Enigma: A New Life of Charles Stewart Parnell

by Paul Bew

Charles Stewart Parnell is the most enigmatic figure in Irish history. An Anglo-Irish landlord from a distinguished and long-established Wicklow family, he became the most unlikely leader of Irish nationalism imaginable. He hated the colour green. He was not a dynamic speaker. He was cold and aloof and lacked the popular touch. None the less, from the late 1870s until his fall and death in 1891, he held the whole of Ireland spellbound. He established Home Rule for Ireland - previously a taboo subject in British politics - at the centre of Westminster affairs and effectively created the modern Irish state in embryo. His fall was as dramatic as his rise. The affair with Mrs Katharine O'Shea, the mother of his three children, destroyed him. Ever since this fall and his premature death in 1891, Parnell has remained a remarkably potent symbol, particularly in times of crisis and conflict in Ireland. The myth has obscured the man and makes it difficult for us to see Parnell as he really was.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Ireland, Biography

272 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2011

About the author

A graduate of Pembroke College, Cambridge, Paul Bew has been Professor of Irish Politics at Queen's University, Belfast since 1991. A leading commentator on Northern Irish politics, he is the author of many publications on Irish history and the politics of contemporary Ireland.

Reviews

[John Somers · Rating 4 out of 5]

16/20.

[Alexander Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. A must read for anyone interested in the past, present and future of Irish politics.

[Jean Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting book about Parnell that builds on past works about him but gives some additional clarity. Interesting to learn that Parnell once spoke to US Congress to press the need for home rule for Ireland.