Thomas Pile

Thomas Pile
In The Sketch, 4 April 1900
Lord Mayor of Dublin
In office
1900–1901
Preceded byDaniel Tallon
Succeeded byTimothy Harrington
Personal details
Born(1856-02-27)27 February 1856
Died17 January 1931(1931-01-17) (aged 74)
London, England
PartyNationalist Party
Spouse
Caroline Nicholson
​
(m. 1882)​
Children4, including Frederick
EducationWesley College, Dublin
OccupationPolitician

Sir Thomas Devereux Pile, 1st Baronet (27 February 1856 – 17 January 1931) was an Irish politician, and a member of the Irish Home Rule movement.

Biography

Thomas Pile was born on 2 February 1856, the son of Thomas Pile and Anne Poole. He was educated at Wesley College, Dublin. His brother was the builder James Philip Pile.

He married Caroline Nicholson on 3 May 1882, and they had four children, including Frederick Pile.

He was a member of Dublin Corporation for the Fitzwilliam ward. He held the office of Sheriff of Dublin City in 1898, and became the Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1900. He was a Protestant, and a moderate nationalist.

In 1900 Queen Victoria visited Dublin to pay tribute to the Irish troops who fought in the Boer War. Pile proposed that Dublin Corporation should give her an address of welcome. Nationalist members were split on the motion, and a heated debate ensued, ending with the motion being carried by 30 votes to 22. This was controversial: the nationalist papers denounced him as a traitor, Maud Gonne referred to him as a "groveling unionist fishmonger", and at the Saint Patrick's Day parade his coach was surrounded by an angry mob singing "We’ll hang Tommy Pile on a sour apple tree". The queen arrived on 4 April 1900, and was duly received by Pile. On 24 September 1900, Pile was created 1st Baronet Pile, of Kenilworth House, Rathgar, County Dublin. He was the last titled person to be lord mayor of Dublin.

Pile died in London on 17 January 1931, at the age of 74.

Coat of arms of Thomas Pile
Crest
On a crest coronet Or charged with a cross bourdonée Azure a pelican with wings endorsed and inverted Proper.
Escutcheon
Azure three piles Argent on a chief Ermine a castle Proper between two harps Or.
Motto
Sine Labe Nota

References

  1. ↑ O'Brien 1982, p. 86.
  2. 1 2 Murphy 2020, p. 187
  3. 1 2 "Death of Sir Thomas Pile". The Observer. 18 January 1931. p. 16. Retrieved 24 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "The Building News and Engineering Journal". Office for Publication and Advertisements. 1909. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  5. ↑ "Frederick Pile". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/31549. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
  6. ↑ "Freeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 – 1932), Saturday 21 May 1898". Freeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1932). Trove. 21 May 1898. p. 5. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  7. 1 2 "An Irishman's Diary". The Irish Times. 8 January 2007.
  8. ↑ "Lord Mayors of Dublin 1665–2020" (PDF). Dublin City Council. June 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
  9. 1 2 Pašeta, Senia (November 1999). "Nationalist Responses to Two Royal Visits to Ireland, 1900 and 1903". Irish Historical Studies. 31 (124): 492.
  10. ↑ MacAodhagain, Ray. "Sir Thomas Devereux Pile: The Ringsend Born Lord Mayor of Dublin". NewsFour. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
  11. ↑ Burke's Peerage. 1915. p. 1602.

Sources