O'Connell was born near Cahersiveen, County Kerry in 1775;, to a once-wealthy Roman Catholic family, of the O'Connells of Derrynane, which had been dispossessed of its lands. Among his uncles was Daniel Charles, Count O'Connell, an officer in the Irish Brigades of the French army, and a famous aunt was Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill.
Daniel O'Connell was born at Carhen, near Cahirciveen, Co. Kerry, Ireland, died at Genoa, 1847. The O'Connells, once great in Kerry, had suffered severely by the penal laws, and the family at Carhen was not rich. An uncle, Maurice O'Connell of Darrynane, resident in France, bore the expense of educating Daniel and his brother Maurice. In 1791 they were sent to the Irish College at Liège, but, Daniel being beyond the prescribed age for admission, they proceeded to St. Omer's in France, and after a year went to Douai. Daniel gave evidence of industry and ability at St. Omer's, but at Douai his stay was short, for, owing to the French Revolution, the two O'Connells returned home (1793). In 1794 Daniel became a law student at Lincoln's Inn and in 1798 was called to the Irish Bar.
Catholics were placed in many respects on a level with other denominations, but were still excluded from Parliament, from the inner bar, and from the higher civil and military offices; and the recall of Fitzwilliam (1795) and the events following showed that no further concessions would be given. O'Connell could not see why Catholics who paid taxes and were obedient to the law should not have a share in the spending of the taxes and in the making of the laws. He detested violence as a weapon of reform, respected religion and the rights of property, and therefore hated the French Revolution as he did the Rebellion of 1798. The Union he abhorred because it destroyed Ireland's separate nationality;
From 1812 to 1817 the Irish Government was little else than a long-sustained duel between O'Connell and the new chief secretary, Sir Robert Peel. Both were able and determined, and between them began a personal enmity which ended only with their lives. Peel championed privilege and ascendency and attacked the Catholic leaders. O'Connell retorted by calling him "Orange Peel". O'Connell turned the Catholic Committee into the Catholic Board, but Peel proclaimed the Board as he had proclaimed the Committee; and while O'Connell continued to agitate, Peel continued to pass acts and enforce them. Meantime one noted event happened which further endeared O'Connell to the people. The Dublin Corporation had always been reactionary and bigoted, always the champion of Protestant ascendancy. O'Connell in a public speech in 1815 called it a "beggarly corporation". The aldermen and councillors were enraged and, finding that O'Connell would not apologize, one of their number, D'Esterre, sent him a challenge. D'Esterre was a noted duellist and the hope was that if O'Connell attempted to fight there would be an end to his career. To the surprise of all O'Connell met D'Esterre and shot him dead. He bitterly regretted the deed, and to the end of his days he never missed an opportunity of assisting the D'Esterre family. With all his popularity, the Catholic cause was not advancing. The question of the veto was being agitated, and in consequence there was division and weakness in the Catholic ranks. O'Connell, though a fervent Catholic, opposed the veto, and declared that while willing to have his religion from Rome he must have his politics from home. In 1821 there was a gleam of hope, when the new King George IV visited Ireland. As Prince of Wales he had been the friend of the Liberal leaders. and as such it was expected that he would favour Liberal measures. But he left Ireland without saying a word in favour of Emancipation.
At last O'Connell determined to rouse the masses in earnest and, in conjunction with a young lawyer, Mr. Sheil, he founded, in 1823, the Catholic Association. The declared object was to win Emancipation "by legal and constitutional means", and in order to evade the Convention Act the Association assumed no delegated or representative character. It was a club, its members meeting weekly and paying an annual subscription. O'Connell worked unceasingly to spread the organization, and though progress was slow success came at last; and by 1825 a vast organization had spread over the land, exercising all the powers of government. In each district, usually under the presidency of the clergy, there was a branch of the Catholic Association, where local grievances were ventilated, and subscriptions received and sent to Dublin to the central association, whence came advice in difficulties and speakers for Local meetings. In 1825 the Government, alarmed at the power of an organization which was a serious rival to the executive, passed a bill suppressing it. But O'Connell, experienced in defeating Acts of Parliament, changed the name to the New Catholic Association, and the work of agitation went on. As much as five hundred pounds a week was subscribed, and in 1826 the Association felt strong enough to put up a candidate for Waterford, who succeeded against all the territorial influence of the Beresfords; similar victories were won in Monaghan, Weatmeath, and Louth. In 1828 came the Clare election when O'Connell himself was nominated. It was known that he could not as a Catholic take the Parliamentary oath; but if he, the representative of 6,000,000, were driven from the doors of Parliament solely because of his creed, the effect on public opinion would be great. O'Connell was elected, and when he presented himself in Parliament he refused to take the oath offered him. The crisis had come. The Catholic millions, organized and defiant, would have Emancipation; the Orangemen would have no concession; and Ireland, in the end of 1828, was on the brink of civil war. To avoid this calamity Peel and Wellington struck their colours, and in 1829 the Catholic Relief Act was passed.
