daniel o connell the liberator © seomra ranga 2013

Daniel O Connell

The

Liberator

© Seomra Ranga 2013 www.seomraranga.com

Daniel O’ Connell Timeline

• 1775 Born in Cahirciveen, Co. Kerry• 1791 Went to France• 1798 Became a Barrister• 1800 Act of Union Passed• 1823 Catholic Association Established• 1828 Elected MP for Co. Clare• 1829 Catholic Emancipation Granted• 1840 O’Connell establishes the Repeal

Movement


Daniel O’ Connell Timeline

• 1841 O’ Connell become the first Catholic Mayor of Dublin since the Reformation

• 1843 Monster Clontarf Meeting banned• 1845 The Great Famine commences in

Ireland• 1847 O’ Connell dies in Genoa, Italy


Daniel O’ Connell - Background

• Born in Cahirciveen in Co. Kerry in 1775

• A Catholic• First went to a Hedge

School and later to a school in Cork

• Sent to France to study Law. (Saw some of the bloody events of the French Revolution)


Daniel O’ Connell - Background

• Became a successful Lawyer

• Fought for Catholic Emancipation (the removal of the Penal Laws against Catholics)

• Became known as The Liberator


Penal Laws

• Laws passed towards the end of the 17th century

• Known as the "Penal Laws" as they "penalised" or punished Catholics

• Designed to ensure that Catholics remained poor, ignorant and without spiritual guidance

• The laws were grouped under the headings of education, religion, property and civil life


1800 Act of Union

• After 1798 Rebellion, Britain was worried about further rebellion in Ireland

• In 1800, the Act of Union was passed, joining the Irish and British parliaments

• Irish people now had no say in the making of any laws used in Ireland

• Daniel O Connell decided to fight to repeal the Act of Union


Catholic Emancipation

• O’ Connell decided to firstly fight for Catholic Emancipation

• This meant the removal of all Penal Laws against Catholics

• He wanted Catholics to be allowed to vote, sit in parliament, represent people in all courts, hold high positions in the Civil Service and hold high positions in the Army

• He believed in only peaceful means to achieve his aims



“NO POLITICAL CHANGE WHATSOEVER IS WORTH THE SHEDDING OF A SINGLE DROP OF HUMAN BLOOD”.

- Daniel O’ Connell

The Catholic Association

• In 1823, O’Connell founded the Catholic Association to campaign for Catholic Emancipation

• He started the Catholic Rent – one penny per month to support the campaign

• The Association became very popular, also getting support from the clergy


1828 By-Election

• Catholics were allowed to vote, but not allowed to sit in Parliament

• Voting was not in secret so tenants usually voted the way their landlord wanted them to

• In a By-Election in Clare in 1828, O’ Connell stood for election and managed to persuade tenants to vote for him

• The election went on for five days and O’ Connell easily won, becoming MP (Member of Parliament) for Co. Clare


1829 Catholic Emancipation

• But O’ Connell was a Catholic and could not enter Parliament in London

• Irish people became angry that their MP was forced to remain outside Parliament

• The Government in Britain was afraid of another rebellion in Ireland

• In 1829, the Government granted Catholic Emancipation

• O’ Connell famously became known as “The Liberator”


The Repeal Association

• Next, O’Connell turned his attention to the repeal (abolition) of the Act of Union

• In 1840 he founded a new organisation called The Repeal Association

• He wanted the British Government to restore the Irish Parliament in Dublin

• He again wanted to achieve this by peaceful means



• He began to hold huge open-air meetings around the country which became known as Monster Meetings

• In October 1843, O’Connell planned a Monster Meeting at Clontarf, Dublin

• A huge crowd was expected• The government in London became alarmed and

banned the meeting• In order to avoid bloodshed, O’Connell cancelled

the meeting© Seomra Ranga 2013 www.seomraranga.com


• This disappointed many people and O’Connell lost much of his popularity

• Shortly afterwards, O’Connell was arrested and sentenced to one year in jail

• He was released after three months• On his release from jail, O’Connell continued his

campaign but without success• In 1845, the potato crop failed and people were

more concerned about getting food


Daniel O’ Connell – Final days

• By 1847, O’ Connell had more or less left public life

• He was in poor health• He decided to go on a pilgrimage to Rome• On his way there, he stopped off in Genoa, Italy,

where he died on May 15th, 1847• In his will, he asked that his heart be buried in

Rome and that his body be buried in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin


Daniel O’ Connell Memorial

A high Round Tower marks the spot in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin where Daniel O’ Connell is buried


Daniel O’ Connell Statue

O’ Connell Street in Dublin is named after Daniel O’ Connell and a statue of him is prominently placed in the centre of the street


daniel o connell the liberator © seomra ranga 2013

Documents

daniel o connell slide

ireland daniel o connell

daniel o connell background

daniel o connell timeline

catholic association

clare seomra ranga

liberator seomra ranga

italy seomra ranga