Daniel O'Connell (I) (Irish: Dónall Ó Conaill; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilization of Catholic Ireland, down to the poorest class of tenant farmers, secured the final installment of Catholic emancipation in 1829 and allowed him to take a seat in the United Kingdom Parliament to which he had been twice elected.
Biography[]
Daniel O'Connell was born in County Kerry in 1775. He was educated in France and later qualified as a barrister in London. Upon returning to Ireland, he became involved in Irish politics and was a key figure in the movement for Catholic Emancipation, which sought to give Catholics equal political and civil rights to Protestants.
O'Connell was elected to the British House of Commons in 1828, but as a Catholic, he was initially barred from taking his seat. However, after much protest and agitation, he was finally able to take his place in Parliament in 1829.
O'Connell continued to campaign for Irish rights and in 1840, he founded the Repeal Association, which sought the repeal of the Act of Union that had merged Ireland with Great Britain in 1801. The Association gained widespread support in Ireland, but O'Connell's calls for peaceful resistance were not always heeded.
In 1843, O'Connell organized a massive rally at Tara Hill, County Meath, which drew over 100,000 people. The British government saw this as a potential threat and banned further rallies. O'Connell defied the ban and was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit a felony. He was convicted and sentenced to a year in prison, which he served in Richmond Prison in Dublin.
After his release, O'Connell's health began to decline and he died in 1847 while on a pilgrimage to Rome. He is remembered as a champion of Irish rights and his efforts paved the way for Irish Home Rule in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.