(ch15) Daniel O'Connell (1775 - 1847) "The Liberator" "The King Of Ireland"
Early Life
Catholic Emancipation
The Fight For Repeal Of The Act of Union
Death & Legacy
born into a wealthy Catholic middle-class family
sent to France to get an education as Catholics were not yet permitted in Trinity College Dublin - his time in France overlapped with the terror
became a barrister
returned with a lifelong hatred for political violence
1811, he founded the Catholic Board to campaign for Catholic Emancipation
1823, he founded the Catholic Association to campaign for Catholic Emancipation AND the end of tithes.
Had a Catholic Rent of 1 penny a month to fund:
pro emancipation MP's
to pay the legal costs of those arrested
pay for publicity
Emancipation Act of 1829
1828, he stood in Clare for election to Westminster. - He won but refused to take the oath. The British PM, Duke of Wellington, feared rebellion so emancipation was granted and O'Connell took his seat.
1838 he managed to have the cost of tithes lowered and to have them paid to the landlord instead of to the church
1841 he was elected the First Catholic Lord Mayor of Dublin
1830, he set up the Repeal Association to campaign for the repeal of the Act of Union
He wanted an Irish Parliament with the British Monarch remaining the Monarch of Ireland too
1843, his Monster Meeting in Clontarf was banned by the British Government - The organization split - "The Young Irelanders"
February 1847, his last speech was in the House of Commons was a plea for help to the Irish dying because of the famine
May 1847, he was on a pilgrimage to Rome when he died
People like Mahatma Gandhi & Martin Luther King follow in his beliefs