
John Blake Dillon (5 May 1814 – 15 September 1866) was a Young Irelander revolutionary during the mid-19th century. He later went on to serve as the Liberal Party MP for Tipperary from 24 July 1865 to 15 September 1866, succeeding Laurence Waldron and preceding Charles William White.
Biography[]
John Blake Dillon was born in Ballaghaderreen, County Mayo, Ireland on 5 May 1814, and he was educated at Trinity College in Dublin before being called to the bar. He met and befriended Thomas Davis during his studies, and he, Davis, and Charles Gavan Duffy co-founded The Nation newspaper for the Repeal Association; the young and radical trio soon became the leaders of the Young Irelander movement within the greater Irish nationalist cause. He, William Smith O'Brien, and Thomas Francis Meagher led the Young Irelander Rebellion of 1848, and, following the uprising's failure, he fled to the United States and became a lawyer in New York. He returned to Ireland on amnesty in 1855 and served as the Liberal Party MP for Tipperary from 24 July 1865 until his death on 15 September 1866.