DANIEL O’CONNELL the Liberator had an influence in Germany in the 19th century which continued to benefit Ireland, Irish Ambassador to Germany Dan Mulhall said at the weekend.
He said more than 450,000 Germans were expected to visit Ireland this year, and there were now two commercially published German magazines devoted exclusively to Ireland.
Mr Mulhall told a seminar in O’Connell’s home in Derrynane, Co Kerry, that O’Connell had spurred a wave of German enthusiasm and sympathy for Ireland.
Mr Mulhall said he could not think of any other Irish political figure who enjoyed the kind of international reputation that O’Connell did during his lifetime.
He was an iconic figure to people throughout Europe who wanted political reform at a time when the Continent was in the grip of conservative governments that used repressive measures to curb those pressing for reform.
“O’Connell deserved his international reputation, for he took an interest in issues beyond Ireland’s shores,” Mr Mulhall said, describing him as an outstanding liberal politician.
The Ambassador also recalled the influence of the travel writings of German prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau, who visited Ireland in 1828 and spent two nights as O’Connell’s guest in Derrynane.
The prince’s description of Ireland inspired a wave of German interest in Irish affairs during the decades that followed, he said.
“For the most part, these writers were people of liberal political views who tended, as the prince did, to revere Britain as a cradle of political advancement. Travelling to Ireland, they reacted with surprise and shock when they saw the conditions prevailing here.
“They were struck by the contrast between British advancement and Irish deprivation.”
The prince had said O’Connell had committed himself to non-violent means of achieving political change. However “there were many in Germany who feared the democratic forces he had unleashed, but no one could ignore the enormity of his achievement in mobilising a downtrodden people and turning them into an imposing democratic phenomenon”.
Minister for Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht Jimmy Deenihan hosted the seminar, which was also addressed by Nettie Washington Douglass, great-great granddaughter of Frederick Douglass, reformer and leader of the movement to abolish slavery in America.
Douglass met O’Connell in Dublin in 1845 and was influenced by his thinking on liberation, human rights and equality.
“It’s unlikely that, without the influence of Daniel O’Connell, Douglass would have endeavoured to engage so directly in the politics surrounding the American Civil War and emancipation in the 19th century,” Ms Douglass said.