Irish historian W. H. Grattan Flood claimed that he was born in Dalkey, near Dublin, but no corroborating evidence has ever been found either for that statement or for Thomas Fuller's claim that he was born in Westminster.

Grattan Township was established in 1846, and named in honor of the great Irish orator and politician Henry Grattan.

Henry Grattan ( 3 July 1746 – 6 June 1820 ) was an Irish politician and member of the Irish House of Commons and a campaigner for legislative freedom for the Irish Parliament in the late 18th century.

Grattan was born at Fishamble Street, Dublin, and baptized in the nearby church of St. John the Evangelist.

A member of the Anglo-Irish elite of Protestant background, Grattan was the son of James Grattan MP, of Belcamp Park, County Dublin ( d. 1766 ), and Mary ( 1724 – 1768 ), youngest daughter of Sir Thomas Marlay ( 1691 – 1756 ), Attorney-General of Ireland, Chief Baron of the Exchequer and finally Lord Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench ( Ireland ).

Grattan was a distinguished student at Trinity College, Dublin where he began a lifelong study of classical literature, and was especially interested in the great orators of antiquity.

This was the constitution which William Molyneux and Swift had denounced, which Flood had attacked, and which Grattan was to destroy, becoming leaders of the Patriot movement.

It was through ranks of Volunteers drawn up outside the parliament house in Dublin that Grattan passed on 16 April 1782, amidst unparalleled popular enthusiasm, to move a declaration of the independence of the Irish parliament.

The gratitude of his countrymen to Grattan was shown by a parliamentary grant of £ 100, 000, which had to be reduced by half before he would accept it.

Grattan then asked for the British House of Commons to reconfirm the London government's decision, and on 22 January 1783 the final Act was passed by parliament in London, including the text:

Grattan was loyal to the crown and the English connection.

It was to give stability and true independence to the new constitution that Grattan pressed for reform.

Grattan was cruelly lampooned by James Gillray as a rebel leader for his liberal views and his stance against a political union with the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Grattan was still in retirement.

On 15 January 1800 the Irish parliament met for its last session ; on the same day Grattan secured by purchase a seat for Wicklow Borough ; and at a late hour, while the debate was proceeding, he appeared to take his seat, and was cheered from the galleries.

For the next five years, Grattan took no active part in public affairs ; it was not till 1805 that he became a Member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Malton.

When Fox and William Grenville came into power in 1806 Grattan, who sat at this time for Dublin City, was offered, but refused to accept, an office in the government.

Grattan supported the veto, but a more radical Catholic party was now arising in Ireland under the leadership of Daniel O ' Connell, and Grattan's influence gradually declined.

Grattan's father was James Grattan ( d. 1766 ), a Recorder and then MP for Dublin City, who married a daughter of Thomas Marlay.

Jimmy Jordon is high on Adios Scarlet ( Adios-Rena Grattan ) and she sure looks good as she goes by.

* 1855 – American Indian Wars: in Nebraska, 700 soldiers under United States General William S. Harney avenge the Grattan Massacre by attacking a Sioux village and killing 100 men, women and children.

On September 3, 1855, 700 soldiers under American General William S. Harney avenged the Grattan Massacre by attacking a Lakota village in Nebraska, killing about 100 men, women, and children.

* 1859-Protestant missionaries arrive in Japan ; Revivals in North America and the British Isles generate interest in overseas missions ; Albert Benjamin Simpson ( founder of Christian and Missionary Alliance ) is converted by the revival ministry of Henry Grattan Guinness

Like his friend Henry Flood, Grattan worked on his natural eloquence and oratory skills by studying models such as Bolingbroke and Junius.

The Irish House of Commons by Francis Wheatley ( 1780 ) shows Grattan ( standing on right in red jacket ) addressing the House.

In the outburst of indignation, followed by increasing disaffection in Ireland, which this event produced, Grattan acted with conspicuous moderation and loyalty, which won for him warm acknowledgments from a member of the British cabinet.

" These were the last words spoken by Grattan in the Irish parliament.

Like Flood before him, Grattan had no leaning towards democracy ; and he anticipated that by the removal of the centre of political interest from Ireland the evil of absenteeism would be intensified.

* Grattan's Speeches ( ed by H. Grattan, junr., 1822 );

See also F Hardy, Memoirs of Lord Charlemont ( London, 1812 ); Warden Flood, Memoirs of Henry Flood ( London, 1838 ); Francis Plowden, Historical Review of the State of Ireland ( London, 1803 ); Alfred Webb, Compendium of Irish Biography ( Dublin, 1878 ); Sir Jonah Barrington, Rise and Fall of the Irish Nation ( London, 1833 ); WJ O ' Neill Daunt, Ireland and her Agitators ; Lord Mountmorres, History of the Irish Parliament ( 2 vole., London, 1792 ); Horace Walpole, Memoirs of the Reign of George III ( 4 vols., London, 1845 and 1894 ); Lord Stanhope, Life of William Pitt ( 4 vols., London, 1861 ); Thomas Davis, Life of JP Curran ( Dublin, 1846 ) this contains a memoir of Grattan by DO Madden, and Grattan's reply to Lord Clare on the question of the Union ; Charles Phillips, Recollections of Curran and some of his Contemporaries ( London, 1822 ); JA Froude, The English in Ireland ( London, 1881 ); JG McCarthy, Henry Grattan: an Historical Study ( London, 1886 ); Lord Mahon's History of England, vol.

* Chapter on Henry Grattan in The Story Of Ireland, by Emily Lawless, 1896

* 1782 Caricature of Henry Grattan by James Gillray

It was founded in 1763 by Charles Lucas and was identified with radical 18th century Protestant patriot politicians Henry Grattan and Henry Flood.

A 19th century statue of Henry Grattan, one of the leading members of the old Irish Parliament, stands facing Trinity College ( though the statue is badly obscured by planted trees ).

In Parliament he acted with the small Opposition Irish Patriot Party group led by Henry Grattan, but took no prominent part in debate.

In 1782, following agitation by major parliamentary figures, but most notably Henry Grattan, the severe restrictions such as Poynings ' Law that effectively controlled the Irish Parliament's ability to control its own legislative agenda were removed, producing what was known as the Constitution of 1782.

Ultimately the old Irish Houses of Parliament, the world's first purpose-built two-chamber parliament building, has remained a curiously contradictory symbol for Ireland: a parliament based on discrimination and exclusion that nevertheless, through producing radical leaders like Henry Grattan, is seen generally with affection by a people whose ancestors were debarred from membership.

While Nationalism has historically had a number of Protestant leaders ( for instance, Henry Grattan, Theobald Wolfe Tone, Charles Stewart Parnell, and Douglas Hyde ), Unionism was invariably led by Protestant leaders and politicians.

The Greenville post office, with ZIP code 48838, also serves all of Eureka Township, a large portion of Montcalm Township and a smaller area of Pine Township to the north, Fairplain Township to the east, a small area of Otisco Township in Ionia County to the south, and a large part of Oakfield Township to the east and a smaller part of Grattan Township to the southwest, both in Kent County.

Lord Charlemont is historically interesting for his political connection with Henry Flood and Henry Grattan ; he was a cultivated man with literary and artistic tastes, and both in Dublin and in London he had considerable social influence.

He is remembered, however, mainly as a politician, on account of his opposition to Grattan, his support of the Union, and his violent antagonism to Catholic emancipation, both in the Irish House of Commons and in pamphlets.