Daniel O’Connell (1775-1847), nicknamed “The Liberator”, was at the forefront of the fight for Catholic Emancipation, achieving it in 1829, establishing the right for Roman Catholics to stand in the British Parliament. Having succeeded in achieving Catholic Emancipation, he set his sights on mobilising Catholic Ireland towards achieving the Repeal of the 1800 Act of Union, re-establishing the legislative independence that had been achieved by Henry Grattan in 1782, this effort however was never successful. His final years were dogged by the horrors of the Irish Famine and a split between his Repeal movement and the more radical Young Irelanders (a term O’Connell himself employed in regards to the Nation newspaper). O’Connell was also an avowed opponent of slavery in the United States, and was a fervent supporter of the abolitionist cause.
Writings
Address From The People of Ireland to Their Countrymen and Countrywomen in America (1841)