John Keogh
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John Keogh (1740 - 1817) was a leading Irish rights campaigner who struggled to get Irish Roman Catholics the right to vote and the repeal of the penal act. He was of an obscure family and made his considerable fortune in land speculation, brewing, and silk trading. He owned land in Dublin, County Sligo, County Roscommon, and County Leitrim, and by the 1790's he had an income of around £6,000 per year.
He became involved in the political struggle for Roman Catholic rights in the 1780's, when he was a member of the Catholic Committee beginning in 1781. In 1784, Keogh joined in a plan for Ulster and Dublin radical elements to combine to push for Catholic franchise, and by 1790 Keogh was leading the Catholic Committee. He was part of a delegation that was denied by the Lord Lieutenant, and so they went to England to make their case for the repeal of the penal laws and extension of the vote to Catholics. They met with government ministers personally, and they received promises; however, Lord Kenmare quashed all progress.
On the selection of Theobald Wolfe Tone as secretary to the Committee, he and Keogh became great friends, frequently travelling together around Ireland. Tone's nickname for Keogh was 'Gog'.
In 1792, Keogh led the Catholic convention in Dublin. He and others took their grievances to the King. The result was the Relief Act of 1793, which gave Catholics the vote and repealed the penal laws. In return, Keogh made concessions on behalf of the Catholic Committee: they would not press for independence, and they would dissolve the committee. Keogh was crticized sharply for making these concessions, and conservatives in England were unhappy with the Relief Act. In 1795, Earl Fitzwilliam, who had favored Irish Catholic causes, was recalled as Lord Lieutenant and replaced with a conservative. When another delegation headed by Keogh went to London, it got no aid and little audience.
Keogh's authority and influence in the Catholic movement in Ireland decreased as newer leaders emerged. Although he was frequently arrested and searched, Keogh was never overtly radical, and he used his wealth to aid his co-religionists' cause without crossing the line to illegality. He was on the moderate wing of the United Irishmen, along with Thomas Addis Emmet. Days before the outbreak of the 1798 Rebellion Keogh printed a pamphlet warning that it could not succeed. From the turn of the 19th century, Keogh decreased in his activities as more radical men took charge.
[edit] References
- Kelly, James. "John Keogh" In Matthew, H.C.G. and Brian Harrison, eds. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. vol. 31, 356-357. London: OUP, 2004.
