The Taoiseach has paid tribute to Daniel O’Connell for achieving Catholic Emancipation at two separate events on Aug 6th marking the 250th anniversary of his birth.
At the unveiling of a commemorative plaque at his birthplace, Micheal Martin underlined how deeply the anti-Catholic Penal Laws affected the people, such that “open practice” was banned, Catholics were “excluded from education, politics and professions” and attempts were made “to try to force the conversion of Catholic landed interests, such as the O’Connell’s, to the established religion”.
Reversing this was “the great cause of Emancipation” which O’Connell took up and he extended the arguments to a universal freedom of religion.
At the State Commemoration at Derrynane, O’Connell’s “tireless advocacy for Catholic Emancipation” was recognised.
The Taoiseach noted his rootedness in faith which, he said, he became much more personally and deeply committed to as he grew older.
He said O’Connell took up “the cause of Catholic Emancipation with all of the fire and determination he brought to his legal work”, and its achievement in 1829 “resonated throughout the world”.
A booklet accompanying the event also underlined the specific religious core of his work, mentioning the word “Catholic” no fewer than 19 times.
