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Irish Daily Mirror
06-08-2025
- Politics
- Irish Daily Mirror
Daniel O'Connell: One of Ireland's most important figures and ahead of his time
Today, August 6, marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Daniel O'Connell, one of Ireland's most significant historical figures. O'Connell - known as The Great Liberator for freeing Catholics from the Penal Laws - was born this week in 1775, near Cahirsiveen in Co Kerry. A formal State-led commemoration will take place at his ancestral home in Derrynane House to remember how his life-long pursuit of justice, equality and civil rights changed Ireland. The capital's main street is named after the man who managed to achieve his political goals through peaceful means, securing emancipation and repealing the Act of Union. Here, historian Donal Fallon looks at the life and work of a man far ahead of his time, a man who was an anti-slavery pacifist but who also had his critics and who had an enduring impact on us as a nation. Portrait of Daniel O'Connell (Image: Getty Images) The next time you're passing the Daniel O'Connell monument facing onto Dublin's O'Connell Bridge, look closely. On top, when a seagull isn't claiming the position, we see The Great Liberator O'Connell, but in the row below him, the central figure is Ireland herself. She's standing on broken chains and holding the Act of Catholic Emancipation in her hand. Around her are artisans, lawyers, artists, a bishop, children and more besides. The monument has a simple message: all of Ireland stood behind Daniel O'Connell. But closer inspection still reveals bullet holes aplenty. Ireland has taken one to her arm, while several are in O'Connell's chest. The end product of the fierce fighting at Easter Week 1916, there's a certain irony in their presence here. O'Connell was very much a pacifist and someone who rejected revolution. No freedom, he believed, "is worth the shedding of a single drop of human blood". O'Connell entered the world on August 6, 1775, 250 years ago today. Born near Cahersiveen in the Kingdom of Kerry, his life was greatly shaped by the turbulence of the world in the late 18th century. In an Ireland where Catholics were denied many fundamental rights, the generosity of his wealthy uncle Maurice allowed O'Connell to seek an education in France, a place he happened to find himself in when the revolution there took hold. One story has it that the young O'Connell, fleeing from France on boat, encountered the Irish brothers John and Henry Sheares. Rather than being horrified by what had taken hold in France, they instead showed Daniel a handkerchief they had dipped in the blood of the guillotined French king. In 1798, the brothers would meet their own end, hanged outside Dublin's Newgate Prison. In time, O'Connell's political machine became the Catholic Association, a mass movement that charged a membership fee of a single penny, thus bringing the Irish poor into the political arena. Opponents would mock O'Connell as the 'King of the Beggars', but he maintained: "A people who can be thus brought to act together, and by one impulse, are too powerful to be neglected and too formidable to be long opposed." Perhaps fearful of what such a movement could become, the London government granted Catholic Emancipation in 1829, ensuring O'Connell would enter Irish folk memory as 'The Liberator'. In his own lifetime, O'Connell inspired many other movements. Most famously, the American abolitionist Frederick Douglass would spend several months touring the island of Ireland, speaking in cities as diverse as Limerick and Belfast and telling a Dublin audience of the need for a 'Black O'Connell' to emerge in the US. O'Connell was a consistent opponent of slavery wherever it existed and caused major divisions in Irish America by refusing to accept any financial or political support from those who participated in it. Douglass remembered that "while with one arm the Liberator was bursting the fetters of Irishmen, with the other he was striking off the literal chains from the limbs of the Negro". When Barack Obama spoke on College Green in 2011, he focused his speech on the alliance between O'Connell and Douglass, bringing the story to a new generation here. Former US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama attend a rally on College Green on May 23, 2011 in Dublin (Image: Getty Images) O'Connell also condemned "the vicious and atrocious conduct of the East India Company towards the natives" when it came to India and its place in the Empire. But in England, O'Connell was sometimes at loggerheads with democrats and trade unionists, clashing publicly with the Chartists (who believed in many things we take for granted today, like universal suffrage and vote by secret ballot) on several occasions. On the economy, he could be conservative and he dismissed trade unions as "the childish