John Philpot Curran

John Philpot Curran , 1750-1817, Irish statesman and orator. He became the best-known trial lawyer in Dublin when he was still very young and entered the Irish Parliament in 1783. He fought for Catholic Emancipation and vigorously opposed the repressive policy of the British government in Ireland. He was defense lawyer for the leaders of the United Irishmen after the 1798 rebellion. He opposed the parliamentary union (1800) of Ireland with England, but refused to support acts of open rebellion. Subsequently he sat in the privy council of Great Britain. His daughter, Sarah, was in love with Robert Emmet , who was captured and hanged when he came to Dublin to visit her.

Curran, John Philpot (1750–1817), lawyer and Whig MP (in parliament 1783–97 and 1800), master of the rolls, and a privy counsellor 1806–14. A consistent supporter of parliamentary reform and Catholic emancipation, Curran opposed the Act of Union. He acted as defence counsel for leading United Irishmen, including William Drennan, Napper Tandy, and Wolfe Tone, but reacted harshly to his daughter Sarah's liaison with Robert Emmet. He was also a noted duellist, literary figure, and wit.