Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Daniel O’Connell’S Struggle To Harness Religion And Nationalism In The Pursuit Of Universal Civil Rights And Home Rule In Ireland, Colin Daunt

History Theses

In this paper I examined the religious shift in Irish national identity, from Protestant to Catholic, in the early 19^th century. This shift was led by Daniel O’Connell, who led the Irish home rule movement up until his death in 1847. O’Connell had to maintain a delicate balance in his push for independence; he wanted a legislatively independent and unified Ireland for both Catholics and Protestants. But he could never attain the balance he desired because the Protestants were always wary of the O’Connell’s Catholicism. Their wariness was due to O’Connell’s early focus on Catholic Emancipation; he believed every …