folly of regulating the labour of adults". James Connolly, the executed leader of the Easter Rising, came to hold a deep distaste for O'Connell's record on such issues. The Liberator could also be gushing towards monarchy, insisting when Victoria became queen that "we have on the throne a monarch educated to cherish the rights and liberties of all the people, free from preoccupations and prejudice, and ready to do justice to all". By the end of the century, she would be denounced here as 'The Famine Queen'. If O'Connell was a liberal icon in the eyes of some, he was far too conservative to others. But there is universal agreement on the good O'Connell's commitment to breaking sectarianism in Irish society did. Glasnevin Cemetery and Goldenbridge Cemetery were both founded, thanks to the Catholic Association, as non-denominational cemeteries, finally bringing equality to burials. Many would agree too that O'Connell's 'Monster Meetings', where hundreds of thousands of people would come together demanding political reform, gave Irish people a long-denied voice. New stamps released by An Post capture some of the energy of those massive demonstrations, where people would assemble from all directions at a rallying point. They were a riot of colour, banners and marching bands. The two great political crusades of O'Connell's life were Catholic Emancipation and the return of an Irish Parliament to Dublin. While one of these missions succeeded, the other did not and when O'Connell's statue was put in place in Dublin in 1882, it was looking across the Liffey in the direction of the old Irish Parliament on College Green. At the time of his death in 1847, his passing was noted around the world, reminding us that he was an Irishman whose interest in change extended beyond this tiny island. Donal Fallon is a historian, broadcaster, writer and host of the podcast Three Castles Burning. Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here. The Irish Mirror's Crime Writers Michael O'Toole and Paul Healy are writing a new weekly newsletter called Crime Ireland. Click here to sign up and get it delivered to your inbox every week
RTÉ News
07-07-2025
- RTÉ News
Culmination of events marking 400th anniversary of St Oliver Plunkett's birth
A series of events will take place in Drogheda, Co Louth, over the coming days to mark the culmination of this year's Saint Oliver 400 celebrations. The 400th anniversary of the birth of St Oliver Plunkett is being marked in both Drogheda and the Oldcastle area of Co Meath this year. The iconic saint was born in Loughcrew in Co Meath, on 1 November 1625 and was ordained to the priesthood in Rome in 1654, having studied at the Irish College in the city. He later became the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland and maintained his duties in the face of the Penal Laws when the Catholic Church was being suppressed. St Oliver Plunkett was eventually arrested and tried for treason in London. He was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn on 1 July 1681. A group of his friends managed to rescue his head, which eventually made its way to St Peter's Church in Drogheda. The relic remains there to this day in a specially made shrine. One of the saint's thigh bones is also on display in the side altar of St Brigid's Church in Oldcastle. A series of events is under way to mark 400 years since St Oliver Plunkett's birth, and also the 50 years since his canonisation in 1975, when he became the first newly-made Irish saint for almost 700 years. Tomorrow will see an event titled the 'Plunkett Clan Gathering' take place at Loughcrew House and Gardens, the ancestral seat of the Plunkett family. An ecumenical service in the 17th-century church will be followed by historical talks, live music and refreshments, which organisers have said will be a "heartfelt tribute in a place of deep personal resonance for the saint's descendants". There will be an evening of music and reflection on Saturday with the St Oliver Concert taking place at St Peter's Church on West Street in Drogheda. Musical director Edward Holly will lead St Peter's Male Voice Choir, joined by soloists Seán Tester and Celine Byrne. However, the culmination of the anniversary year arrives on Sunday with the St Oliver Procession, a pageant of faith and remembrance that will see the community walk together in honour of the local saint. Starting from Holy Family Church in Ballsgrove, Drogheda at 3pm, the procession will make its way to St Peter's Church, the home of the shrine to St Oliver Plunkett, where a celebratory mass will be held at 4pm. The mass for the holy relics will be celebrated by Primate of All Ireland Archbishop Eamon Martin, the 23rd successor of St Oliver Plunkett. This weekend's closing events coincide with the end of an The Saint Oliver 400 Commemorative Exhibition runs at 'The Exhibition Space' at Drogheda Civic Offices until Saturday.
