A Compendium of Irish Biography/Whaley, Thomas

by Alfred Webb

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Whaley, Thomas, sometimes known as "Buck Whaley," or "Jerusalem Whaley," a noted Dublin character, was born in Ireland in 1766. His father acquired the sobriquet of "Burn-Chapel Whaley," on account of his severities during the Insurrection of 1798. Young Whaley was elected member of Parliament for Newcastle, County of Down, in 1785, before he was of age, which was not then unusual in Ireland, and represented the borough until 1790. He sat for Enniscorthy from 1797 to June 1800. He was called "Jerusalem Whaley," in consequence of winning a wager, said to have been for £20,000, that he would walk (except where a sea passage was unavoidable) to Jerusalem, play ball against its walls, and return within twelve months. He started on 22nd September 1788, and reached home in the following June. He is said once to have leaped his horse over a stage-coach placed beneath the windows of his mansion (now the Catholic University) in Stephen's-green. In June 1800 he married a daughter of the first Baron Cloncurry. He was one of those bought over by the opposition stock-purse to vote against the Union, but, according to Barrington, was bought back by Castlereagh. He died 2nd November 1800, aged about 34. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Authorities

1. Barrington, Sir Jonah, Rise and Fall of the Irish Nation. Paris, 1833.
2. Chancellors of Ireland, and Keepers of the Great Seal: J. Roderick O'Flaherty. 2 vols. London, 1870.
3. Cornwallis, Marquis, Correspondence: Charles Ross. 3 vols. London, 1859.