1857 – 1862 : The Hon. John Prendergast Vereker

The Hon. John Prendergast Vereker

While living at no. 2 Mount Street upper John P. Vereker qualified at the Irish Bar in 1847. He also married Hannah Louisa, daughter of George Medlicott. Three of his daughters were born there before moving to 16 Merrion Square.

Elected Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1863, his term of office was a busy one. He continued with the Mansion House Relief Committee, established by his predecessor Denis Moylan to combat the effects of a succession of poor harvests on Irish tenant-farmers and labourers. Vereker did more than just chair the committee meetings. He also arranged for three concerts to take place to raise funds for the committee, at Dublin’s Ancient Concert Rooms, Theatre Royal and the Queen’s Royal Theatre.

The image to the left City of Dublin Election Register 1857, howing the Hon. J. P. Vereker resident at No.2 Upper Mount Street.

John P Vereker lived at No. 2 Upper Most Street and 1863 became Lord Mayor of Dublin

The Hon. John Prendergast Vereker

Lord Mayor of Dublin

Elected Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1863, his term of office was a busy one. He continued with the Mansion House Relief Committee, established by his predecessor Denis Moylan to combat the effects of a succession of poor harvests on Irish tenant-farmers and labourers.

Vereker did more than just chair the committee meetings. He also arranged for three concerts to take place to raise funds for the committee, at Dublin’s Ancient Concert Rooms, Theatre Royal and the Queen’s Royal Theatre. Accused of ‘having deliberately ranged himself on the side of the Ultra-Papal party’ by continuing with this committee, Vereker responded by making all members of Dublin City Council, both Catholic and Protestant, members of the Mansion House Relief Committee ex-officio thus combating any charges of sectarianism. When the Relief Committee was wound up in September 1863, he was publicly hailed as ‘this Protestant Lord Mayor [who] laboured by the side of the Catholic Archbishop (Cardinal Paul Cullen) with a unanimous zeal which casts into the shade all the bepuffed philanthropists of the nineteenth century.’

The Hon J.P. Vereker – The Crampton Memorial

The Crampton Memorial, known colloquially as ‘The Water Baby’ and ‘The Cauliflower’, was situated at the junction of College St. with Pearse St. and D’Olier St. for nearly one hundred years. It was designed by John Kirk (son of Thomas Kirk (1781 – 1845)

Qui ut amet commune qualisque. Autem tollit albucius te est. Ex legere labores pri, vis ridens nostrud repudiare ea. Id cum mediocrem adversarium, inani mazim aliquando te pri, fierent commune constituam cu ius. Doctus suavitate qui et.

An advertisement inviting artists to submit designs for the new Crampton Memorial

Attending the opening of the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin.

The Gaiety Theatre, Dublin was designed by the well known Theatre Architect C. J. Phipps and was constructed in the incredibly short time of just 25 weeks.

The Theatre opened on the 27th of November 1871 and today it is Dublin’s longest established Theatre, still in continuous production. As a retired Lord Mayor, The Hon. J.P Vereker attended the opening along with the current Lord Mayor.

Reference: http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/Dublin/GaietyTheatreDublin.htm

A Lithograph showing the auditorium and stage of the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin – From a sheet music cover for ‘The Gaiety Quadrille’ by J. Liddell – Courtesy John Earl and Görel Garlick, who says that she is fairly confident that the lith

Lough Cultra Castle had been the home of the Vereker family, who had the title Viscount Gort

The Prendergast Vereker Ancestral Home and the Famine

Lough Cultra Castle had been the home of the Vereker family, who had the title Viscount Gort. The 3rd Lord Gort was ruined by the Famine, when he refused to collect any rents and gave large sums of money to charity, with the result that the estate was bankrupted and sold up by the Encumbered Estates Court in 1851. The castle was bought back post World War II,by the 7th Viscount Gort. It was restored by the family. It has since been sold again.

