John Dillon - Radical Reformer

Radical Reformer

Again imprisoned for agitation in October 1881 together with Parnell, William O’Brien and others in Kilmainham Gaol, he signed the No Rent Manifesto in solidarity although not fully in agreement with it. Parnell sought to end the Land War by agreeing the Kilmainham treaty after which they were released from prison in May 1882. Shortly afterwards they received the freedom of the city of Dublin. Unhappy with Parnell’s "New Departure" and because his health had suffered, he resigned his seat in Parliament on 6 March 1883, and retired from politics to Colorado in America where his brother lived. Returning in 1885, Parnell nominated him as the Irish Parliamentary Party candidate for East Mayo in the general election in November 1885, where he was returned unopposed. He represented the constituency without a break until 1918.

He was one of the prime movers in the Irish Land League's famous Plan of Campaign instigated by Timothy Healy and organised by Timothy Harrington, which provided, that in the case of excessive rents the tenant should pay his rent to the Land League instead of the landlord, and in case of eviction be supported by the general fund. Dillon was compelled by the Court of Queens Bench in December 1886 to find securities for good behaviour, but two days later he was arrested while receiving rents on Lord Claricarde’s estate at Portumna, County Galway. In this instance the jury disagreed, but in April 1887 he was again imprisoned under Coercion and upon release he resumed agrarian agitation with a speech during a demonstration in September where O’Brien was on trial in Mitchelstown during which the crowd threw stones at the police who then shot three civilians, known as the "Mitchelstown massacre". When in 1888 he defended Munster farmers he was again imprisoned for six months under the provisions of the new Criminal Law Procedure Bill, or Coercion Act. In all he was imprisoned six times.