Daniel O’Connell (1803 – 1822)
Above: Daniel O’Connell
After the Union there was no appearance of the promised bill for Emancipation. The old Catholic Committee still survived, held its meetings in Dublin, and kept the claims of the Catholics before parliament and the public; but there appeared very little hope, for king George III. continued as obstinate as ever. In 1805 Grattan became a member of the United Parlia- ment, and devoted himself almost exclusively to the cause of Irish Catholic emancipation. In 1807 the duke of Richmond came over as lord lieutenant, with Sir Arthur Wellesley-afterwards the duke of Wel- lington-as chief secretary.
Some time before this a few of the bishops, as an inducement for the government to grant emancipation, agreed that the crown should have a veto in the appointment of Irish Catholic bishops : that is to say, when the man had been selected by the Irish eccles- iastical authorities, his name should be submitted to the king : if the king objected another was to be chosen. But the general body of Catholics, clergy and people, knew nothing of this.
In 1808 a petition for Catholic relief was brought to London by the Catholic lord Fingall and Dr. Milner. It was presented to parliament by Grattan and some others, who, on the authority of lord Fingall and Dr. Milner, offered the. veto. This made the matter of the veto public; the clergy and people generally repudiated it: the bishops formally con- demned it at one of their meetings; and in addition to all this the government, even with the offer before them, refused to entertain the petition. Fins veto question continued to be discussed for some years, and caused considerable dissension among the Catholics. The Irish aristocracy were generally in favour of it. Those who opposed it, led by O’Connell, ultimately prevailed.
About this time Daniel O’Connell, afterwards familiarly known as the ” Liberator,” began to come prominently into notice. He was the chief figure in Irish political history for half a century, and was one of the greatest popular leaders the world ever saw, He was born, 6th of August 1775, at Carhen near Cahersiveen county Kerry the son of Morgan O’Connell and was adopted by his uncle Maurice O’Con- nell, who afterwards left him his residence, Darrynane Abbey near Cahersiveen. He was sent at thirteen to a school near Queen stown-the very first school opened in Ireland after the relaxation of the penal laws. While still a boy he spent some time at St. Omer’s and at Douay in France, where he studied with distinction. Returning, he was called to the bar in 1798, and at once came to the front as a most successful advocate. His first public speech against the Union was made to a body of freeholders in 1800 in the Royal Exchange, Dublin, which was the beginning of an agitation car- ried on during the rest of his life.
