A review of 'King Dan: the rise of Daniel O'Connell, 1775-1829 by Patrick M. Geoghegan' (Pre-published version)

Abstract

This very readable work is the first volume of a proposed two-volume study of the life and political career of Daniel O'Connell, concentrating on his career up to the granting of Catholic emancipation in 1829. One might ask whether there was any need for such a work given the range of similar studies, from that by O'Faolain in 1938 through those of O'Ferrall (1985) and MacDonagh (1988), as well as edited volumes by MacCartney (1980), and Nowlan and O'Connell (1991). Many of the themes dealt with in Geoghegan's first volume have already been given considerable attention in these earlier works. For example, O'Connell's ebullient personality and his straddling of the Gaelic and Anglicised worlds form the core of O'Faolain's aptly entitled King of the Beggars', O'Ferrall's Daniel O'Connell and the birth of Irish democracy has teased out the mechanics and dynamics of the emancipation campaign - and especially the role of the Waterford clergy - in laying the foundation of O'Connell's political machine; and MacDonagh's Hereditary bondsman: Daniel O'Connell 1775-1829 has explored the impact of family and locality on O'Connell's political evolution, as well as the tensions in his public personality between statesman and popular agitator. The essay collections have further extended the examination of O'Connell's career to cover such issues as his position as a folk hero, his social and economic beliefs, his impact, and his reputation in the wider European context.