The son of Edmund Haviland-Burke, Member of Parliament for Christchurch, and a collateral descendant of Edmund Burke, Haviland-Burke was educated privately at various locations in Europe.
He then joined the staff of the Manchester Guardian, for which he reported on the Greco-Turkish War.
[1] Haviland-Burke was an Irish nationalist, and a supporter of Charles Stewart Parnell.
Settling in Dublin, he stood unsuccessfully for the Irish National League in North Kerry at the 1892 general election, South Dublin in 1895, and North Louth at the 1900 general election.
In Parliament, he served as a whip for the Irish Parliamentary Party.