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Daniel O’Connell was born in 1775 near Caherciveen in County Kerry. Under the patronage of a wealthy uncle he studied in France and was admitted to Lincoln’s Inn in 1794, transferring two years later to King’s Inns in Dublin. He was called to the bar in 1798 and was one of the first Catholics to enter the legal profession after the ban on Catholics was lifted in 1792. Following the Act of Union in 1800, Ireland was now completely subject to Westminster. Irish politicians were concerned with a whole host of problems including the continuing payment of tithes by Catholics and Presbyterians to the established church, the decline of small scale Irish industries and most prominently the Catholic demand for emancipation. Many of the Penal Laws had been repealed in the preceding decades, Catholics could now join the professions and vote at parliamentary elections, however they were still unable to sit in parliament and the more important offices of the state were closed off to them. O’Connell became the leader of the battle to win political rights for Irish Catholics. He created the Catholic Association which sought for electoral reform, reform of the Church of Ireland, tenant’s rights and economic development. O’Connell was elected to the House of Commons for County Clare in 1829 by a landslide. But although he was by law allowed to stand as a candidate he was prevented from taking his seat by the anti-Catholic which was in force at the time. The English authorities realised that the Clare election had changed the climate somewhat. O’Connell definitely wished to win Catholic Emancipation by peaceful means but it was uncertain that he could control his followers. A Catholic Emancipation was introduced in the parliamentary session of 1829, by it’s terms all the important remaining restrictions on Catholics were removed. The success left O’Connell has the most prominent politician in Ireland of his generation and as a mythical figure in the minds of the great mass of the Irish people. With the return of the Conservatives to Westminster in 1841, O’Connell launched on the campaign for repeal of the union between Ireland and Britain. He set up the Repeal Association and organised monster meetings to which thousands of people gathered. The last and largest of these monster meetings was scheduled to be held at Clontarf on the outskirts of Dublin. However the government banned it, O’Connell true to his principle of solely peaceful means complied with the authorities’ demands and called off the meeting. It was a major turning point, O’Connell’s claim that peaceful means would prevail had proved false. In addition, O’Connell appeared uncertain as to what he should do next, the movement lost momentum and fizzled out. O’Connell died in 1847 in Genoa, Italy while on a pilgrimage to Rome. His heart was buried in Rome and the rest of his body was interred in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin.

Russell Shortt is a travel consultant with Exploring Ireland, the leading specialists in customised, private escorted tours, escorted coach tours and independent self drive tours of Ireland. Article source: http://www.bonment.com