No Irish leader has exerted as much international influence as Daniel O’Connell with his Catholic emancipation campaign resulting in him being hailed a hero by all who believe in liberty, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said.
Mr Martin said that the success of “the Liberator” in campaigning for Catholic emancipation in 1829 led to people all over the world looking to Ireland for inspiration about how to bring together oppressed people to achieve dramatic breakthroughs.
The Taoiseach was speaking at a State commemoration at O’Connell’s ancestral home in Caherdaniel, Co Kerry, to mark the 250th anniversary of his birth. He said aside from being “an inspiration to many Catholic communities who faced discrimination and repression around the world, he was also an icon for others, in particular Europe’s Jewish community”.
“And of course he was a leader and a symbol of hope for those who were campaigning for the abolition of slavery wherever it was to be found,” said Mr Martin. He added that O’Connell and Ireland’s story was followed closely by newspapers and journals worldwide.
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Mr Martin said it would be wrong to think O’Connell cared only about Catholic emancipation as his focus was on oppression generally.
“ He believed that members of all religions and in all countries should have the right to fully participate in the professional and political life of the state.
“He was not looking for supremacy, but for equality and respect. And to achieve it he built an organisation the like of which the world had never before seen. There had been many popular risings in world history, but there was no example of a mass democratic political movement before.”
He said O’Connell brought all the fire and determination that had characterised his legal work to the cause of Catholic emancipation, and, as he grew older, he became much more personally and deeply committed to his faith.
Mr Martin said O’Connell does not simply represent a distant part of Irish history but his tireless campaigning seeking to unite the Irish people behind the shared values of solidarity and justice means he remains an inspiring beacon for Irish people today.
The event, at the OPW-managed Derrynane House, was attended by 200 invited guests, including Minister for Culture Patrick O’Donovan, who also spoke of O’Connell’s continuing relevance in the modern world.
“The world can be a turbulent place, and it can appear to be worsening. Daily we see breaches in civil rights, famine and wars. We can draw strength from our past. We can remember what we have already overcome, we can look to the example of O’Connell.
“And when we do, we can see what one man was capable of achieving through peaceful means, and how his success motivated so many others in the global pursuit of civil rights and democratic reform,” said Mr O’Donovan.
Among the guests, which included many public representatives, were more than 20 of O’Connell’s descendants including his great-great-great granddaughter, Emily Lenehan, who delivered a reflection on her illustrious ancestor on behalf of the O’Connell family.
The ceremony concluded with Mr Martin unveiling a commemorative plaque to O’Connell carved from Valentia slate and the planting of an oak tree, for which he was joined by two of O’Connell’s youngest descendants, Finlay (12) and Charlotte Davidson (six).
