‘Democracy’ and the Irish People, 1830–48

Abstract

The mass movements led by Daniel O’Connell were perceived as ‘democratic’ not only within the British Isles but also on the European continent. O’Connell presented himself as a democrat – meaning by this that he championed the cause of the people, not that he advocated any particular form of government. In fact the emphasis in the Repeal movement was above all on a rather vaguely conceived national regeneration. O’Connell's control over his followers impressed some observers: it seemed that he had contained democracy's disruptive potential. When his unionist opponents called him a democrat they by contrast invoked the term's negative associations. ‘Young Ireland’ nationalists were initially cool about democracy, but warmed to it, especially from 1848. It is unclear whether the language of ‘democracy’ had currency among O’Connell's followers, though both words and imagery impressed upon them the idea that the movement promoted the cause of the Irish people.