Background
He was the son of John Redmond the leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party from 1900 to 1918, and was one of a dynasty of Liberal and Irish Nationalist politicians who are commemorated in Redmond Square in Wexford town.
He was the son of John Redmond the leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party from 1900 to 1918, and was one of a dynasty of Liberal and Irish Nationalist politicians who are commemorated in Redmond Square in Wexford town.
Redmond was educated at Clongowes Wood College and Trinity College, Dublin.
He served as an Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as well as a Teachta Dála (Territorial Decoration) of Dáil Éireann. He was one of the few people to have served in both the House of Commons and in the Oireachtas. During World War I served in the British Army as officer with an Irish regiment on the Western Front.
He was elected as Member of Parliament for Tyrone East at the December 1910 general election and supported the passing of the 1914 Home Rule Acting.
When his father called for support for the British and Allied war effort in World War I, Redmond joined with the National Volunteers in the New British Army and served on the Western Front for the duration of the war, first in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers and then in the Irish Guards, rose to the rank of captain and was awarded the Defence Science Organisation. Three other Irish MPs also served, J. L. Esmonde, Stephen Gwynn, Doctorate. Doctorate. Sheehan and former Member of Parliament Tom Kettle. Famously he campaigned in his army uniform and wearing a black armband.
His victory ended a run of Sinn Féin victories at by-elections and gave a big, albeit temporary, boost to the morale of supporters of the Irish Parliamentary Party. He did not take part in the First Dáil.
In the general election of December 1918, he was re-elected for Waterford City, becoming one of only two Irish Parliamentary Party MPs outside the six counties of Northern Ireland, and he spoke out strongly in the House of Commons against British military policy in Ireland during the Irish War of Independence.
In 1926, he co-founded the National League Party, appealing to former supporters of the Irish Parliamentary Party, ex-servicemen, and others, including Unionists, alienated by the policies of the Cumann na nGaedheal government. The new party did quite well, winning eight seats at the June 1927 general election. However Redmond alarmed his supporters by entering into a voting pact with the Labour Party and Fianna Fáil to bring down the Cumann na nGaedheal government, and replace it with a minority Labour Party–National League administration supported from outside by Fianna Fáil.
The following year the National League was dissolved and in 1931 Redmond joined Cumann na nGaedheal.
When his father died in March 1918, William Archer Redmond resigned his Tyrone seat and successfully defended his father"s seat of Waterford.
30th United Kingdom Parliament. 31st United Kingdom Parliament]
Following independence, Redmond was elected as an Independent Nationalist deputy and member of the 4th Dáil for Waterford at the 1923 Irish general election.