Feargus O'Connor

A survey of Feargus O'Connor's career (1795-1855) written for a general and academic audience. O'Connor entered parliament as member for the county of Cork in 1832. In 1837 he established the Northern Star newspaper at Leeds, and became a vehement advocate of the Chartist movement. Imprisoned for seditious libel in 1840, he was returned for Nottingham in 1847, and in 1848 he presided at a Chartist demonstration on Kennington Common, which caused great alarm. He was "seriously concerned about the well-being of the millions in Ireland. Repeal - the abolition of the Union, that is, the achievement of an independent Irish Parliament - is not an empty word, not a pretext for obtaining posts for himself and his friends and for making profitable private business transactions..."