The
Context and Development of Irish Literature:
History, Poetry, Landscape
Chapter
Three: Revolution, Emancipation, Starvation, page 4
The 19th century saw two crucial changes in
Irish-English relations: first, organized non-violent Catholic
resistance to British rule; and second, the first signs of a
return to armed and violent insurrection. In the midst of this
occurred the greatest disaster in Irish history, the Great
Famine of 1845-49.
The drive toward Catholic Emancipation--giving Catholics
the right to hold high government and legal offices, and to
sit in Parliament for their own country--was led by another
now-legendary Irish figure, Daniel O’Connell,
"The Liberator." O’Connell was horrified by the
violence he observed first in the aftermath of the French
Revolution and then in the Irish insurrection of 1798.
Possessed of great oratorical and organizational skills and a
master of political maneuvering, he gained a reputation as a
champion of Catholic popular causes. Through his leadership,
the bill for Catholic Emancipation passed into law in 1829,
marking a decisive civil rights victory for the Irish
Catholics. O’Connell attempted to follow this victory up
with a repeal of the Act of Union, but this fight was
unsuccessful. The British Empire was at its zenith at this
time, controlling much of the globe throughout Africa, Egypt,
India, and the Middle East, and had no thought of surrendering
any part of its dominion.
O’Connell’s great contribution to the development of Modern
Ireland was that he virtually created and organized mass
opinion as a political force in Ireland; he taught the Roman
Catholic majority to regard itself as the true Irish nation;
and he contributed further to the foundations for Irish
Nationalism, which would be the dominant force in Irish
politics for the next 100 years. His example of
organized non-violence would have a powerful influence in the
next century on Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Civil
Rights movement in the North of Ireland.
View "Daniel
O'Connell."
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