‘The uncrowned King’

He died on this day in 1891 in Brighton, England aged just 45 years old, but Charles Stewart Parnell had by this time left a lasting legacy on Irish politics and life. Born into a 'Big House' in Avondale, Co. Wicklow, and the son of a Protestant landlord, Parnell was becoming the champion of Home Rule and Irish nationalism. First elected as a MP in 1875 representing Meath, it was through Parnell that Irish MPs began to hold sway in the House of Commons. Parnell was jailed in 1881 during the Land War which had the effect of adding to his popularity in Ireland.  Under his leadership the party won 86 seats in the general election of 1885, and the following year forced the first Home Rule bill before the Commons although it was defeated. Having survived the so-called ‘Pigott Forgeries’, which sought to end his career, Parnell’s fall from grace would soon follow and he was removed as leader of the Irish Parliamentary party owing to the divorce case between Captain O’Shea and Katherine O'Shea, who he later married. This passge from the Irish Press in 1976 provides some interesting details about Parnell’s family which is often overlooked when looking at the so-called ‘uncrowned king’:

CHARLES STEWART, maternal grandfather of Charle Stewart Parnell, was a most remarkable man. The son of refugee from Ulster, he grew up in America with a strong sense of independence and a thirteen he ran away to sea.

At twenty-two he had his own command in the little American navy and he quickly acquired a wide reputation as the scourge of privateers. In the war of 1812, he became a national hero when, off the coast of Spain, he engaged and captured two British ships, though they had much superior firepower. "Before sunset, my lads," he told his crew, "we must flog these Britishers, whether they have one or two gundecks each." And so they did. Congress voted its thanks. New York gave him the freedom of the city, and for the rest of his life he was affectionately known as 'Old Ironsides'.

This Charles Stewart had two children, Delia and Charles. Delia, as the tall, beautiful and wealthy daughter of a national hero, was much in demand in fashionable circles in Washington. It was there, when she was only eighteen, she met John Henry Parnell, of Avondale, who was on a visit to the United States. She fell for him and on May 31, 1835, the couple were married in New York.

They would have twelve children in all and one of these would be "the uncrowned king of Ireland."

For more information search the pages of the Irish Newspaper Archive (www.irishnewsarchive.com )