James Delahunty (24 July 1808 – 15 June 1885) [1] [2] was an Irish Liberal Party politician from Waterford.
Born in Waterford, and educated at St. John's College, Waterford, [1] Delahunty was chairman of the Waterford and Central Ireland Railway Company, and director of the Kilkenny Junction Railway Company. [1]
Involved in local politics for some decades, [1] he was elected at the 1868 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Waterford City. [3] He later lost his seat in the 1874 general election, when both the city's seats were won by candidates of the Home Rule Party. [3]
He returned to the House of Commons three years later, when he was elected at a by-election in January 1877 as MP for County Waterford following the death of Sir John Esmonde, Bt. [4] This time Delahunty was himself a Home Rule candidate, and he defeated his Liberal opponent by a margin of more than 3:1. [5]
Delahunty "was laughed at because of the dullness of his oratory", [6] and in 1878 caused some amusement in the Commons by spreading on his bench sundry personal items taken from his bag in a search for the notes for his speech on the Money Laws (Ireland) Bill. [7] [8] An 1879 description described Delhunty as "a genial, warm-hearted Irishman who is generally liked in the House". [9] He died in 1885, aged 76.
Mr. Delahunty [...], the member for Waterford is a genial, warm-hearted Irishman who is generally liked in the House, and a few friends [...] support [his bill] just out of good fellowship for its promoter