Richard Hearne: public man
Like many successful businessmen in an era of a very restricted local franchise, Richard Hearne was elected a member of Waterford Corporation, representing the Custom House Ward.18 He was a supporter of the Irish Parliamentary Party led by Charles Stewart Parnell, which was campaigning for Home Rule for Ireland. In 1889, members of the Corporation elected him High Sheriff of Waterford.19 However, in 1890, when the Irish Parliamentary Party split over the issue of Parnell’s affair with Catherine O’Shea, Hearne opposed Parnell. He was one of the founders of the National Commercial Club which met at Paul’s Square in the city. It became the focus of anti-Parnellism20 in a city that continued to be one of Parnell’s strongest areas of support and which, in 1891, returned a Parnellite, John Redmond, to parliament in a by-election.
Notwithstanding this fact, Hearne continued to oppose the Parnellite majority locally – not a popular position to espouse in a decade of intense political bitterness and division. His obituarist commented: ‘Into that movement [anti-Parnellism], despite fierce opposition and threats of harm, with all his moral consciousness, he threw the full weight of his great energy and enthusiasm.’ The obituary continued: ‘Then, when the blessed reconciliation came, and the leaders joined hands again as united Irishmen, Ald. Hearne became as devoted to Parnell’s successor, the late Mr John Redmond, as he had been strenuously opposed to the policy Mr Redmond championed during the split.’21 On Sunday, 22 April 1900, when John Redmond returned to Waterford as leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party, Hearne was among those present at a public meeting to welcome and congratulate him.22
In 1901, Hearne was elected Mayor of Waterford.23 The Waterford News welcomed his election, despite the fact that it had ‘disagreed very materially’ with the position he held on the issue of Parnell’s leadership. The newspaper described the Corporation’s choice ‘as wise and judicious from every point of view’, the new mayor being ‘a sound businessman and large employer, experienced in corporate affairs’.24 Hearne recognised the significance of his election in the context of a reunited Irish Parliamentary Party, declaring at his installation: ‘I am proud to be the first mayor after unity has been restored.’25 He was re-elected the following year for a second term.26 As the first citizen of the city, he proposed that the freedom of Waterford be conferred on John Redmond,27 which happened on 12 September 1902.28
Arguably, the most important event, in political terms, during his tenure as mayor was the setting up of a branch of the United Ireland League in the city in December 1901. This was the constituency and fund-raising organisation of the Irish Parliamentary Party. The invitations to the public meeting to discuss the branch’s establishment were issued by Hearne, in his capacity as mayor.29 He was to play an active role in its affairs.
In addition to membership of the Corporation and two terms as mayor, Hearne also served in a number of other public and semi-public offices. He was a borough magistrate,30 poor law guardian and Master of the Holy Ghost Hospital, a charity tracing its origins back to the reign of King Henry VIII.31 In January 1920, when Sinn Féin secured control of the Corporation in the local elections, Hearne retained his seat,32 suggesting that he was a figure who commanded a degree of regard. His funeral in May 1929 was, in the words of the Munster Express, ‘one of the largest demonstrations of sympathy and respect seen in Waterford for years’ with ‘every section of the community in the city and county’ represented.33 A motion of sympathy passed by the Corporation noted the loss of a person ‘who was close on half a century so honourably associated with [Waterford’s] public and commercial life’.34 Clearly, Richard Hearne was a man of some substance in the economic and political life of the city for many years.
Education
John Hearne attended Waterpark College, run by the Irish Christian Brothers, which was approximately 300 metres from his home. According to Christian Brother and historian, Barry Coldrey, this school and Christian Brothers’ College Cork ‘were intended for the type of middle-class clientèle who would be unlikely to send their children to an ordinary school’ conducted by the order.35 A description of the school, published in 1914, suggests that it would appeal to parents ambitious for their children’s educational and professional prospects:
Waterpark College … was established in 1892. It is pleasantly situated on the river bank in the suburb of Newtown … The Christian Brothers have built a large study hall and recreation rooms and have enlarged the recreation grounds. Pupils are prepared in this excellent educational establishment for commercial life or for the legal, medical or engineering professions. The highest distinctions possible in all departments of public life have been won by Waterpark students.36
For a prominent family such as the Hearnes, the character of the school was probably the deciding factor rather than simply its proximity.
Christian Brothers’ schools were noted for their nationalist ethos and an extraordinary bond was forged between them and Irish nationalism.37 In 1901, on the occasion of the order’s centenary, the Gaelic League congratulated the Brothers on the work they were doing for the Gaelic cause.38 John Hearne is recorded in the 1901 census as being able to speak Irish,39 though in his career in the civil service there is no evidence of his having any great degree of proficiency in the language.40 While Christian Brothers’ schools were often credited with inculcating an ethos of robustly anti-British values and endorsing radical nationalism,41 this was probably not as pronounced in a more middle-class school such as Waterpark, the parents of whose pupils were not always as sympathetic to such tendencies. This may explain why, when reminiscing to an American audience in 1957, Hearne commented that, as a boy, the only history he knew ‘was a kind of birth-and-death register of defunct British monarchs’. He knew the dates on which all the kings of England died and the name of the diseases which killed some of them.42 Though he was to express robust nationalist views when older, these were, very definitely, in the Home Rule and Redmondite traditions. His education may have influenced his political views; time spent in a Christian Brothers’ school should not be equated simply with the espousal of Sinn Féin nationalism.
Having completed his education at Waterpark College, Hearne entered St John’s College, Waterford, in September 1910, to commence study for the Roman Catholic priesthood.43 Opened in 1871, this establishment trained students for Waterford and other dioceses.44 On 12 September 1911, he began studies at Maynooth College, the national seminary. The course of training for clerical students involved three years’ study for a BA degree in philosophy and arts, followed by a four-year theology degree. For some reason, Hearne studied four years for a BA and was awarded one in 1915, his subjects being Latin, English literature, logic and psychology, and metaphysics and ethics. He commenced studies in the Faculty of Theology in the academic year 1915–16, but left the seminary sometime during the academic year 1916–17.45
The timetables at the seminaries Hearne attended show a heavy schedule of lectures and classes which demanded a great deal of intellectual vigour. The young Hearne studied philosophy, morality, Church law, ethics, logic and politics. He also studied languages such as Latin, Greek and Hebrew.46 According to Chief Justice Susan Denham, ‘this experience undoubtedly enriched his work as lawyer, public servant and diplomat … The formative years spent at the seminaries in Waterford and Maynooth clearly influenced John Hearne’s understanding of the world and human nature, and graced the stylishly written drafts he wrote, which ultimately became part of our Constitution.’47
The decision to leave Maynooth cannot have been an easy one for Hearne. He was a very religious person throughout his life, as will be seen later. The fact that he spent a total of seven years preparing for the priesthood suggests a strong personal belief in his having a vocation. His son, Maurice, in his contents for a ‘proposed biography’ of his father, made a note which highlighted some of the difficulties Hearne faced: ‘Left Maynooth a short time before due to be ordained. His family disappointed and [include] a short discussion on the trauma associated with such a decision at the time in provincial Ireland.’48 When he wrote of ‘trauma’, what Maurice had in mind was that his father would have been regarded as a ‘spoiled priest’.