RTÉ News
03-07-2025
- RTÉ News
Events to take place celebrating the birth of St Oliver Plunkett
A series of events will take place in Drogheda, Co Louth, over the coming days to mark the culmination of this year's Saint Oliver 400 celebrations. The 400th anniversary of the birth of St Oliver Plunkett is being marked in both Drogheda and the Oldcastle area of Co Meath this year. The iconic saint was born in Loughcrew in Co Meath on 1 November 1625 and was ordained to the priesthood in Rome in 1654, having studied at the Irish College in the city. He later became the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland and maintained his duties in the face of the Penal Laws when the Catholic Church was being suppressed. St Oliver Plunkett was eventually arrested and tried for treason in London. He was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn on 1 July 1681. A group of his friends managed to rescue his head, which eventually made its way to St Peter's Church in Drogheda. The relic remains there to this day in a specially made shrine. One of the saint's thigh bones is also on display in the side altar of St Brigid's Church in Oldcastle. A series of events is under way this year to mark 400 years since St Oliver Plunkett's birth, and also the 50 years since his canonisation in 1975, when he became the first newly-made Irish saint for almost 700 years. Tomorrow will see an event titled the 'Plunkett Clan Gathering' take place at Loughcrew House and Gardens, the ancestral seat of the Plunkett family. An ecumenical service in the 17th-century church will be followed by historical talks, live music and refreshments, which organisers have said will be a "heartfelt tribute in a place of deep personal resonance for the saint's descendants". There will be an evening of music and reflection on Saturday with the St Oliver Concert taking place at St Peter's Church on West Street in Drogheda. Musical director Edward Holly will lead St Peter's Male Voice Choir, joined by soloists Seán Tester and Celine Byrne. However, the culmination of the anniversary year arrives on Sunday with the St Oliver Procession, a pageant of faith and remembrance that will see the community walk together in honour of the local saint. Starting from Holy Family Church in Ballsgrove, Drogheda at 3pm, the procession will make its way to St Peter's Church, the home of the shrine to St Oliver Plunkett, where a celebratory mass will be held. This weekend's closing events coincide with the end of an exhibition, which opened last month and includes a number of artefacts and memorabilia associated with the saint. The Saint Oliver 400 Commemorative Exhibition runs at 'The Exhibition Space' at Drogheda Civic Offices until Saturday.
RTÉ News
09-06-2025
- General
- RTÉ News
Exhibition marks 400th anniversary of St Oliver Plunkett's birth
The official launch of an exhibition to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the birth of St Oliver Plunkett will take place in Drogheda, Co Louth today. The exhibition will include a number of artefacts and memorabilia associated with the iconic saint that have never previously been on public display. St Oliver Plunkett was born in Loughcrew in Co Meath on 1 November 1625 and was ordained to the priesthood in Rome in 1654, having studied at the Irish College in the city. He later became the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland and maintained his duties in the face of the Penal Laws when the Catholic Church was being suppressed. St Oliver Plunkett was eventually arrested and tried for treason in London. He was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn on 1 July 1681. His head was rescued by a group of his friends and eventually made its way to St Peter's Church in Drogheda, where it remains today in a specially made shrine. A series of events is taking place in the town this year to mark 400 years since St Oliver Plunkett's birth, and also the 50 years since his can canonisation in 1975, when he became the first newly-made Irish saint for almost 700 years. The official launch of the St Oliver 400 Commemorative Exhibition will take place at the Drogheda Civic Offices on Fair Street. The exhibition will include St Oliver's Crozier loaned from a private collection, the original ebony casing which housed the saint's head and an original coffin plate from the Monastery of St Catherine of Siena in Drogheda. Other items going on public display are three silver crucifixes attributed to the saint and vestments loaned from St Patrick's Cathedral in Armagh and Mullingar Museum. The exhibition also includes a large collection of banners, books, coins and a written account of the then archbishop's trial in London in 1681. Co-chair of the Saint Oliver 400 Community Group, Tommy Burns said: "It is fitting that St Oliver who reformed the clergy, built schools, brought peace and hope to the people is still so fondly remembered in Ireland, and exemplified in this important exhibition in Drogheda, 400 years after his birth." Meanwhile, local historian Séamus Bellew, who specialises in heraldry and genealogy, said: "This exhibition brings together a rare collection of items, comprising books, brasses and the reliquary that housed St Oliver's head, all from the 17th century and much more besides...a must see." Thomas McEvoy, Deputy Chief Executive of Louth County Council, said it is important to commemorate the life of St Oliver as his story is one of "resilience and integrity during some of the most turbulent periods in our history." Mr McEvoy said: "His unwavering commitment to peace, reconciliation, and education serves as a timeless example for us all and the Saint Oliver 400 Exhibition brings this legacy to life in a new and powerful way. "On behalf of Louth County Council, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the Saint Oliver 400 Community Group who have organised this exhibition here in our Civic Offices in the heart of Drogheda." The exhibition runs at 'The Exhibition Space' at Drogheda Civic Offices on weekdays until 4 July.
