Alexander Bowman (Irish politician)

Alexander Bowman (c. March 1854 – 3 November 1924) was an Irish politician and trade unionist.

Baptised Patrick McKeown, he was always known as "Alexander" to his family, and acquired the surname "Bowman" to match that of his older half-siblings.

[3] Politically a supporter of William Gladstone and the Liberal Party, this led him to favour home rule for Ireland, and he became a regular speaker at Irish National League meetings, and secretary of the Irish Protestant Home Rule Association.

[4] Bowman stood for Belfast North at the 1885 general election, becoming perhaps the first working-class candidate to stand in Ireland.

[2] In 1888, finding it difficult to obtain work, due to his nationalist views, he moved to Glasgow, then subsequently on to London, before returning to Belfast as a socialist activist.