Frederick Douglass in Ireland: The 'Black O'Connell'

by Laurence Fenton

‘When we strove to blot out the stain of slavery and advance the rights of man,’ President Obama declared in Dublin in 2011, ‘we found common cause with your struggle against oppression. Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave and our great abolitionist, forged an unlikely friendship right here in Dublin with your great liberator, Daniel O’Connell.’

Frederick Douglass arrived in Ireland in the summer of 1845, the start of a two-year lecture tour of Britain and Ireland to champion freedom from slavery. He had been advised to leave America after the publication of his incendiary attack on slavery, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass – An American Slave. Douglass spent four transformative months in Ireland, filling halls with eloquent denunciations of slavery and causing controversy with graphic descriptions of slaves being tortured. He also shared a stage with Daniel O’Connell and took the pledge from the ‘apostle of temperance’ Fr Mathew. Douglass delighted in the openness with which he was received, but was shocked at the poverty he encountered.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ireland

233 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Pascal Marco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating insight into the abolitionist’s relationship to suffering Ireland.

Loved the first hand accounts that supported the entire book. A must read for any FD scholar or enthusiast. I highly recommend.

[Andrew Clinton · Rating 2 out of 5]

My aunt, who has alway had much interest in our Irish heritage, lent me this book. As someone who's ancestors primarily came from Ireland, and being in a time of heightened civil rights protests in the wake of George Floyd's death, I figured this would be an appropriate book to read to help me learn about the history of many of the same issues America is dealing with today. Fredrick Douglass was preaching about the human rights for African Americans in America long ago, and he did so not only in America. This book highlighted his speeches throughout the island of Ireland. I found the chapter on the Good People of County Cork interesting as that is where some of my ancestors came from, so to hear that the people in Cork were the most welcoming in all of Ireland, I have become increasingly proud of my lineage.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a popular account of Frederick Douglass's time in Ireland, though one that also has end-notes and a bibliography. The author has a nationalist bias, there are some minor factual mistakes, and he does not refer to provincial and local newspapers that much (though such problems cannot really be avoided as there is a huge mountain of primary material on this issue), but it is still a solid piece of work that can be read by the historical "laity" and "clergy" alike.

[Paul O'regan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellently researched and very accessible account of the abolitionist Frederick Douglass, focusing on his visit to Ireland. Laurence Fenton has produced a book which gives new insights into how Ireland in the mid 1800s viewed slavery in America and how an ex-slave was treated by a population which itself was fighting for freedom from oppression and prejudice.