Croke, Thomas William (1824–1902)

Irish churchman and prominent nationalist. As Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cashel and Emly, he promoted Irish cultural and political self-determination through Charles Stewart Parnell's Land League. Croke Park, the Association's headquarters in Dublin, is named after him.

Croke was born in Ballyclough, County Cork, and educated in Paris and Rome. He is reputed to have fought at the barricades in Paris during the Revolutions of 1848. A close friend of Cardinal Henry Manning, he was made a parish priest in 1867 and appointed Bishop of Auckland, New Zealand in 1870, before returning to Ireland in 1875. After the divorce scandal that ruined Parnell's political career, Croke urged his replacement as leader of the Irish nationalists in the Westminster parliament.