John Keogh

John Keogh (1740 – 13 November 1817) was an Irish merchant and political activist. He was a leading campaigner for Catholic Emancipation and reform of the Irish Parliament, active in Dublin on the Catholic Committee and, with some reservation, in the Society of United Irishmen. Background Keogh was of an obscure family. He was born in Dublin and made his considerable fortune in land speculation, brewing, and silk trading. He owned land in Dublin, County Sligo, County Roscommon, and County Leitrim, and by the 1790s he had an income of around £6,000 per year. Political activity He became involved in the political struggle for Roman Catholic rights in the 1780s, when he was a member of the Catholic Committee from 1781. In 1784, Keogh joined in a plan for Ulster and Dublin radical elements to combine to push for Catholic franchise, and by 1790 Keogh was leading the Catholic Committee. He was part of a delegation that was denied a hearing by the Lord Lieutenant, and so they went to England to make their case for the repeal of the penal laws and extension of the vote to Catholics. They met with government ministers personally, and they received promises; however, Lord Kenmare quashed all progress. On the selection of the Protestant radical lawyer Theobald Wolfe Tone as Secretary to the committee, he and Keogh became great friends, frequently travelling together around Ireland. Tone's nickname for Keogh was 'Gog'.