Tralee
Co. Kerry
Ireland
Edward (Ned) Harrington was born abt 1854 to Denis Harrington and Eileen Sullivan of Castletownbere, Co. Cork. He attended the local National School at Brandy Hall. Edward and Mary married on 30 June 1882 in Tralee RC parish. The Witnesses were Timothy Collins and John Daly. He was described as a 'pressman' and aged 28 years.
Mary Cremin was a daughter of Patrick Cremin and on their marriage cert she was 19 years and a 'housekeeper'. Edward was an Irish nationalist politician, who served as the
Member of Parliament (MP) for West Kerry from 1885 to 1892, taking his seat in
the House of Commons of what was then the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
He was a barrister, though not a member of the Irish bar. He
was editor and proprietor of the Kerry Sentinel, and in this role came into
conflict with the authorities. It was said that he had a good "thirst" and it was his excellent wife who took care of editing the newspaper on occasions. In 1883 he was found guilty of posting unlawful
notices, and in 1887 was sentenced to one month's imprisonment in Tralee for publishing
the proceedings of the Tralee branch of the
National League, which had been 'proclaimed' (banned). In 1888 he was charged
with publishing reports of meetings of the National League and inciting people
to take part in the Plan of Campaign, and was sentenced to six months with hard
labour in Tullamore, Co. Offaly (King's County).
He was first elected at the 1885 general election as an
Irish Parliamentary Party candidate, when he won nearly 90% of the votes to
defeat his only opponent, the Conservative Lt. Col. William Rowan. Edward Harrington was returned unopposed in 1886. In 1896 an act was passed which allowed that
women could be elected as Poor Law Guardians. Local women Anne Rowan, Frances
Donovan and Teresa Leonard established a Women’s Poor Law Guardian committee
and resolved to contest the forthcoming elections. This committee later evolved
into the Kerry Ladies’ Poor Law Association, drawing in members such as Lady
Monteagle and Mary Harrington. Brothers Timothy Daniel Sullivan and Alexander Martin Sullivan were MP's. Their sister, Eliza, was the mother of Thomas Joseph Healy, Timothy Healy and Maurice Healy and remarkably the three of these were Members of Parliament too. James Gilhooly, Bantry was also an MP. Castletownbere reared Edward Harrington, his brother Timothy C. Harrington, and William Martin Murphy were MP's also, so hence the nickname of "Bantry Band".
A plaque on the Fáilte Ireland Tourist Office (former Courthouse) on Bantry Square reads:- THIS PLAQUE HAS BEEN ERECTED IN COMMEMORATION OF
THE BANTRY BAND
THE SULLIVANS, HEALYS, HARRINGTONS, MURPHY AND GILHOOLY,
WHOSE BRILLIANT DEFENCE OF IRELAND'S CAUSE
IN THE BRITISH HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT
WAS ACCLAIMED BY ALL IRISHMEN.
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