The 250th anniversary of the birth of Daniel O'Connell, 'The Liberator', has been marked by a State-led commemoration at his ancestral home, Derrynane House in Co Kerry.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the event was a vital act of remembrance which not only reminded people of "the immense contributions of O'Connell to Irish democracy and civil rights, but also of the power of community, past and present".
O'Connell's achievement in forcing the British government to concede Catholic Emancipation in 1829 earned him the title 'The Liberator’.
Considered one of the country's most influential political leaders and human rights campaigners, O'Connell was also a skilled barrister, a champion of civil and religious liberty, and a fierce opponent of slavery.
Born in Cahirsiveen in 1775, the Kerry man also held the office of Lord Mayor of Dublin and was the first Catholic MP to serve in the House of Commons since the 16th century.
The Taoiseach told those gathered, who included descendants of O'Connell's, that commemorative events like today's "are vital acts of remembrance, where we come together to honour those who shaped our nation and to reflect on the values that unite us still".
"It is through community, solidarity, and shared history that we find strength and inspiration for the future," the Taoiseach said.
Afterwards, Mr Martin unveiled a plaque to mark the occasion, and with the help of the O'Connell family, planted a tree to mark the Liberator's 250th birthday.
The ceremony at Derrynane House - O'Connell's principal residence and now an OPW managed historic property - included music and family reflections inspired by his legacy.
Minister for Culture Patrick O'Donovan told the gathering that in a turbulent world "we can draw strength from our past".
In a broadcast shown live on the RTÉ News Channel, Mr O'Donovan said: "We can remember what we have already overcome, we can look to the example of O'Connell - what one man was capable of achieving through peaceful means, and how his success motivated so many others in the global pursuit of civil rights and democratic reform".
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Other local commemorative events
Today's national commemoration was among a number of events held locally to mark the anniversary.
In nearby Cahirsiveen, a Blue Plaque was unveiled at O'Connell’s birthplace at Carhan House, while a second Blue Plaque was unveiled beside the Penal Chapel overlooking the Old Abbey, where O'Connell was most likely baptised, and his parents are buried.
Mass was said by the Bishop of Kerry, Ray Browne while speakers also delivered extracts from some of O'Connell's more influential speeches in the Old Abbey - a nod towards O'Connell's own monster meetings which were often attended by up to 400,000 people.
While later in the afternoon, the famous local seine boat 'The Liberator' will lead a flotilla of over 30 boats down the River Fertha.
The annual Daniel O'Connell Summer School, running for the past fourteen years in partnership with the OPW and Kerry County Council, is to take place on 29 and 30 August.
Next month, the Irish Ambassador in London will host an event at the Reform Club to honour its former member.
September will also see the re-opening of the Daniel O’Connell Memorial Church of the Holy Cross in Cahirsiveen after extensive internal renovations.
Bishop Browne of Kerry said O’Connell was an "exceptional leader of the Irish people".
"His total commitment was to leadership by peaceful means. Worldwide he campaigned for the abolition of slavery and many other causes," he said.
Foundation for Irish independence
Historians say his campaigns for Catholic Emancipation and Repeal in the 19th Century laid the foundation for Ireland’s independence.
However, his philosophy of using non-violent protest to achieve civil rights has also had an international legacy.
O'Connell is the most commemorated of all Irish historical figures with nine cities and towns around the country naming their main streets in his honour, including the capital, where his statue is given pride of place.
Watch: O'Connell tried to convince Catholics 'they deserved equality'
"He took a people who were on its knees, and he convinced them that they were more than slaves," said Director of the Trinity Long Room Hub Professor Patrick Geoghegan.
O’Connell led a campaign for Catholic Emancipation to remove the Penal Laws which denied civil rights to the Catholic population.
"Really, what these restrictions meant was that only a Protestant elite controlled the levers of power in Ireland.
"O'Connell used to say that you could walk down any street in the country and you could recognise a Catholic because they wouldn't make eye contact with you. They would shuffle, they had bad posture, they were broken down, defeated, ashamed, demoralised," Prof Geoghegan said.
