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Isaac Butt (1813 - 1879):
Politician and lawyer


Isaac Butt was born in Glenfin, County Donegal, and was educated at Raphoe and Trinity College, Dublin. In 1833 the Dublin University Magazine was co-founded by him, and he served as its editor from 1834 to 1838. From 1836 to 1841 he held the Chair of Political Economy. He was called to the Bar in 1838 and became Queen's Counsel in 1844. He established the Protestant Guardian, a Dublin weekly newspaper, but having been a supporter of the Union, in opposition to O'Connell, by 1848 he had shifted his political stance and defended William Smith O'Brien. In 1869 he was appointed President of the Amnesty Association and in 1870 was one of those who founded the Home Government Association, later to become the Home Rule League. He served as a member of parliament for Harwich, Youghal and later for Limerick, but was displaced as party leader by Parnell. He was the author of many political and historical works, including The Handbook of the Land; Land Tenure in Ireland and The Problem with Irish Education. Among his works of fiction are The Gap of Barnesmore; Chapters of College Romance and Irish Life in Court and Castle. He died in Dublin and is buried in Stranorlar, County Donegal.

Born: 6 December 1813
Died: 5 May 1879
Kate Newmann