Edmund Leamy

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For poet, traveller and newspaperman, see Edmund Stanislaus Leamy (1869-1962).

Edmund Leamy (1848 – December 10, 1904) was Nationalist Member of Parliament for various Irish seats for much of the period from 1880 until his death, a leading supporter of Parnell, a barrister, journalist and author of fairy tales.

Leamy was educated at the University High School, Waterford and at Tullabeg College. He was called to the Irish bar in 1885. In 1880 he was elected as a Parnellite Home Ruler to one of the two seats for Waterford City. When representation at Waterford was reduced to one seat in 1885, he stood down but was elected unopposed at Cork North East in 1885 and again in 1886. He also stood at Mid Armagh in 1885, but was not elected. Resigning from Cork North East in 1887, he was elected unopposed to a vacancy at South Sligo in 1888.

When the Irish Parliamentary Party split in December 1890 over Parnell’s leadership, Leamy was one of the minority who supported Parnell. Parnell made him editor of his newspaper United Ireland after regaining editorial control in 1891. At the subsequent general election in 1892, Leamy unsuccessfully contested East Waterford. He also unsuccessfully contested Galway City as a Parnellite in 1895 and as candidate for the reunited Irish Party in 1900. However, in 1900 he was re-elected to the House of Commons as Nationalist member for North Kildare, serving until his death in 1904. He died at Pau in southern France where he was staying for the sake of his health. At the request of John Redmond, Pat O'Brien went out to Pau to accompany Leamy's widow and the body for their return to Waterford for the funeral on 21 December 1904.

Leamy's fairy tales, including The Golden Spears, By the Barrow River and The Fairy Minstrel of Glenmalure, have been reprinted several times in various editions in Ireland and the USA.

The book Parnell’s Faithful Few by his widow Margaret Leamy contains a good deal of biographical material and is a significant source for the history of the Parnellite split in the Irish Parliamentary Party.

[edit] Selected Writings

Irish Fairy Tales, Dublin, Mercier Press, 1978

Irish Fairy Stories for Children, illustrated by Frank and Gail Dowling, Dublin, Mercier Press; Chester Springs, PA (Dufour Editions, US distributor), 1983, repr. 1992

[edit] Sources

Freeman's Journal, 12 and 22 December 1904
Margaret Leamy, Parnell’s Faithful Few, New York, Macmillan, 1936
Brian M. Walker (ed.), Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922, Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, 1978
Who Was Who, 1897-1916