanes of Killetragh" or the "McShane-O'Neills". His parentage is disputed however he is claimed by some as being either a grandson or great-grandson of Conn O'Neill, 1st Earl of Tyrone, and Gearoid Mór Fitzgerald, 8th Earl of Kildare, and of the primary line of the O'Neill of Tyrone clan.

Sir Herbert Charles Arthur Langham, 13th Baronet was an English landowner, photographer, ornithologist and entomologist.

McCaul, also spelt MacCawell is an Irish surname, derived from the Gaelic Mac Cathmhaoil, meaning the "son of Cathmhaol", descendant of being implied. The name Cathmhaoil itself is derived from cath mhaol meaning "battle chief". The Mac Cathmhaoil were the leading family of Cenél Fearadhaigh, of the Uí Néill, and were based around Clogher in modern-day County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. They were one of the seven powerful septs that supported the O'Neills. Mac Cathmhaoil is now rare in Ulster as it has been Anglicised under various different forms such as, Campbell, McCawl, Caulfield, McCall, Alwell, Callwell, McCowell, McCuill, Howell, MacHall, and McQuade.

Connor Maguire, 2nd Baron of Enniskillen was an Irish nobleman from Ulster who took part in the Irish Rebellion of 1641. He was executed for high treason.

Colonel Philip O'Reilly was a member of parliament for County Cavan, Ireland in the Irish Parliament from 1639 to 1641, and a leading member of the 1641 Rebellion.

The Treaty of Mellifont, also known as the Articles of Mellifont, was signed in 1603 and ended the Nine Years' War which took place in the Kingdom of Ireland from 1594 to 1603.

Crevenish Castle is a ruined castle and bawn in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, 3k south-west of Kesh at grid ref: H165626. It is privately owned.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maguire family</span> Surname list

The Maguire family is an Irish clan based in County Fermanagh. The name derives from the Gaelic Mac Uidhir, which is "son of Odhar" meaning "dun", "dark one". According to legend, this relates to the eleventh descendant of Colla da Chrich, great-grandson of Cormac mac Airt, who was monarch of Ireland about the middle of the third century. From the 13th to the 17th centuries, the Maguire’s were kings of Fermanagh.

Roger Maguire, styled Lord Maguire of Enniskillen, was an Irish Jacobite soldier and courtier.

Colonel Rory Maguire was an Irish politician and soldier. He was a leading instigator of the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and subsequently participated in the Irish Confederate Wars as a senior Confederate commander.

Sir William Cole was an English soldier and politician, who participated in the Plantation of Ulster and established a settler town at Enniskillen, County Fermanagh. Despite his initial loyalty to the Stuarts, he was a leading English Parliamentarian figure in the Irish Confederate Wars of the 1640s.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Gillespie, Raymond (1993). "The Murder of Arthur Champion and the 1641 Rising in Fermanagh". Clogher Record. 14 (3): 52–66. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  2. Clavin, Terry (October 2009). "Maguire, Rory (Roger)". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
Parliament of Ireland
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Enniskillen
1639–1641
With: Sir John Borlase
Succeeded by
Sir Michael Cole
Sir Robert Cole