Henry Grattan

The Right Honourable Henry Grattan PC (Ire)
Portrait by Martin Archer Shee
Member of Parliament for Dublin City
In office 1806–1820 Serving with Robert Shaw
Monarch	George III George IV
Preceded by	John La Touche Robert Shaw
Succeeded by	Robert Shaw Thomas Ellis
Member of Parliament for Malton
In office 1803–1806 Serving with Bryan Cooke
Member of Parliament for Wicklow Borough
In office 1800–1801 Serving with William Henry Armstrong
Member of Parliament for Dublin City
In office 1790–1798 Serving with Lord Henry FitzGerald
Member of Parliament for Charlemont
In office 1775–1790 Serving with Sir Annesley Stewart, 6th Bt
Personal details
Born	3 July 1746 Dublin, Kingdom of Ireland
Died	6 June 1820 (aged 73) London, United Kingdom
Resting place	Westminster Abbey
Citizenship	British
Nationality	Irish
Political party	Irish Patriot Party
Spouse(s)	Henrietta Fitzgerald
Children	James Henry Mary Harriet
Alma mater	Trinity College
Profession	Lawyer, politician
Religion	Church of Ireland

Henry Grattan (3 July 1746 – 6 June 1820) was an Irish politician and member of the Irish House of Commons, who campaigned for legislative freedom for the Irish Parliament in the late 18th century. He has been described as:

Grattan opposed the Act of Union 1800 that merged the Kingdoms of Ireland and Great Britain, but later sat as a member of the united Parliament in London.

Grattan was born at Fishamble Street, Dublin, and baptised in the nearby church of St. John the Evangelist. A member of the Anglo-Irish elite of Protestant background, Grattan was the son of James Grattan MP, of Belcamp Park, County Dublin (d. 1766), and Mary (1724–1768), youngest daughter of Sir Thomas Marlay (1691–1756), Attorney-General of Ireland, Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer and finally Lord Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench. Grattan attended Drogheda Grammar School and then went on to become a distinguished student at Trinity College, Dublin where he began a lifelong study of classical literature, and was especially interested in the great orators of antiquity. Like his friend Henry Flood, Grattan worked on his natural eloquence and oratory skills by studying models such as Bolingbroke and Junius. After studying at the King's Inns, Dublin and being called to the Irish bar in 1772 he never seriously practised law but was drawn to politics, influenced by Flood. He entered the Irish Parliament for Charlemont in 1775, sponsored by Lord Charlemont, just as Flood had damaged his credibility by accepting office. Grattan quickly superseded Flood in the leadership of the national party, not least because his oratorical powers were unsurpassed among his contemporaries.

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