Daniel O'Connell was born in 1775 in Co. Kerry.
He went to a local school and then after a brief
period in France, went on to study law in London.
He became a barrister and fought for the civic
freedom of the Irish Catholics. He had been
much influenced by his family. His
grandmother had had 22 children, and her
daughter "Dark Eileen", Eilin Dubh,
composed a lament for her husband
who had been shot dead because he refused
to give up his horse, which under a law
discriminating against Catholics, he was
required to do.Daniel achieved catholic
emancipation in 1829, and became
Ireland's first Catholic MP, and was
called "liberator".
He lived in Derrynane House, where
he was adopted by a rich uncle. The
Uncle disapproved of his marriage to
a distant cousin, because she brought
no dowry she was one of 10 children of
a Tralee Doctor. However their marriage
went ahead and was by all accounts a
happy one and the Uncle eventually came
round .In 1825 Daniel inherited
Derrynane on his uncles death, and he
lived and worked there for the rest of
his career. |
