The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1888-06-23
IRISH GRAVES IN ENGLAND,
BY MICHAEL MAcDONAGH.
FEARGUs O'CoNNoR.

Lie suDJecb Ol tuls paper WAS perhaps
one of the most interesting Of the many
eccentric men who haye figured from
zins to time on the political stage, and
the fact that he commanded quite a
prominent position IN Ireland and Eng
land in connection with two separate
and distinct agitations-one in each
CONTINGENCIES him the more remark
able. From 1881 to 1888 he was in the
van of the agitation in Ireland for Repeal
OF the Union, as member for the--county
Of Cork, md he was subsequently leader
Of the great Chartist movement in Eng
land. as member for Nottingham.
O;Connor came Of an old Irish stock,
and was won't, indeed, to boast that ne
was a direct descendent of Rodric OCon-
nor, the last King of Ireland. He was
born in 1895 at Cornoville, in the co:nty
of Cork, where his father, Roger O'Con-
nor, held considerable property. The
father was perhaps even more extra
ordinary man than the son, and the in
cidents oi his strange career, taken IN
connection with the political freaks OF
the son, give ground for the suspicion
shat there was large strain OF insanity
in the family. Mr.. Alfred Webb IN his
ssCompendium Of Irish Biography
gives an interesting account OF the life OF
O'Connor pere. He was called to the
English Bar in 1854; hewas imprisoned
in Fort George, Scotland, for completely
in the United Irishnlen movement; was
a freethinker of advanced views; his
residence, Dangan Castle, was burned
down shortly after he had effected an in
surance fcr e5, 600; twice married, he
eloped with a married lady; III 1917 he
was tried in Trim for completely in the
robbery Of the Galway coach and the
murder Of the guard, but was acquitted,
although there were grounds for believ~
ing that he had planned the attack
on the coach to secure certain Letters,
the possession of which was important to
him: It gentleman to whom he had paid
:e7OO vas robbed Of the money
before he had Quilted O'Connors
lande, and the robbers were never dis
covered, In 1922 he published in Ion
con 'tChconicles Of Err IN the title
page of which he styled himself "aead
of his race and chief Of the prosecuted
people Of this nation'-an extraordinary
production, which Mr.. Webb very prop
erly describes as ''a piece Of gross
literary forgery" and finally, he was
proved to have wasted, to the extent of
slO, 900, the property OF his brother,
Arthur C'Connor editor Of the Press,
The organ of the United Irisnmen),
during his exile in France.
F'eargus, except i'll the matter Of
eccentricity, was quite different naan
from his father, aud SO far from any
charge Of fraud or robbery being laid at
ll,s door, he sold, in 1S41, his own prop
,erty in the county Of Cork. and almost
made panper of himself to advance the
democratic movement in England. He
was called to the Irish Bar in 1928, and
commenced his political life in 1881,
when, though Protestant, he strenu--
ously supported the people in the 1.-THE
war. and defended prisoners charged
with agrarian offences without any fee or
reward. In 1888 he WAS returned mem
Der OF Parliamentfor the county Of Cork
He threw himself heart and soul into the
Repeal agitation, and was one ofits 1nost
prominent and remarkable figures till
1883, when he quarrelled with O'Conneil,
and thought to depose the great Tribune
and command the movement himsels.
At the general election Of 1885 O'Con~
nell vehementlY opposed the return OF
O'Connor for the county of Cork; and it
speaks we'll for the great popularity of
Fergus in his native county that he was
returned despite the opposition. He
was. however, unscated afterwards on
the ground that he had not the necessary
legal qualification. O'Connell and HIM
self from that time forth were deadly
enemies. Feargus attacked the Liberator
III series of five letters, published in
1886, and written in the most vituper~
alive and bombastic language. Here is
a specimen
t'This licensed defamer (O'Connell)
goes on making sacrifices because timid
individuals submit to his SANDERS, rather
than from the slanderer, therefore put
myself forth. and boldly meet the foe to
stop this system of offering up honest
men to the shrine of venality, obscepity,
prostitution, ambition, and jealousy.
Any man who tamely allows himself to
be gratuitously ins,1lted I despise.''
Finding there was no place for him in
Irish politics without the approval Of
Fergus betook himself to
and became the leader of the