John Blake Dillon

John Blake Dillon (5 May 1814 – 15 September 1866) was an Irish writer and Politician who was one of the founding members of the Young Ireland movement.

John Blake Dillon was born in the town of Ballaghaderreen, on the border of Co. Mayo and Co. Roscommon. He was a son of Anne Blake and her husband Luke Dillon (d. 1826), who had been a land agent for his cousin Patrick Dillon, 11th Earl of Roscommon.Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh ed., Burke's Irish Family Records (Burkes Peerage Ltd, London, 1976), page 363.

He was educated at St. Patrick's College, Maynooth, leaving after only two years there, having decided that he was not meant for the priesthood. He later studied law at Trinity College, Dublin (TCD), and in London, before being called to the Irish Bar. It was during his time at TCD that he first met and befriended Thomas Davis.

While working for The Morning Register newspaper he met Charles Gavan Duffy, with whom he and Davis founded The Nation in 1842, which was dedicated to promoting Irish nationalism and all three men became important members of Daniel O'Connell's Repeal Association, which advocated the repeal of the......
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