Monument unveiled at special ceremony in Kerry to mark mass meeting held by Charles Stewart Parnell
Mr Parnell, an MP who was the founder of the Irish National Land League, held one of his signature meetings in the field of Patrick O'Sullivan at Beaufort Hotel on Sunday, May 16, 1880.
The gathering was held in defiance of the orders of the local landlord residing at Dunloe Castle, and it drew an enormous crowd.
Padraig O'Sullivan of the Beaufort Bar, a direct descendant of the owner of the field where Parnell's meeting was held 145 years ago, addressed those who attended the ceremony and unveiled the new monument.
The stone monument is located beside Beaufort Bar and was designed by Tomas O'Sullivan, an uilleann piper and artist who composed a piece of music called 'Parnell's Blackbird'.
Some of the guests in attendance were also involved in researching the story of Parnell's meeting in Beaufort.
The mass meeting was held following some 'misunderstanding' between local landlords and their tenants and attracted around 3,000 people, according to a report on the 1880 gathering in the Dundalk Democrat.
The meeting was assembled to proclaim that the present land laws required a change and to punish the men who attempted to drive people from their homes, the newspaper report stated.
Parnellite MP 'The O'Donoghue' told those in attendance that the scene of landlord tyranny was the proper place to hold a meeting. He soon introduced Mr Parnell, who was met with 'vociferous cheering'.
Parnell told those gathered that the land meeting was the largest he had been at in twelve months.
The nationalist leader said land agitation would allow for the end of the landlord system, and that the people of Ireland were united in a great movement of obtaining for the people the land of their native country.
ADVERTISEMENT
Parnell proposed that evictions should be suspended for two years in holdings valued under £20 and called for landlords who charged excessive rent to be punished. He said land agitation would increase tenfold in intensity if the legislature failed to step in.
The politician had also commented on the difficulties and dangers faced by the Irish people, including the famine and unfair laws made by landlords, and this was met with great cheers by those assembled.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Independent
an hour ago
- Irish Independent
Gerry Adams to donate €100,000 from BBC defamation trial to Irish language and Palestinian charities
Mr Adams took the BBC to court over a 2016 episode of its Spotlight programme, and an accompanying online story, which he said defamed him by alleging he sanctioned the killing of former Sinn Féin official Denis Donaldson, for which he denies any involvement. Last Friday, a jury at the High Court in Dublin found in his favour and awarded him €100,000 after determining that was the meaning of words included in the programme and article. The BBC will also have to pay Mr Adams's legal costs. During an eight-minute video posted on the official Sinn Féin YouTube channel, Mr Adams accused the BBC of showing 'arrogance' when it did not resolve the dispute after he issued legal letters nine years ago. In Putting Manners On The BBC – The Gerry Adams Blog, Mr Adams said that the BBC has been held accountable for the content it broadcasts. Mr Adams said: 'As for the money that the jury awarded me in damages, I will donate this to good causes. 'These will include the children of Gaza, groups in Ireland involved in helping the homeless, Cumann Carad, the Irish language sector and other projects like this in west Belfast. 'When the case began six weeks ago, the BBC's legal strategy was evident very quickly. Their narrative was that pursued by successive British and Irish governments for years. 'They blamed everything during the conflict on Irish Republicans and by extension, during this trial, on me. 'The BBC lawyers embarked on a Jesuitical presentation of the case that tried to convince the jurors that the words broadcast and published by the British Broadcasting Corporation, that I had sanctioned the murder of Denis Donaldson, did not, in fact, mean that I sanctioned the murder of Denis Donaldson. ADVERTISEMENT 'They were, they said, that's the British Broadcasting Corporation, not defending the truth of the accusation. 'Instead they were defending, they claimed, their journalism, which they said was fair and reasonable, in the public interest and made in good faith. 'They concluded their case by trying to exert moral pressure on the jurors by claiming that a defeat for the British Broadcasting Corporation would be a blow to freedom of speech and a setback to victims. 'In the end the jury didn't buy in to any of this. 'On all the key issues the jurors unanimously accepted that the script used by the Spotlight programme did mean that I had sanctioned and approved the murder of Denis Donaldson.' He said that after the BBC's decision to air the Spotlight programme, he decided to sue the broadcaster. Mr Adams said the BBC could have resolved the dispute there and then. 'They chose not to. Why? That's a question to be asked. Why did they not resolve this issue when they could have? 'Was it arrogance? Yes, that's part of it. But I also suspect political interference. 'In January, the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer responded to a decision in the High Court in Belfast, which included that I and, by implication, up to 400 other former internees, were wrongfully detained and that we were entitled to compensation. 'Mr Starmer told the British Parliament that he would look at every conceivable way to block compensation being paid.' Mr Adams also urged the Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan to met Denis Donaldson's family. He signed off by saying 'slan agus tog go bog e', which means goodbye and take it easy. Earlier this week, the BBC was granted time to consider appealing against the jury's decision. The broadcaster was granted a stay on paying the full costs and damages to allow it time to consider whether to lodge an appeal. The stay was subject to paying half the damages €50,000 and €250,000 towards solicitors' fees.
Agriland
an hour ago
- Agriland
The Farming Week: Cooling beef prices, Taoiseach on farmers and climate, the next CAP
The Farming Week: Cooling beef prices, Taoiseach on farmers and climate, the next CAP June 5, 2025 4:58 pm Charles O'Donnell, Francess McDonnell, Breifne O'Brien and Maitiú Monaghan bring you the biggest stories of the week in Irish agriculture from Agriland, which this week includes: Agriculture and Climate Change Conference; 20 EU agri ministers defend two-pillar CAP; Latest on beef prices; Report outlines climate change risk to agriculture; Fines for not disclosing vet medicine withdrawal; Common cranes return to Offaly bog. Don't forget to rate, review and follow The Farming Week, Agriland's weekly review of Irish agriculture, and visit for more. *This podcast is sponsored by AXA Farm Insurance
Agriland
an hour ago
- Agriland
ICMSA: Farmers ‘on board' with climate change plans
The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association (ICMSA) president, Denis Drennan has said that despite massive challenges, Irish farmers are engaged in the effort to address climate change. Speaking at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) Agriculture and Climate Change conference, Drennan said that the results and data were now 'showing the fruits' of farmers' efforts. Drennan believes that farmers are committed and 'on board' with plans to mitigate climate change. However, he stressed that farmers needed reassurance that those plans still rested on 'the three pillars of sustainability', including economic, environmental, and social. The ICMSA president said: 'There are challenges ahead that will have to be faced, and even leaving aside the very significant and unfair anomalies in the accountancy framework used for measuring emissions, the most obvious challenge is the ongoing failure of government to step up and support farmers. 'It's this failure of the government to support its own policies and recommendations that is hampering even more encouraging results and data. 'Irish agriculture is leading the way globally in meeting the climate challenge and the ICMSA believes that farmers can, and will, do more if properly supported,' Drennan added. Climate change According to the ICMSA president, the government has to stop 'coming up with reasons for not taking action' on climate change. Drennan believes that Budget 2026 should be used to signal a 'more proactive approach'. He also called on the government to 'work with farmers to make progress' on Ireland's emission targets. Drennan said: 'Work with farmers to make more progress ,or ultimately pay the fines that will be levied, because Ireland falls short on the emissions targets that could have been hit if we'd had the support. 'Budget 2026 is where we'll see if the government understands that choice and has made a decision that is logical on both the environmental and financial fronts,' he added.
