POWER, Patrick (c.1785-1835), of 14 Bolton Street, Dublin of Bellevue House, Slieverue (Rathpatrick), co. Kilkenny

Power was ‘an extensive landed proprietor’ and regarded in Irish liberal circles as a man ‘of fine fortune, and fine principles’.1The Times, 2 Dec. 1834; Freeman’s Journal, 8 Jan. 1835. Having inherited an estate of 650 acres from his father at Tibroughny, near Carrick-on-Suir, he purchased Bellevue House from Richard Lalor Sheil. He was active in the Catholic politics of county Waterford, his cousin, the notorious duellist ‘Pat’ Power of Darrigal, having been one of the Catholic delegates to wait on George III in 1793.2Burke’s Irish Family Records (1976), 965; J. E. Walsh, Sketches of Ireland Sixty Years Ago (1847), 25-8. Power chaired the Waterford Catholic meeting at the Great Chapel on 18 March 1824 at which Sheil spoke, and his family were close allies of Daniel O’Connell, who, when seeking the county seat in 1830, informed Purcell O’Gorman, the secretary of the Catholic Association, that he had received ‘decided and most friendly support’ from Power’s brother Nicholas ‘and all his friends’.3The Times, 2 Dec. 1834; Daniel O’Connell to Mary O’Connell, 18, 19 Mar. 1824, O’Connell Correspondence, ed. M. R. O’Connell, iii, 55; O’Connell to Purcell O’Gorman, 25 July 1830, W. J. Fitzpatrick, The Correspondence of Daniel O’Connell. The Liberator (1888), i. 210. Power was also involved in the anti-tithe movement in county Waterford, acting as secretary to a public meeting at Kilmacthomas, 12 Aug. 1832.4Freeman’s Journal, 16 Aug. 1832, quoting Waterford Chronicle.

Power was spoken of as a repeal candidate for Dungarvan in January 1834 and was vice president at a dinner held for O’Connell at Waterford that August. It was widely thought that Power was long overdue for a place in the House of Commons and he was again put forward as a parliamentary candidate for County Waterford in November, being in O’Connell’s words ‘at that time of life that he could bear the fatigue of close attention to his duties’.5Morning Chronicle, 31 Jan. 1834; The Times, 2 Dec. 1834; Freeman’s Journal, 8 Jan. 1835; Rev. John Sheehan to O’Connell, 8 Dec. 1834, O’Connell Correspondence, v. 223. Although he was regarded locally as a man of ‘unimpeachable’ conduct around whom ‘every Reformer would rally’, he had to be ‘forced to the hustings’ by his supporters at the 1835 general election.6Morning Chronicle, 9 Jan. 1835, quoting Waterford Chronicle; Freeman’s Journal, 4 Feb. 1835. He made no pledges but declared that he would seek ‘the total abolition of tithes’ and the ‘extinction of all unmerited pensions and sinecures’.7Dod MS, iii. 895; Parliamentary Test Book (1835), 131. He was returned unopposed.

Power is not known to have spoken in parliament, sat on any select committees or introduced any bills. A self-declared ‘Reformer of abuses in church and state’, he was regarded as ‘one of O’Connell’s members’ and ‘a uniform supporter’ of the ministry.8Gent. Mag. (1835), ii. 445; Dod MS, iii. 895; Essex Standard, 4 Sept. 1835. He divided in favour of James Abercromby as speaker, 19 Feb. 1835, and, having promised his constituents that he would support ‘a resolution declaratory of a want of confidence in a Tory administration’, he voted for the amendment to the address, 26 Feb.9Parliamentary Test Book (1835), 131. He supported the repeal of malt duties, 10 Mar., and thereafter divided with O’Connell on most questions, including Thomas Spring Rice’s amendment for the immediate introduction of an Irish tithes bill, 20 Mar. 1835, and Lord John Russell’s motions on the status of the Irish Church in April. He voted for George Grote’s ballot motion, 2 June, and later that month divided against the Conservative amendments to the municipal corporations bill. He voted against Sir Robert Peel’s amendment to split the Irish tithes bill into two parts, 23 July, and having recorded his final vote in favour of Hume’s resolutions on the Orange lodges, 11 Aug. 1835, he returned to Ireland.

However, on 24 August 1835, six days after arriving in Waterford from Bristol, Power unexpectedly died at his residence after ‘a short but severe illness’.10The Examiner, 30 Aug. 1835; Belfast News-letter, 1 Sept. 1835. In spite of his brief career as a representative, it was said that ‘a better, an honester, a more patriotic Irishman, never sat in parliament’.11Freeman’s Journal, 8 Jan. 1835. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Patrick, who was then studying law at London University.12Morning Post, 29 June 1835. His grandson, Richard Power of Pembrokestown (1851-91), was a Nationalist MP for Waterford City, 1874-91.