He said O'Connell convinced the Catholic population that they deserved equality.
"Through three decades of agitation, he raised them up, persuaded them to campaign for their own liberty and freedom, and forced the British government to concede emancipation," Prof Geoghegan said.
O’Connell then started a movement to repeal the Act of Union between Ireland and Britain with a series of so-called 'monster meetings’ around the country.
Prof Geoghegan said this movement "terrified" the British government and it finally acted to stop a rally in Clontarf in 1843 by sending in the army and two gunboats with orders to fire on the protesters.
O'Connell cancelled the meeting, with the result that the Repeal movement lost its momentum and O'Connell lost a great deal of his stature as leader.
However, Prof Geoghegan believes O'Connell made the right decision as he would otherwise be leading his people into a massacre.
"It was a courageous decision. It reflected the principles that he had fought for all his life, and I think it was the right decision," he said.
O'Connell’s non-violent campaign for civil rights aroused interest from other countries in Europe and the rest of the world.
"He was internationally renowned and internationally admired, from Australia to India to America," said Prof Christine Kinealy of Quinnipiac University in the US.
Prof Kinealy said that O'Connell became a strong advocate for the abolition of slavery after he was elected to the House of Commons.
This led to a visit to Dublin by escaped American slave Frederick Douglass, who addressed meetings in 1845 in City Hall and the Quaker Meeting House in Eustace Street.
It was an incident between O'Connell and the US ambassador in London that captured Douglass' admiration, explained Prof Kinealy.
Ambassador Andrew Stevenson was in the House of Commons and wanted to meet O'Connell and shake his hand.
"And O'Connell refused and said to him publicly, 'I will not shake your hand. You are a slave breeder'.
"You can imagine, the American ambassador was very angry. Challenged O'Connell to duel, which they didn't fight.
"But this issue played out in the newspapers for months and months. It was debated in the American Congress, etc, and, of course, it polarised opinion.
"But Frederick Douglass said, 'when I heard my master lambast that Irishman, I knew I should love him because he defended the enslaved people'," Prof Kinealy said.
Read more:
The curious case of Daniel O'Connell's missing heart
RTÉ Brainstorm: Who was the real Daniel O'Connell?
US President Barack Obama referred to the meeting between O'Connell and Douglass when he addressed crowds in College Green in 2011.
O'Connell also established Glasnevin Cemetery as part of his campaign for civil rights.
As part of the penal laws, Catholics and dissenting Protestants had been denied the right of dignified burial, so there was a demand for a new cemetery in Dublin.
Heritage Officer of the Dublin Cemeteries Trust Ultan Moran said: "O'Connell believed that fundamentally, everyone should be treated with equality in life, of course, but then, very importantly, in death as well.
"He felt it was very important that we didn't limit the people buried here on their religion. He said, this is going to be a cemetery for people of all religions and none."
From its establishment in 1832, the cemetery has grown from nine acres to 140 acres. A total of 1.5 million people have been laid to rest there.
When O'Connell died in 1847, his followers built him a round tower and crypt "fit for a king", as Mr Moran described it.
The monument was damaged in a suspected Loyalist bomb attack in 1971.
Prof Geoghegan said O'Connell's reputation had suffered after the cancellation of the Clontarf meeting, but was subsequently reappraised.
When President Éamon de Valera opened O'Connell’s home Derrynane, Co Kerry, as a museum in 1967, he admitted he had been wrong about him, said Prof Geoghegan.
"He admitted that he and the revolutionary generation had hated O'Connell growing up, that they thought he was weak, that he should have gone ahead with Clontarf.
"De Valera admitted that he and that generation had been wrong, because they would never have been able to achieve freedom if O'Connell hadn't achieved his great breakthroughs in the 19th century," he said.
Prof Christine Kinealy, speaking of O’Connell’s legacy internationally, said: "I think his vision is really a north star for many people to follow that violence isn't always the answer, and equality independence, fairness can be achieved in other ways.
