Justin Huntly McCarthy

Justin Huntly McCarthy
Member of Parliament
for Athlone
In office
1884–1885
Preceded byJohn James Ennis
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Member of Parliament
for Newry
In office
1885–1892
Preceded byHenry Thomson
Succeeded byPatrick George Hamilton Carvill
Personal details
Born1859
Died(1936-03-20)20 March 1936
Putney, London, England
Political party
Spouses
Parent

Justin Huntly McCarthy (1859 – 20 March 1936)[1] was an Irish writer, historian, and nationalist politician. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1884 to 1892, taking his seat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.

He was the son of Justin McCarthy (1830–1912). Since both father and son were writers, historians, and Members of Parliament, they are sometimes confused in lists and compilations.

Political career

McCarthy was first elected to Parliament at a by-election on 12 June 1884, when he was returned unopposed as the Home Rule League member for Athlone, following the death of the Liberal MP Sir John James Ennis.[2]

Athlone lost its status as a parliamentary borough under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, and at the 1885 general election McCarthy stood instead in the borough of Newry in County Down, where he was returned unopposed for the Irish Parliamentary Party.[3] He was re-elected in 1886, with a comfortable majority over the Liberal Unionist Reginald Saunders,[4] but did not contest the 1892 election.

Writing

McCarthy wrote various novels, plays, poetical pieces and short histories. He was briefly married to the actress Cissie Loftus. They married in Edinburgh in 1894, and though they divorced in 1899, she originated the role of Katherine de Vaucelles, the heroine in If I Were King in 1901.[5]

Among other works, he wrote biographies of Sir Robert Peel (1891), Pope Leo XIII (1896) and William Ewart Gladstone (1898). In 1889 he published prose translations of 466 quatrains of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.[6] He also wrote:

In 1893, he translated some Gazels from Divan of Hafiz, the 14th century Persian poet, which was published in a 152-page volume by David Nutt. 1000 copies were made, 800 for England and 200 for America.

[10]

Family life

McCarthy married musical artist Cecilia Loftus in 1893 in Edinburgh, Scotland, but the marriage did not last long and was dissolved in 1899.[11] He married again in 1908 to Loullie Killick.[11] McCarthy died at his home in Putney on 20 March 1936.[11]

References

  1. ^ "Historical list of MPs: constituencies beginning with "N", part 2". Leigh Rayment's House of Commons pages. Archived from the original on 6 October 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ^ Brian M. Walker, ed. (1978). Parliamentary election results in Ireland 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. p. 129. ISBN 0-901714-12-7.
  3. ^ Walker, op. cit., p. 134.
  4. ^ Walker, op. cit., p. 140.
  5. ^ Burns Mantle and Garrison P. Sherwood, eds., (1944). The Best Plays of 1899-1909, p.67.
  6. ^ O. Khayyam, Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, transl. by Justin Huntly McCarthy MP., 1889.
  7. ^ Mantle, op. cit., pp.66-106.
  8. ^ "Review of Seraphica by Justin Huntly McCarthy". The Athenaeum (4175): 546. 2 November 1907.
  9. ^ Buckingham, James Silk; Sterling, John; Maurice, Frederick Denison; Stebbing, Henry; Dilke, Charles Wentworth; Hervey, Thomas Kibble; Dixon, William Hepworth; MacColl, Norman; Rendall, Vernon Horace; Murry, John Middleton (28 March 1908). "Review: The Duke's Motto by Justin H. McCarthy". The Athenaeum (4196): 380.
  10. ^ see internet catalogue for details : Justin Huntly McCarthy
  11. ^ a b c "Deaths." Times [London, England] 23 Mar. 1936: 1. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 31 May 2015.
Secondary Sources
  • Walker, Brian M. (1978). Parliamentary election results in Ireland 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 0-901714-12-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Mantle, Burns; Sherwood, Garrison P. (1944). The Best Plays of 1899-1909. Philadelphia: The Blakiston Company.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Khayyam, Omar (1889). Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (translated by Justin Huntly McCarthy MP. ed.). London: D. Nutt.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • McCarthy, Justin H. (28 March 1908). "Review: The Duke's Motto". The Athenaeum (4196): 380.
  • "Justin Huntly McCarthy". The Times. London, England: 1. 23 March 1936.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Justin Huntly McCarthy.
Wikisource has original works by or about:
Justin Huntly McCarthy
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Athlone
1884 – 1885 		Constituency abolished
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Newry
1885 – 1892 		Succeeded by