Charles Stewart Parnell (1846-1891) was an Irish politician who fought for Irish independence and autonomy. A staunch defender of the peasant class and Home Rule, Parnell’s life-long commitment to a tough, hard-fought struggle made him a true anti-British liberator.
Charles Stewart Parnell was born on June 27, 1846, in Avondale, County Wicklow. Born into a particularly affluent family, Parnell was immersed in a highly assertive political milieu from an early age, and by the age of 28, Charles Stewart Parnell was already on the political trail. In 1875, he entered Parliament for County Meath, then joined Isaac Butt’s Home Rule Party, which promoted Irish independence through Home Rule.
From then on, Parnell was constantly trying to obstruct the London government. To this end, he adopted Joseph Biggar’s filibustering enterprise in the House of Commons. The aim of this enterprise is to parasitize the workings of the House of Commons, with long, sterile speeches that no one has the right to interrupt. The tactic goes so far, in fact, that Parnell’s party goes so far as to read long passages from the Bible!
But Charles Stewart Parnell wanted to go further, and on October 21, 1879 created the Irish National Land League, a new party to defend the interests of peasants, making it easier for them to acquire ownership of their land. According to Parnell, the gradual reclamation of Irish land meant that the battle for Irish autonomy could be won quickly.
Parnell invented the concept of social, economic and moral quarantine as a means of putting pressure on wealthy landowners. Charles Cunningham Boycott, a wealthy English landowner, was the first to pay the price when he decided to raise his rents: the peasants totally isolated him, depriving him of food and economic resources, until he capitulated. Faced with this success, the moral quarantine took the name of “boycott”, in memory of this first victory.
With the success of his initiatives, Charles Stewart Parnell became the undisputed leader of the nationalist movement in the eyes of the population, and was affectionately nicknamed “the uncrowned King of Ireland”. Nevertheless, Parnell’s actions aroused great tension, leading to a series of clashes between peasants and landowners.
The British government took the opportunity to imprison Parnell and other leaders in Kilmainham Gaol in October 1881. The Liberal prime minister, William Ewart Gladstone, tried to free the party members by signing the Treaty of Kilmainham in March 1882.
Upon his release, Parnell resumed his fight for recognition of Ireland as an autonomous state. His determination was such that he managed to stand up to numerous British attempts to undermine Irish autonomy. After years of political struggle, he managed to present Home Rule to the House of Commons with Gladstone’s help, though it was repeatedly rejected.
On this occasion, Parnell was sullied by a series of letters published in 1887 in The Times, entitled “Parnell and Crime”. These letters assert Parnell’s involvement in the crime of Lord Frederick Cavendish and his under-secretary, T.H. Burke, on May 6, 1882. In the face of these accusations, Parnell officially declares his innocence. A special commission was set up to investigate the matter, and concluded that the author of the letters was Richard Piggott, one of Parnell’s detractors. This conclusion immediately exonerates Parnell.
But Parnell was soon faced with a new scandal, from which he would never recover: he was discovered to be having an adulterous affair with the wife of a member of parliament, Kitty O’Shea, a wealthy Englishwoman. The newspapers made headlines, and the whole of Ireland was scandalized, plunging Parnell into a period of growing unpopularity. Parnell’s reputation and political career did not survive and he lost the party presidency. After numerous attempts to regain his position, Parnell retired, and died prematurely in 1891 at the age of 45. He is buried in Dublin’s Glasnevin Cemetery, and a statue of him was erected on O’Connell Street in Dublin city center.
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