John Standish Surtees Prendergast Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort

Some notable relatives of John Prendergast Vereker.

John Standish Surtees Prendergast Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort

WWII – General Lord Gort – Patriotic Postcard sold in aid of the Daily Sketch War Relief Fund, with one penny from every card sold being donated to the fund. Field Marshal John Standish Surtees Prendergast Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort, VC (1886–1946) won the Victoria Cross at the Battle of the Canal du Nord during WWI. During the 1930s he served as Chief of the Imperial General Staff, but is most famous for commanding the British Expeditionary Force sent to France in the first year of World War II, which was evacuated from Dunkirk.

Charles Vereker 2nd Viscount Gort (1768 – 1842)

Charles Vereker, 2nd Viscount Gort Privy Council of Ireland (1768 – 11 November 1842), known as Charles Vereker until 1817, was an Irish soldier and politician. Gort was the son of Thomas Vereker by Juliana, daughter of Charles Smyth and sister of John Prendergast-Smyth, 1st Viscount Gort[1] and was born in Ireland in 1768. He served a short time in the navy, and was afterwards appointed lieutenant-colonel of the Limerick militia.

If you would like to find out more about J.P. Vereker, please pick on the link below, article courtesy of the Office of the Lord Mayor of Dublin.

Vereker, John P. (1822-1891)

Lord Mayor of Dublin, 1863

Motto: Coloony

Secretary: John Martin, esquire

Chaplain: Rev. Richard Frizelle, A.M.

The Honourable John Prendergast Vereker was born in April 1822, the second son of John Prendergast Vereker, 3^rdViscount Gort, and his wife, Hon. Maria, daughter of Standish, 1^st Viscount Guillamore. The family was entitled to use the motto Coloony following the Battle of Coloony, Co. Sligo in 1798 where John’s grandfather Colonel Charles Vereker (later 2^nd Viscount Gort), commander of the Limerick Militia, halted the progress of an army of French troops and Irish rebels, under the command of General Humbert. In spite of this, Colonel Vereker was strongly opposed to the Act of Union and voted against it.

John P. Vereker qualified at the Irish Bar in 1847. On 22 December 1858, in St. George’s Church, he married Hannah Louisa, daughter of George Medlicott. At that time, he was resident at 2 Upper Mount Street and later moved to 16 Merrion Square. In 1862, he stood for election to Dublin City Council of which he was a member from 1862 to 1883. His residence was at 16 Merrion Square South. He was also a Justice of the Peace for Co. Limerick. Elected Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1863, his term of office was a busy one. He continued with the Mansion House Relief Committee, established by his predecessor Denis Moylan to combat the effects of a succession of poor harvests on Irish tenant-farmers and labourers. Vereker did more than just chair the committee meetings. He also arranged for three concerts to take place to raise funds for the committee, at Dublin’s Ancient Concert Rooms, Theatre Royal and the Queen’s Royal Theatre. Accused of ‘having deliberately ranged himself on the side of the Ultra-Papal party’ by continuing with this committee, Vereker responded by making all members of Dublin City Council, both Catholic and Protestant, members of the Mansion House Relief Committee ex-officio thus combating any charges of sectarianism. When the Relief Committee was wound up in September 1863, he was publicly hailed as ‘this Protestant Lord Mayor [who] laboured by the side of the Catholic Archbishop (Cardinal Paul Cullen) with a unanimous zeal which casts into the shade all the bepuffed philanthropists of the nineteenth century.’

Vereker was also an active member of several Protestant charities, including the Dublin Mendicity Association, the Sick & Indigent Roomkeepers Association, and the Strangers’ Friends Society. In January 1863, he issued a public appeal offering ‘to receive at the Mansion House and to distribute to the different committees any old clothing, old rugs, blankets or carpeting, which kind-hearted people may send hither.’ He also continued with the Lancashire Distress Committee, established by his predecessor Moylan to provide relief for hardship caused by the decline in the cotton manufacturing industry, due to the reduction in cotton exports on account of the American Civil War. In recognition of his charitable endeavours, when the Lady Mayoress gave birth to a child in January 1863, a public subscription was launched to pay for a ceremonial cradle for the child.

