September 4, 1851

John Dillon, Irish nationalist and Home Rule activist, was born on September 4, 1851 in Dublin to the former “Young Irelander” John Black Dillon. After joining Isaac Butt’s Home Rule League in 1873, he gained attention by criticizing Butt’s mishandling of the Home Rule bill in parliament in 1879. He became an original member of the Irish National Land League. Dillon eventually joined the British parliament as an MP for Co. Tipperary and would stay in parliament for 35 years representing Ireland. Dillon was the last leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party.