William Dargan, An Honourable Life (1799–1867) by Fergus Mulligan (review)

Abstract

Despite these lapses of presentation, Fanning has yet again produced a stimulating book that opens new perspectives on modern Ireland. Patrick Maume works as a researcher with the Royal Irish Academy’s ongoing Dictionary of Irish Biography. He is a graduate of University College Cork and Queen’s University Belfast. William Dargan, An Honourable Life (1799–1867), Fergus Mulligan (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 2013), 312 pages. Daniel O’Connell looms large in my life. His extraordinary contribution to our prospects and culture changed all that followed in his political wake. As an Irish politician I stand, with due humility, on the shoulders of his achievements. The other, more prosaic, reason for his prominence is that I can see his grave every morning from my bedroom window! This view is possible because I am very lucky to live close to the national treasure that is Glasnevin Cemetery. The proximity of this cemetary to the Botanic Gardens, and their joining through a spendid gateway constructed by the Office of Public Works, offers an extraordinary and rewarding trail. Life and death are juxtaposed, with many and varied aspects of our national heritage on display. My more recent visits to this pathway have included a visit to a slightly less well-known grave, that of William Dargan – engineer and businessman. This year marks the 150th anniversary of his death. This anniversary makes it all the more appropriate to comment on a beautiful biography, William Dargan, An Honourable Life 1799–1867, by Fergus Mulligan, a life-long devotee of this extraordinary figure. The author opens with the claim that, ‘One of the aims of this book is to show just how unique was Dargan’s contribution to Ireland and to suggest that he, as much and probably more than any other figure in nineteenth-century Ireland, deserves that overused and sometimes abused title of “patriot”. He was, this volume contends, “a giant among men”’. Upon completing this delightful book, this reader, for one, is now in full agreement with both claims. Before moving to the canvas of achievement that was the life of Dargan, it is worth pausing on some of his lesser-known contributions and efforts.Any of these would merit a footnote in Irish history, but their recognition, along with his more famous achievements, does justice 246 Studies • volume 106 • number 422 Summer 2017: Book Reviews to the breadth of his accomplishments. The Great Industrial Exhibition of 1853 has unduly faded to the recesses of our national history. Organised by the Royal Dublin Society, this event was at the instigation of Dargan, who was a life member of the RDS. His motivations extended beyond reflecting national glory. He negotiated a deal that stipulated that, if the surplus from the exhibition exceeded a certain level, he would receive £20,000 plus five per cent of the excess. If the exhibition made a loss, he would cover the deficit. This acumen was at the heart of all else he would achieve. The exhibition was held in a hall constructed on the lawns of what is commonly known as Leinster House on Kildare Street. Standing ninety metres tall, ‘The inside was painted light blue, the ribs in buff picked out in scarlet’. The opening ceremony was attended by dignitaries, including the mayors of Manchester and Liverpool and a government minister from Peru. Within a week visitor numbers reached 5,000 per day. Such success garnered royal interest, with Queen Victoria paying a visit on 30 August 1853. Upon meeting Dargan she ‘laid her hand on his arm and shook it warmly, drawing a burst of cheering from the crowd’. Such warmth extended to a visit to his home, in Mount Anville, where she drank tea and admired the views of Dublin Bay. The industry and vision of Dargan is similarly reflected in an uncelebrated, minor but fascinating episode of Irish transport history. The opening of the Dublin to Galway railway line in 1851 led to the pursuit of an extraordinary opportunity for Galway Port. This presented the potential for it to be used as the main port for transatlantic travel between Britain, Ireland and America. Mulligan notes that almost every town on the west coast, including...