Daniel O’Connell would be delighted that people were still talking about him and discussing his legacy 250 years on from his birth, according to a leading authority on the Kerry-born campaigner for Catholic emancipation.
Trinity College Dublin historian Prof Patrick Geoghegan said O’Connell, who was born at Carhan just outside Cahersiveen on August 6th, 1775, was the pre-eminent figure in 19th century Ireland. But his influence was felt far beyond these shores.
“Daniel O’Connell was our liberator – it was his movement for civil rights in the 19th century which transformed Ireland and provided an inspiration for peaceful, mass democratic movements around the world,” said Prof Geoghegan, speaking in Trinity College.
“O’Connell has been compared to Mahatma Gandhi, to Martin Luther King Jr, and to other great civil rights leaders throughout world history. He inspired the great black abolitionists in the United States in the 19th century, who viewed O’Connell as the great champion of freedom.”
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Prof Geoghegan, author of the two volume biography of O’Connell “King Dan – The Rise of Daniel O’Connell 1775 to 1829 and “Liberator: The Life and Death of Daniel O’Connell 1830-1847″, is in no doubt but that O’Connell would have enjoyed the attention he still receives today.
“I think O’Connell would love the attention. He considered himself the greatest figure in Irish history. He would be delighted that he was still being talked about and discussed on the 250th anniversary of his birth,” he said.
“He was also very sensitive to criticism, so he probably wouldn’t like any of the debates that were taking a more critical eye on aspects of his career, but I think he would be proud that we’re still fighting for those important values and ideals of freedom, democracy, liberty and human rights.”
The 250th anniversary of O’Connell’s birth has already been marked by An Post, which has issued two commemorative stamps, one depicting his reception following his release from the Richmond Bridewell prison in 1844 and one depicting him addressing one of his famous “monster meetings”.
Meanwhile, locals in the Liberator’s ancestral home are holding a series of events as part of O’Connell 250 Cahersiveen to mark the anniversary, with Kerry County Council chairman Cllr Michael Foley unveiling a commemorative plaque at Carhan on Wednesday.
This will be followed by the unveiling of a second plaque, also on Wednesday, beside the Penal Chapel where O’Connell was most likely baptised overlooking the Old Abbey where his parents, Morgan and Catherine O’Connell are buried.
For further information on the various events marking the anniversary visit the O’Connell 250 Cahersiveen website.