Irish Daily Mirror
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Daily Mirror
Charging Kneecap with terrorism offences brings out the inner republican in us
My inner republican rose up when I heard British police charged one of Kneecap with terrorism offences. The Brits: never not at it, I thought to myself. Yet another way to silence Irish voices and stifle Irish culture. My mind went back to Thatcherism and Nicky Kelly and even Bobby Sands. I finally reeled myself in when I got to the Penal Laws and 800 years of oppression. I'm not even a fan of Kneecap. I think they're sad panto nationalists, glorifying terrorism in tricolour balaclavas, from the safe position of not being directly affected by it. They do one thing on stage and say another off it, so to me, their authenticity is in question. They're the Wolfe Tones in tracksuits, as the punk poet Jinx Lennon said. But my defensive reaction to Kneecap's Liam Og O hAnnaidh being charged with terrorism offences for waving a Hezbollah flag was probably natural for someone who grew up in a republican house in the fraught 1980s and 1990s. I'm also a strong supporter of free speech and expression, even when I find that speech or expression deeply wrong - which I definitely do, in O hAnnaidh's case. Police said he's accused of displaying the flag 'in such a way or such circumstances to arouse reasonable suspicion he is a supporter of a proscribed organisation." Charging a young fella with serious terrorist offences in a situation like this is excessive heavy-handedness. Granted, there's a certain revolutionary cachet to it, for the rapper. But the reality is, he won't get into the USA if he has a terrorism conviction. That would be the end of Kneecap's American ambitions. However, that's their law, as anyone thinking of doing something like this in front of a crowd of thousands in Britain should know. Their courts will decide next month. Anyway, the whole case is an overall part of the culture battle around the Israel Gaza war that I find excruciating. It all seems petty palavar compared to the nightmarish realities of what's happening there on the ground. The tinfoil-hat theory that Israel rigged the Eurovision voting is more such nonsense. Some can't fathom how Israel came first in the public vote, so it must be a conspiracy. This is despite the fact the EBU says the voting system is one of the most advanced in the world, independently checked and verified by a huge team of people. RTE has requested a breakdown in voting numbers from the EBU and TD Paul Murphy urged the national broadcaster to review the votes. Why would Israel bother, and to what end? The more obvious explanation is voters liked Yuval Raphael's entry. She's a survivor of the October 7 attacks, who sounded like Celine Dion singing a Bond theme. The aim ultimately is to ban Israel from the contest over its military action in Gaza. It all seems so silly, but dark events this week put a new complexion on the cultural conversation around it. First of all, the world watched in horror as thousands in Gaza were brought to the brink of death by Israel's refusal to lift its 11-week blockade. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said he only bowed to pressure to ease it as allies 'could not tolerate images of mass famine.' Then on Wednesday night, two staff members of the Israeli embassy in Washington DC were shot and killed while leaving an event at a Jewish museum. The victims, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, were a couple in their 20s due to be married. They were leaving an event in the Capital Jewish Museum when the suspect opened fire. He yelled: 'Free, free Palestine' when arrested. We're at a dangerous point in the world. The reality is we're all going to have to tread carefully when it comes to discussing this most contentious issue of our time. Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here.
