Abstract
One of the less appreciated, and largely seasonal, occupations that brought Irishmen (and sometimes their families) to London was being a member of the House of Commons. Generally seen as a relatively elite occupational category, these ‘emigrés’ have often escaped the scrutiny of scholars intent on exploring the multitudinous manifestations of the Irish diaspora. This essay offers a case study of one Irish Member of Parliament, William O'Brien, whose pattern of behaviour was different from the generality of Irish members. A Catholic educated in Protestant institutions with a reputation for anticlericalism, yet an ally of Tim Healy, a successful agitator for land reform who nonetheless advocated reconciliation with Irish landlords, a nationalist but an international sophisticate married to a Frenchwoman, a nationalist MP in the imperial parliament, O'Brien embodied some of the paradoxes of Irish Catholic nationalism which was not simply of one complexion, but was divided within itself.
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