John Bruton

John Gerard Bruton (born 18 May 1947) is an Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 1994 to 1997. A minister under two taoisigh, Liam Cosgrave and Garret FitzGerald, Bruton held a number of the top posts in Irish government, including Minister for Finance (1981–1982 and 1986–1987), and Minister for Industry, Trade, Commerce and Tourism (1983–1986). He became leader of Fine Gael in 1990 and served as Taoiseach from 1994 until 1997, leading the Rainbow Coalition government of Fine Gael–Labour Party–Democratic Left.

Bruton was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a TD for Meath in 1969, and served continuously until his retirement from domestic politics in 2004. He served as the Ambassador of the European Union to the United States from 2004–2009, and is a former Vice-President of the European People's Party (EPP).

Early and personal life

John Gerard Bruton was born to a wealthy, Catholic farming family in Dunboyne, County Meath and educated at Clongowes Wood College.

Oliver Coogan notes in his Politics and War in Meath 1913–23 that Bruton's granduncle was one of the farmers in south Meath who prevented the traditionally Anglo-Irish ascendency hunt from proceeding in the area during the Irish War of Independence.

Bruton

Coordinates: 51°06′48″N 2°27′10″W / 51.113411°N 2.452801°W / 51.113411; -2.452801

Bruton is a small town, electoral ward, and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated on the River Brue along the A359 between Frome and Yeovil. It is seven miles south-east of Shepton Mallet, just south of Snakelake Hill and Coombe Hill, ten miles north-west of Gillingham and twelve miles south-west of Frome in the South Somerset district. The town and electoral ward have a population of 2,907. The parish includes the hamlets of Wyke Champflower and Redlynch.

Bruton has a museum dedicated to the display of items from Bruton's past from the Jurassic geology right up to the present day. The museum houses a table used by the author John Steinbeck to write on during his six-month stay in Bruton.

The River Brue has a long history of flooding in Bruton. In 1768 the river rose very rapidly and destroyed a stone bridge. On the 28 June 1917, 242.8 mm of rain fell in 24 hours at Bruton, leaving a water mark on one pub twenty feet above the normal level of the river. In 1984 a protective dam was built 1 km upstream from the town.

Bruton (surname)

Bruton is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

Hundred of Bruton

The Hundred of Bruton is one of the 40 historical Hundreds in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England, dating from before the Norman conquest during the Anglo-Saxon era although exact dates are unknown. Each hundred had a 'fyrd', which acted as the local defence force and a court which was responsible for the maintenance of the frankpledge system. They also formed a unit for the collection of taxes. The role of the hundred court was described in the Dooms (laws) of King Edgar. The name of the hundred was normally that of its meeting-place.

The hundred of Bruton was a relatively small hundred, covering approximately 14,250 acres (5,770 ha), that contained the parishes of Brewham, Bruton, Honeywick, Knowle, Milton, Pitcombe, Redlynch, Upton, Wyke and Yarlington.

The importance of the hundred courts declined from the seventeenth century. By the 19th century several different single-purpose subdivisions of counties, such as poor law unions, sanitary districts, and highway districts sprang up, filling the administrative role previously played by parishes and hundreds. Although the Hundreds have never been formally abolished, their functions ended with the establishment of county courts in 1867 and the introduction of districts by the Local Government Act 1894.