Henceforth O'Connell was the Uncrowned King of Ireland. To recompense him for his services and to secure these services for the future in Parliament he was induced to abandon the practice of his profession and to accept instead the O'Connell Tribute, which from the voluntary subscriptions of the people brought him an income of £1600 a year. His first care was for Repeal, but his appeals for Protestant co-operation were not responded to, and the associations he formed to agitate the question were all proclaimed. In this respect the Whigs, whom he supported in 1832, were no better than the Tories. He denounced them as "base, brutal and bloody"; yet in 1835 he entered into an alliance with them by accepting the Lichfield House Compact, and he kept them in office till 1841. During these years Drummond effected reforms in the Irish executive, and measures affecting tithes, poor law, and municipal reform were passed. But Repeal was left in abeyance till Peel returned to power, and then O'Connell established the Repeal Association. Its progress was slow until in 1842 it got the support of the Nation newspaper. In one year it advanced with giant strides, and in 1843 O'Connell held a series of meetings, some of them attended by hundreds of thousands.
The last of these meetings was to be held at Clontarf in October. Peel proclaimed the meeting and prosecuted O'Connell, and in 1844 he was convicted and imprisoned. On appeal to the House of Lords the judgment of the Irish court was reversed and O'Connell was set free. His health had suffered, and henceforth there was a lack of energy and vigour in his movements, a shifting from Repeal to Federalism and back again to Repeal. He also quarrelled with the Young Irelanders. Then came the awful calamity of the famine. O'Connell's last appearance in Parliament was in 1847 when he pathetically asked that his people be saved from perishing. He was then seriously ill. The doctors ordered him to a warmer climate. He felt that he was dying and wished to die at Rome, but got no further than Genoa. In accordance with his wish his heart was brought to Rome and his body to Ireland. His funeral was of enormous dimensions, and since his death a splendid statue has been erected to his memory in Dublin and a round tower placed over his remains in Glasnevin.
O'Connell was married to his cousin Mary O'Connell and had three daughters and four sons, all the latter being at one time or other in Parliament.
JOHN O'CONNELL, third son of the above; born at Dublin, 24 December, 1810; died at Kingstown, Co. Dublin, 24 May, 1858. He was returned M.P. for Youghal (1832), Athlone (1837), and Kilkenny (1841-47). As a politician he was not tactful, and, came in conflict with the Young Ireland party. As a writer his "Repeal Dictionary" (1845) showed much literary and polemical power. In 1846 he published a selection of his father's speeches, prefaced by a memoir. His "Recollections and Experiences during a Parliamentary Career from 1833 to 1848" was issued in two volumes (1849). As a Whig, and also a captain in the militia, he fell into disfavour with his Limerick constituents. He retired from politics 1857, and accepted a lucrative Government appointment.
In 1845 the famine struck Ireland and the "Young Ireland" members of O'Connell's party began to advocate revolutionary doctrines that he had always opposed. Their arguments in favour of violent opposition to British rule led to an open split in Irish ranks in 1846. O'Connell was distressed by this disaffection among the Irish. Although suffering from ill health, he set off for Rome in January 1847 but died in Genoa on 15 May 1847.
O'Connell died of softening of the brain (cerebral softening) in 1847 in Genoa, Italy, while on a pilgrimage to Rome at the age of 71, his term in prison having seriously weakened him. According to his dying wish, his heart was buried in Rome and the remainder of his body in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin, beneath a round tower. His sons are buried in his crypt.
O'Connell's philosophy and career have inspired leaders all over the world, including Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) and Martin Luther King (1929–1968). He was told by William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–1863) "you have done more for your nation than any man since Washington ever did." William Gladstone (1809–1898) described him as "the greatest popular leader the world has ever seen." Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850) wrote that "Napoleon and O'Connell were the only great men the 19th century had ever seen." Jean-Henri Merle d'Aubigné (1794–1872) wrote that "the only man like Luther, in the power he wielded was O'Connell." William Grenville (1759–1834) wrote that "history will speak of him as one of the most remarkable men that ever lived".
O'Connell's philosophy and career have inspired leaders all over the world, including Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) and Martin Luther King (1929–1968). He was told by William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–1863) "you have done more for your nation than any man since Washington ever did." William Gladstone (1809–1898) described him as "the greatest popular leader the world has ever seen." Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850) wrote that "Napoleon and O'Connell were the only great men the 19th century had ever seen." Jean-Henri Merle d'Aubigné (1794–1872) wrote that "the only man like Luther, in the power he wielded was O'Connell." William Grenville (1759–1834) wrote that "history will speak of him as one of the most remarkable men that ever lived."
