Frederic William Whyte

“ He was one of the first to impress upon O'Connell the desirability of wresting Clare from William Vesey Fitzgerald [q.v.] on the latter's accepting office as president of the board of trade in the Duke of Wellington's administration in 1828, and, as soon as O'Connell had decided on the struggle, Mahon spared no pains to secure his victory. Not content with ordinary electioneering tactics, he exploited to the full the eccentric resources of his own picturesque personality. ”

“ His father, Patrick Mahon, had taken part in the rebellious movements of 1798. His mother was the daughter of James O'Gorman of Ennis. Educated at a small clerical school in Dublin, and afterwards at Trinity College, where he matriculated in 1819 and graduated M.A. in 1826, The O'Gorman Mahon had barely attained his majority when in 1821, upon his father's death, he became a J.P. for co. Clare. A boldness of demeanour, rare in those days among Roman catholics, combined with a singularly handsome face and imposing stature to attract attention to him as a young man. ”

“ The O'Gorman was defeated, and the contest, which was conducted with some bitterness, resulted in a quarrel, never healed, between him and O'Connell. He now took up his residence at Mahonburgh, became a D.L. for his county, and a captain in the West Clare militia. In 1834 he was called to the Dublin bar, but did not practise, and in 1835 he set out on foreign travel. Paris was his first destination, and there he made the acquaintance of Talleyrand, and became a favourite at the court of Louis-Philippe. From Paris he proceeded to one European capital after another ”