“Glorious Repeal Meeting Held at Tara Hill”
Description
Dan and Steele at the Tara meeting say they won't yield without repeal of the Union. "God bless our Queen ... But in spite of all the tory clan We will repeal the Union." "In spite of Wellington and Peel We'll gain our liberation"
Notes
Daniel O'Connell founded National Association of Ireland for full and prompt Justice and Repeal April 1840 (In January the Association was renamed the Loyal National Repeal Association). O'Connell argued that the Union Act of 1801 was invalid. In October Young Ireland established The Nation which supported Repeal. In 1843 O'Connell spoke to "monster" meetings attended by 100,000 or more supporters in favor of Repeal. The June meeting at Mallow was followed in August by the meeting at Tara and, in September, by a meeting at Mullaghmast. Finally, on October 7 [my sources all say October 4 - RBW], the government prohibited the meeting scheduled at Clontarf the following day. O'Connell issued a notice that the meeting was "abandoned." That ended the Repeal meetings. (source: The Princess Grace Irish Library (Monaco) site entry for Daniel O'Connell; O'Connell's notice for the Clontarff meeting can be read at 1169 and Counting site)
Zimmermann 50: "Thomas Steele, although a protestant landlord, was one of O'Connell's lieutenants."
The commentary for broadside NLScotland L.C.Fol.178.A.2(065) states "The meeting at Tara, Co. Meath in the summer of 1843, is now estimated to have been attended by 750,000 people." - BS
A number which should inspire some skepticism -- 750,000 people was a tenth of the population of Ireland! Robert Kee (p. 208 of _The Most Distressful Country_, which is volume I of _The Green Flag_) mentions this estimate, but notes that it was from _The Nation_, which was pro-Irish. O'Connell's estimate was an even more absurd million and a half. A more realistic estimate is a quarter of a million (from Cecil Woodham-Smith, _The Great Hunger_, p. 11).
For additional information on the context, see the notes on "The Meeting of Tara." - RBW
Historical references
- Aug 15, 1843 - Repeal meeting at Tara (source: Zimmermann)
Cross references
- cf. "The Meeting of Tara" (subject)
- cf. "Daniel O'Connell (I)" (subject: Daniel O'Connell) and references there
References
- Zimmermann 50A, "Glorious Repeal Meeting Held at Tara Hill" (1 text)
- BI, Zimm050A