Horace Plunkett

Sir Horace Plunkett
Seanad Éireann
In office
11 December 1922 – 14 November 1923
Leader of the Irish Dominion League
In office
1919–1921
Irish Convention
In office
1917–1918
MP for South Dublin
In office
1892–1900
Preceded bySir Thomas Esmonde
Succeeded byJohn Joseph Mooney
Congested Districts Board for Ireland
In office
1891–1918
Personal details
Born(1854-10-24)24 October 1854
Sherborne, Gloucestershire, England
Died26 March 1932(1932-03-26) (aged 77)
Weybridge, Surrey, England
Political party
EducationEton College
Alma materUniversity College, Oxford

Sir Horace Curzon Plunkett KCVO PC (Ire) JP DL FRS (24 October 1854 – 26 March 1932), was an Anglo-Irish agricultural reformer, pioneer of agricultural cooperatives, Unionist MP, supporter of Home Rule, Irish Senator and author.

Plunkett, a younger brother of John Plunkett, 17th Baron of Dunsany, was a member of the Congested Districts Board for Ireland for over 27 years, founder of the Recess Committee and the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society (IAOS), vice-president (operational head) of the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction (DATI) for Ireland (predecessor to the Department of Agriculture) from October 1899 to May 1907, Unionist MP for South Dublin in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1892 to 1900, and Chairman of the Irish Convention of 1917–18.[1] An adherent of Home Rule, in 1919 he founded the Irish Dominion League, still aiming to keep Ireland united, and in 1922 he became a member of the first formation of Seanad Éireann, the upper chamber in the Parliament of the new Irish Free State. He has been described as a Christian socialist.[2]

  1. ^ Thom's Directory 1928.
  2. ^ Gillespie, Michael (14 February 2017). Christian Socialism. AuthorHouse. ISBN 978-1-5246-7705-3.