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Daniel O'Connell

Daniel O'Connell
Dónall Ó Conaill
Daniel O'Connell.png
O'Connell, in an 1836 watercolour by Bernard Mulrenin.
Member of Parliament
for Clare
In office
5 July 1828 – 29 July 1830
Preceded by William Vesey-FitzGerald
Succeeded by William Macnamara
Member of Parliament
for Dublin City
In office
22 December 1832 – 16 May 1836
Preceded by Sir Frederick Shaw
Succeeded by George Hamilton
Member of Parliament
for Dublin City
In office
5 August 1837 – 10 July 1841
Preceded by George Hamilton
Succeeded by John West
Lord Mayor of Dublin
In office
1841–1842
Preceded by Sir John James, 1st Baronet
Succeeded by George Roe
Personal details
Born (1775-08-06)6 August 1775
Cahersiveen, County Kerry, Ireland
Died 15 May 1847(1847-05-15) (aged 71)
Genoa, Kingdom of Sardinia
Resting place Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin
Political party
Spouse(s) Mary O'Connell (m.1802)
Children
Alma mater Lincoln's Inn
King's Inns
Occupation Barrister, political activist
Religion Roman Catholicism
Signature
Military service
Allegiance  Kingdom of Ireland
Service/branch Yeomanry
Years of service 1797
Unit Lawyer's Artillery Corps

Daniel O'Connell (Irish: Dónall Ó Conaill; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), often referred to as The Liberator or The Emancipator, was an Irish political leader in the first half of the 19th century. He campaigned for Catholic emancipation—including the right for Catholics to sit in the Westminster Parliament, denied for over 100 years—and repeal of the Act of Union which combined Great Britain and Ireland.

O'Connell was born at Carhan near Cahersiveen, County Kerry, to the O'Connells of Derrynane, a once-wealthy Roman Catholic family, that had been dispossessed of its lands. Among his uncles was Daniel Charles, Count O'Connell, an officer in the Irish Brigades of the French Army. A famous aunt was Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill, while Sir James O'Connell, 1st Baronet, was his younger brother. Under the patronage of his wealthy bachelor uncle Maurice "Hunting Cap" O'Connell, he studied at Douai in France and was admitted as a barrister to Lincoln's Inn in 1794, transferring to Dublin's King's Inns two years later. In his early years, he became acquainted with the pro-democracy radicals of the time and committed himself to bringing equal rights and religious tolerance to his own country.

While in Dublin studying for the law, O'Connell was under his Uncle Maurice's instructions not to become involved in any militia activity. When Wolfe Tone's French invasion fleet entered Bantry Bay in December 1796, O'Connell found himself in a quandary. Politics was the cause of his unsettlement. Dennis Gwynn in his Daniel O'Connell: The Irish Liberator suggests that the unsettlement was because he was enrolled as a volunteer in defence of Government, yet the Government was intensifying its persecution of the Catholic people—of which he was one. He desired to enter Parliament, yet every allowance that the Catholics had been led to anticipate, two years previously, was now flatly vetoed.


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Wikipedia

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