Perhaps in order to judge the successes, or ‘greatness’ of any leader, their achievements must properly be analysed and evaluated in order to get a full picture of the extent to their success. O’Connell’s two main aims- Catholic Emancipation and repeal of the Act of Union had varying levels of attainment. The immediate evaluation of the passing of the Catholic Emancipation results in the assessment of O’Connell’s aims as successful. But this does not necessarily translate into O’Connell as being a ‘great’ leader. The period after the Emancipation Act saw no real change in the Irish way of life; the primary goal, to destroy the Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland, had not been attained. There have, in fact, been claims from various contemporary historians that O’Connell never actually wished for the breakdown of the Protestant ascendancy, and that he instead had wished to maintain the strong ties between the Irish and British Protestant elite. With this taken into account, claims that O’Connell was the greatest ‘nationalist’ leader are straight away refuted, for what is a (seemingly secret) plan to keep close ties with the Protestant section of Ireland and England but a betrayal of his nationalist promises? Key to mention too is that O’Connell failed in his second aim of achieving repeal. Despite a valiant effort, the Repeal campaign was ultimately quashed in 1843 by Peel, therefore the claim to his ‘greatness’ is heavily detracted.
O’Connell would indeed have been very little without the following he enjoyed. His political tact in drawing support has already been mentioned, but the way in which he managed his support is telling in his claim to greatness. His utilisation of local priests and Catholic bishops and his ability to make them co-operate with him had been instrumental in his success, and the way in which O’Connell bound their support to his cause evidences his greatness as a nationalist leader. Without his harnessing of the support of the priests and bishops, it is highly unlikely the election of 1826 would have brought about such good results. His relationship with allies Young Ireland had however been flawed, and helps shed light on the nature of O’Connell’s nationalism. The fact that Young Ireland had viewed O’Connell’s politics as too parliamentary and opposed his strong alliances to the government in England could suggest whether O’Connell’s idea of nationalism was flawed. Perhaps O’Connell’s un-doctrinaire nature questions the extent to which O’Connell had nationalist motives. What can, however, certainly be drawn from this is that the very fact that there had not been a ‘united front’ of nationalists, but an ideologically-divided one, displays that O’Connell’s failure to unite all nationalists in Ireland is an aspect that certainly undermines his potential ‘greatness’.
To conclude, it can certainly be claimed that O’Connell had made a huge amount of difference for the people of Ireland. Most notably he had done what no leader had done before- ‘succeeded’ in the battle for emancipation. This fact alone resonates with what historian J.C Beckett says, that he “left an unmistakeable mark on the history of Ireland”. Between the years of 1780-1845, there had been a variety of nationalist peoples and organisations- perhaps the most notable excluding Mr.O’Connell would have been Young Ireland. However in response to the question- whether O’Connell had been the greatest Irish nationalist leader during the time period- O’Connell’s methods and achievements make him the most effective, successful, and thus ‘greatest’ nationalist leader compared to any other nationalist figures in Ireland. Key to remember however, is that his ‘greatness’ can also be viewed as somewhat inconsistent, or limited: despite the passing of Emancipation, very little changed in the political and social structure of Ireland, and the speculation of his attempts to uphold ties with the Anglo-Irish Protestant Ascendancy only adds to the clouds of the uncertainty about O’Connell’s true aims. However, judging by the fact that he managed to perform an electoral miracle by defying landlords and succeeding in the County Clare election, he did something extremely unique: he managed to mobilise the mass support of the majority of Ireland, and successfully projected his views in a way that represented most of the population. His propagation of nationalistic views was successful in gaining followers and achieving his aims, therefore in essence O’Connell had been Ireland’s greatest nationalist leader during this 65 year period.
Thomas Smith