iamBullivantDaniel O'Connell (Dónall Ó Conaill) died on 15th May 1847 in Genoa, Italy. Hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. O'Connell championed the rights and liberties of people throughout the world including those of peasants in India, Maoris in New Zealand, Aborigines in Australia and Jews in Europe. 1/2
He was a native Irish speaker but he discouraged the use of the language because he felt that English was the means of advancement. he insisted on addressing his meetings in English, sending interpreters out among the crowd to translate his words into Irish. He was described as having "indifference to the fate of the [Irish] language". 2/2