Abstract

A survey of Feargus O'Connor's career written for a general and academic audience. At the height of his popularity as a leader of the Chartists' campaign for democratic reform in Britain, O'Connor enjoyed the support of millions of working people, but his role in the history of British radical politics is only half the story. More than any other popular leader of his generation, O'Connor sought to bring those he called the 'working Saxon and Celt' together in a common struggle, an aspiration that had its roots deep in the Irish past. This book restores the Irish dimension of O'Connor's career to its proper place by offering, for the first time, an evaluation of his heritage, his ideas and his public life on both sides of the Irish Sea. It is an important story that is worth rescuing for readers in both Britain and Ireland.