Sir Rowland Blennerhassett, 4th Baronet

Who was Sir Rowland Blennerhassett, 4th Baronet?

Sir Rowland Blennerhassett, 4th Baronet PC, JP was a Roman Catholic Anglo-Irish baronet and Liberal Party politician from County Kerry.

Blennerhassett was the son of Sir Arthur Blennerhassett, 3rd Baronet, whose ancestors had settled in Kerry under Queen Elizabeth, and his wife Sarah Mahony. He was educated at Downside School, Stonyhurst College and Christ Church, Oxford. He then spent time at the Université catholique de Louvain, before travelling in Germany. In 1849, he succeeded his father as baronet. When he returned to the United Kingdom, he started The Chronicle, a political and literary organ of liberal Catholicism. The first issue appeared on 23 March 1867, but its outspoken support for the Irish Home Rule movement made it unpopular. The last issue was published on 13 February 1868. He married Countess Charlotte Julia von Leyden on 9 June 1870.

Blennerhasset sat as a Liberal Member of Parliament for Galway Borough from 1865 to 1874 and for County Kerry from 1880 to 1885. He was High Sheriff of Kerry in 1866. His early support for Home Rule turned into opposition during the 1870s and he spoke openly against the politics of Charles Stewart Parnell.