In February 1863, Vereker held a judicial inquiry in City Hall, in relation to an accusation against members of the newly-established Dublin Fire Brigade that they had smeared a dog with turpentine and set it on fire. The Lord Mayor suspended two members of the force and referred the matter to the Waterworks Committee, recommending their dismissal. On 4 March 1863, Vereker attended a fire at Usher’s Quay and had a near escape, moving out of the way just before a burning roof collapsed. In September 1863, the Lord Mayor presented good conduct stripes to three members of Dublin Fire Brigade at a ceremony in City Hall.

In March 1863, Vereker issued a proclamation as Lord Mayor, calling on all citizens of Dublin to celebrate the marriage of the Prince of Wales to Princess Alexandra of Denmark. The wedding day, 10 March, was a public holiday, and illuminations were held at Nelson’s Pillar with fireworks at the Wellington Monument in the Phoenix Park. The Lord Mayor also ensured that meals were given to the homeless, through the Night Refuge at Usher’s Quay, as part of the celebrations. On 23 March 1863, Vereker was among a number of civic dignitaries who attended the Queen at Windsor Castle to present addresses of congratulation on the marriage. It was noted that ‘the address from Dublin far outshone all the others in the very handsome manner in which it was illuminated. Those from London and Edinburgh looked quite shabby beside it.’ Dublin took precedence over Edinburgh at this levee, which prompted the Scottish capital to launch legal action against the Irish capital.

In July 1863, Vereker set up a Testimonial Committee to present Sir John Gray with an address and gift in recognition of his services in providing an improved water supply for the city, through the Vartry reservoir at Roundwood, Co. Wicklow. He also set up the Irish Emigration Committee, to assist people in obtaining free passage to Australia. He chaired meetings of the Polish Committee of Ireland, established to provide practical assistance to Poles who had lost life or property in the Polish insurrection against Russia, 1863-4. In February 1863, he called a public meeting to protest against a proposal to connect the existing railways in Dublin by building tracks through the city centre. The meeting declared that ‘ the advantages would be more than counter-balanced by the disfigurement of the city, the injury to trade and the interruption to traffic’ and resolved to oppose the Dublin Metropolitan Railway Bill, then before the Westminster Parliament.

The Channel Fleet visited Dublin in September 1863, and was greeted with festivities, including a grand banquet at the Mansion House, hosted by Vereker. On 23 November, the Lord Mayor presided over the opening of the New Cattle Market at the North Circular Road. He also chaired meetings calling for St. Stephen’s Green, then in the ownership of the Guinness family, to be opened as a public park. John Prendergast Vereker died on 27 December 1891.

Civic career: Dublin City Councillor for South Dock Ward, 1862-83; member of Paving, Lighting and Cleansing Committee, 1862-75; member of Sewerage and Improvements Committee, 1862-74; member of Markets and the Execution of Sanitary Powers Committee, 1862-75; member of City Estate Committee, 1862-74; member of committee for Presentments in lieu of Grand Jury Cess, 1862-74; member of General Finance Committee, 1862-74; member of Waterworks and Fire Brigade Committee, 1865; member of Markets Committee, 1875-80, 1882; member of Finance and Leases Committee, 1881; member of Paving and Lighting Committee, 1883

Sources: Dublin City Councillors Database; The Irish Times, 6-7 Jan, 16 Jan, 24 Jan, 27-28 Jan, 4 Feb, 10 Feb, 23 Feb, 4 March, 6 March, 10 March, 23 March, 29 July, 8-9 Sept, 28 Sept, 9 Oct, 23 Nov 1865.

Research and text: Dr. Mary Clark, City Archivist, Dublin City Library & Archive