Denis Mahon

For the British collector and art historian, see Denis Mahon. Major Denis Mahon was the Irish Landlord of Strokestown in County Roscommon who was shot and killed during the Great Famine of Ireland. His death is considered the first murder of a Landlord during the Great Famine and to this day there is debate over the real reason for his murder and the identity of those responsible. Mahon's murder caused panic among the aristocracy and turned English public opinion against the Irish in the midst of the Black ‘47. Biography Born in 1787 to Reverend Thomas Mahon and into a family of clergymen, Denis Mahon joined the British Army and rose to the rank of Major in the 9th Dragoons. He married Henrietta Bathhurst and the two had one child together, Grace Catherine Mahon. Grace would go on to marry Henry Sandford Pakenham, Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, in 1847. Henry took the last name Pakenham Mahon as he would be the heir to the estates of the Mahon family upon Denis' death.