Daniel O’Connell , ‘The Liberator

Posted by Jim on August 6, 2019

On August 6, 1775, Daniel O’Connell , ‘The Liberator,’ one of the most influential men in Irish history was born near Cahirciveen, County Kerry. Raised by his uncle, Daniel learned the Irish language and Irish lore in Kerry. O’Connell did part of his schooling in France during the revolution and later practiced law in Dublin. The violent excesses he witnessed in France, the slaughter of the ’98 Rising and finally his own killing a man in a duel in 1815 led him to renounce violence forever. Moving into politics, O’Connell founded the Catholic Association in 1823, creating one of the first massive political movements in Europe or the Americas. When he was elected to Parliament in 1828, a position still forbidden to a Catholic, fear of the reaction of his millions of followers led to the passage of the Catholic Emancipation Bill. O’Connell worked for Home Rule for Ireland for the rest of his days but never achieved it. The British banned his mass Repeal (of the Union) rallies in ’43 and jailed him for a time. The movement lost momentum at that point and the long years of hard work wore ‘The Liberator’ down. He died in Italy on May 15, 1847. Daniel O’Connell had failed in his greatest ambition, but he had reawakened the nationalist soul of Ireland.