Title : THE MAN WHO ALWAYS WORE A GLOVE
Daniel O’Connel always wore a glove. He was a brilliant lawyer.
His was the time of the Penal Laws enacted on Ireland by England. They were started by Henry VIII, and after Cromwell, they became fierce. During that time, all Catholics, 95% of the population, were excluded from all education. It was at that time the Hedge Schools were set up. Not only were Catholics barred from all the professions, but Irish industry, such as wool and shipping, was destroyed, and Catholics lost 95% of the land.
Why did O’Connel wear a glove? Once he was involved in a duel, and a man died; He wore a glove from then on, as a sign of the guilt he felt.
After 1801, when the Irish Parliament was dissolved, and Ireland was ruled directly from Westminster, O’Connel managed to become an M.P. In 1829 he obtained Catholic Emancipation, and from then onwards he was known as the “Liberator”. He guided Ireland through the early 1840’s. However, after this time the Young Ireland Movement turned against him as they were activists, and he wanted only a political solution without bloodshed to the Home Rule problems
Sadly at the time of his death in 1847, Ireland was a stricken country, an abandoned race, in the throes of the Great Famine of 1846-1847-1848. Four million people either died or emigrated, mostly to America, but also to Liverpool and other English cities.
Rose Lynch 26 Jan 2006
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