O'Connell is known in Ireland as "The Liberator" or "The Great Emancipator" for his success in achieving Catholic Emancipation. O'Connell admired Latin American liberator Simón Bolívar, and one of his sons, Morgan O'Connell, was a volunteer officer in Bolívar's army in 1820, aged 15.[14]
The principal street in the centre of Dublin, previously called Sackville Street, was renamed O'Connell Street in his honour in the early 20th century after the Irish Free State came into being.[15] His statue (made by the sculptor John Henry Foley, who also designed the sculptures of the Albert Memorial in London) stands at one end of the street, with a statue of Charles Stewart Parnell at the other end.[16]
The main street of Limerick is also named after O'Connell, also with a statue at the end (in the centre of The Crescent). O'Connell Streets also exist in Ennis, Sligo, Kilkee, Clonmel, Waterford, Melbourne, Sydney and North Adelaide.[citation needed]
There is a statue honouring O'Connell outside St Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne, Australia, as until the 1950s, the Archdiocese of Melbourne was almost entirely made up of Irish immigrants or Australians of Irish descent.[17] There is a museum commemorating him in Derrynane House, near the village of Derrynane, County Kerry, which was once owned by his family.[18] He was a member of the Literary Association of the Friends of Poland as well.[19]
Additional reading
* King Dan the Rise of Daniel O'Connell 1775-1829, Patrick Geoghegan, Gill and Macmillan, 2008.
* John Mitchel, A Cause Too Many, Aidan Hegarty, Camlane Press.
* Thomas Davis, The Thinker and Teacher, Arthur Griffith, M.H. Gill & Son, 1922.
* Daniel O'Connell: The Irish Liberator, Dennis Gwynn, Hutchinson & Co, Ltd.
* O'Connell, Davis and the Collages Bill, Dennis Gwynn, Cork University Press 1948.
* Labour in Ireland, James Connolly, Fleet Street 1910.
* The Re-Conquest of Ireland, James Connolly, Fleet Street 1915.
* John Mitchel: Noted Irish Lives, Louis J. Walsh, The Talbot Press Ltd., 1934.
* Life of John Martin, P. A. Sillard, James Duffy & Co., Ltd 1901.
* Ireland Her Own, T. A. Jackson, Lawrence & Wishart Ltd 1976.
* Life and Times of Daniel O'Connell, T. C. Luby, Cameron & Ferguson.
* Paddy's Lament: Ireland 1846–1847, Prelude to Hatred, Thomas Gallagher, Poolbeg 1994.
* The Great Shame, Thomas Keneally, Anchor Books 1999.
* Envoi, Taking Leave of Roy Foster, by Brendan Clifford and Julianne Herlihy, Aubane Historical Society, Cork.
* In Search of Ireland's Heroes, Carmel McCaffrey. Ivan R Dee Publisher
[edit] Footnotes
1. ^ [1] O' Connell at Irish-Society.
2. ^ A Short History of Ireland
3. ^ a b c d e f g Boylan, Henry (1998). A Dictionary of Irish Biography, 3rd Edition. Dublin: Gill and MacMillan. p. 306. ISBN 0-7171-2945-4.
4. ^ a b c d e Dennis Gywnn, Daniel O'Connell The Irish Liberator, Hutchinson & Co. Ltd pg 71
5. ^ O'Connell Correspondence, Vol I, Letter No. 24a
6. ^ O'Ferrall, F., Daniel O'Connell, Dublin, 1981, p. 12
7. ^ O'Connell Correspondence, Vol I, Letter No. 97
8. ^ Great Britain and the Irish Question 1798–1922, Paul Adelmann and Robert Pearce, Hodder Murray, London, ISBN 0 340 88901 2.pg 33
9. ^ a b Dennis Gywnn, Daniel O'Connell The Irish Liberator, Hutchinson & Co. Ltd pg 71 pp 138–145
10. ^ Oliver MacDonagh, The Life of Daniel O'Connell 1991
11. ^ History of Parliament 1820–1832 vol VI pp. 535–6.
12. ^ History of Parliament 1820–1832 vol I p. 253.
13. ^ a b Stewart, Jay Brown (2001). The National Churches of England, Ireland and Scotland, 1801–46. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 20–45. ISBN 0199242356.
14. ^ Brian McGinn (November 1991). "Venezuela's Irish Legacy". Irish America Magazine (New York) Vol. VII, No. XI. http://illyria.com/irish/irishven.html. Retrieved 2007-04-18.
