John Moore (Irish politician)

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John Moore (1767–6 December 1799) was an Irish statesman and rebel leader.

From Ashbrook, near Straide, Co. Mayo, he was the son of prosperous merchant George Moore and was educated at the Catholic school of Douai, and at the University of Paris under the assumed name of "Bellew". On his return to Ireland he studied for the bar but seemed uninterested.

At the time of the Irish Rebellion of 1798 a force of 1,000 French soldiers under General Humbert landed at Killala. Moore joined the French as did a considerable number of his tenants. After the Battle of Castlebar he was proclaimed President of the Republic of Connaught, but the republic was lost at the defeat of Ballinamuck and John Moore was captured by the British and sentenced to transportation. While being taken to Duncannon Fort in Waterford, en-route to New Geneva, he died in the Royal Oak tavern in Broad Street, Waterford.

The location of his grave was unknown until it was discovered by chance in the cemetery of Ballygunner Temple, Waterford, in 1960. On 12 August 1961 the remains were exhumed and conveyed under Army Guard to Castlebar. John Moore was reburied on The Mall, Castlebar, with full military honours on 13 August 1961. His inscription reads:

Ireland's first president and a descendant of St Thomas More, who gave his life for his country in the rising of 1798 ... By the will of the people exhumed and reinterred here with all honours of church and state.