Rebel in His Family: Selected Papers of William Smith O'Brien: No. 7 (Irish Narratives S.) - Softcover

Richard Davis And Marianne Davis

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1859181813 ISBN 13: 9781859181812

Publisher: Cork University Press, 1998

Synopsis

William Smith O'Brien was an improbable revolutionary, ill at ease as a leader of the 1848 rising at Ballingarry, Co. Tipperary, and then as a convict languishing in Van Diemen's Land until 1854. His aristocratic background and demeanor, his late conversion to Repeal in 1843, and his refusal to engage in active politics during his final years in Ireland, have made him a perplexing figure for biographers as well as his contemporaries. His politics also perplexed and outraged his father's family, the O'Brien's of Dromoland in Co. Clare. Even so, as his extensive family correspondence reveals, O'Brien was never abandoned by the majority of his kinsfolk. The previously unpublished letters exchanged amongst the O'Brien family between 1819 and 1864 reveal an unexpectedly warm, if sententious personality, striving to preserve his family status and affections amidst controversy and disgrace. The publication of these letters is a fitting memorial to one of Ireland's most elusive rebels.

About this title

About the Author

Richard Davis formerly Professor of History at the University of Tasmania, has published widely on 1848 and other Irish topics.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cork University Press
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1859181813
• ISBN 13: 9781859181812
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 94
• Editor: Richard Davis, Marianne Davis