Dillon is the family name of three prominent Irish politicians.
John Blake Dillon (1816-1866) was one of the founders of the Young Ireland movement, an Irish nationalist movement. He was also one of the founders of the Nation newspaper. Dillon escaped to the United States in 1848 after a rebellion by the Young Irelanders failed. In 1855, Dillon returned to Ireland. He was a member of Parliament for Tipperary in the United Kingdom’s House of Commons in 1865 and 1866. He was born in 1916 in Ballaghadereen, County Mayo, Ireland, and died on Sept. 15, 1866.
John Dillon (1851-1927) was the son of John Blake Dillon. In the late 1800’s, he became prominent in the Irish agrarian movement, which sought greater rights for tenant farmers. He was one of the chief supporters of Charles Stewart Parnell, the political champion of Irish home rule, and a member of the Irish Party in the United Kingdom’s House of Commons. Dillon supported measures designed to deal with landlords who charged unfair rent. He was born in New York City on Sept. 4, 1851, and studied at the Catholic University in Dublin. He died on Aug. 4, 1927.
James Dillon (1902-1986) was the son of John Dillon. He was the leader of the Fine Gael Party in Dail Eireann (the lower house of Ireland’s parliament) from 1959 to 1965. He was born near Dublin on Sept. 26, 1902, and died on Feb. 10, 1986.