15. ^ Sheehan, Sean and Levy, Patricia (2001). Dublin Handbook: The Travel Guide. Footprint Handbooks. p. 99. ISBN 978-1900949989.
16. ^ Bennett, Douglas (2005). Encyclopedia of Dublin. Dublin: Gill and MacMillan. ISBN 9780717136841.
17. ^ O'Farrell, Patrick (1977). The Catholic Church and Community in Australia. Thomas Nelson (Australia), west Melbourne.
18. ^ "Derrynane House". Derrynane House. http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/South-West/DerrynaneHouse/. Retrieved 2009-01-23.
19. ^ Marchlewicz K: The Pro-Polish Loby in the House of Commons and the House of Lords During the 1830s and 1840s. Przeglad Historyczny (Historical Review) year: 2005, vol: 96, number: 1, pages: 61-76
20. ^ Irish Whiskey—a 1000 year tradition, Malachy Magee, O'Brien Press, Dublin, ISBN 0 86278 2287. pg 68 to 74
21. ^ T. Halpin: History of the Irish Brewing Industry, 1988
22. ^ a b History of Brewing in Dublin
23. ^ St Martin Magazine (ISSN: 1393-1008), June 2003 St Martin Apostolate, Dublin
24. ^ The Anti-Slavery Society Convention, 1840, Benjamin Robert Haydon, 1841, National Portrait Gallery, London, NPG599, Given by British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society in 1880
25. ^ a b Michael Doheny's The Felon's Track, M. H. Gill & Son, Ltd., 1951, pp 2–4
26. ^ John Mitchel's Jail Journal which was first serialised in his first New York City newspaper, The Citizen, from 14 January 1854 to 19 August 1854. The book referenced is an exact reproduction of the Jail Journal, as it first appeared.
27. ^ a b c d John Mitchel, Jail Journal, or five years in British Prisons, M. H. Gill & Son, Ltd., 1914, pp. xxxiv–xxxvi
28. ^ Charles Gavan Duffy: Conversations With Carlyle (1892), with Introduction, Stray Thoughts On Young Ireland, Brendan Clifford, Athol Books, Belfast, ISBN 0 85034 1140.pg 17 &21
29. ^ Jewish Ireland
30. ^ Envoi, Taking Leave of Roy Foster, by Brendan Clifford and Julianne Herlihy, Aubane Historical Society, Cork.pg 16
31. ^ Allen, Edward Archibald; William Schuyler (1901). David Josiah Brewer. ed. The world's best orations: from the earliest period to the present time. 8. F. P. Kaiser. p. 3101. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=nX5ZAAAAMAAJ&q=%22but+the+man+who+goes+into+the+battle+determined+to+conquer%22&dq=%22but+the+man+who+goes+into+the+battle+determined+to+conquer%22&hl=en&ei=8xKpS8bOFZO7jAedpIXiAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAA. Retrieved 2010-03-23.
[edit] See also
* History of Ireland (1801-1922)
* Irish nobility
* List of people on stamps of Ireland
[edit] References
* Fergus O'Ferrall, Daniel O'Connell (Gill's Irish Lives Series), Gill & MacMillan, Dublin, 1981.
* Seán Ó Faoláin, King of the Beggars: A Life of Daniel O'Connell, 1938.
* Maurice R. O'Connell, The Correspondence of Daniel O'Connell (8 Vols), Dublin, 1972–1980.
* Oliver MacDonagh, O'Connell: The Life of Daniel O'Connell 1775–1847 1991.
* J. O'Connell, ed., The Life and Speeches of Daniel O'Connell (2 Vols), Dublin, 1846.
* Sister Mary Francis Cusask, Life of Daniel O'Connell, the Liberator: His Times – Political, Social, and Religious. New York: D. & J. Sadlier & Co. 1872.
[edit] Further reading
* This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Anonymous (1911). "Daniel O'Connell". in Chisholm, Hugh. Encyclopædia Britannica (Eleventh ed.). Cambridge University Press. http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Daniel_O%27Connell.
* d'Alton, E. A. (1913). "Daniel O'Connell". in Herbermann, Charles. Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.
* Sidney Lee, ed (1895). "O'Connell, Daniel". Dictionary of National Biography, 1885–1900. 41. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 371–389.
* Philp, Robert Kemp (1861). "O'Connell, Morgan". The dictionary of useful knowledge. Oxford University. http://books.google.co.nz/books?id=jDsCAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=false.
[edit] External links
* [2] Daniel O'Connell and Newfoundland
* [3] O'Connell's 1836 'Equal Justice for Ireland' speech in the House of Commons
* [4] Cork Multitext Project article on O'Connell with extensive image gallery
* Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Daniel O'Connell
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