139. Of Love and Death, Prison and Murder

139. Of Love and Death, Prison and Murder

The passage of the Land Act for Ireland provided many tenant farmers with a wonderful way of getting their rents reduced. Sadly, that benefit had a downside, as it undermined the enthusiasm for continuing the campaign Parnell wanted to guide into increased pressure for Home Rule. It was by no means the only unintended consequence of measures taken at this time and which made the relations between Britain and Ireland increasingly tense.

Those tensions culminated in the arrest and imprisonment, without trial and merely to prevent a crime that hadn’t been committed, of several leaders of the Irish Land League, including Parnell. That was so contrary to human rights that it rather underlines the colonial nature of British rule in Ireland.

Imprisonment was particularly hard for Parnell because this was also the time when his overwhelming love for Katharine O’Shea was increasingly dominating his life. She was, indeed, pregnant by him.

But, to ensure that every aspect of the human comedy, and tragedy, is present in this episode, we end with a tale of death, the killings that have come to be known as the Phoenix Park murders.

Illustration: Detail from the miniature of Katharine O’Shea that Parnell kept with him in Kilmainham Prison. Public Domain
Music: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.

Jaksot(275)

130. Pacifying Ireland

130. Pacifying Ireland

“My mission is to pacify Ireland,” Gladstone had declared when he took office as Prime Minister. This episode looks briefly at Disraeli’s behaviour as he left power, including the peerage he sought fo...

19 Helmi 202314min

129. The Liberals get liberal

129. The Liberals get liberal

The Liberals are back, and they're being liberal. Gladstone followed Disraeli into Downing Street, and led a reforming government. So Disraeli with the Conservatives managed to reach the top of the gr...

12 Helmi 202314min

128. The greasy pole

128. The greasy pole

We're reaching the moment when Disraeli, fresh from outwitting Gladstone over electoral reform, climbed, in his own words, to the top of the greasy pole. Indeed, becoming Prime Minister after Derby re...

5 Helmi 202314min

127. Master class. In opposition. And opportunism

127. Master class. In opposition. And opportunism

It’s time for a master class in opposition by the man who said that the role of the Opposition is to oppose. Disraeli and Gladstone, both now leaders in the House of Commons of the Liberal and Conserv...

29 Tammi 202314min

126. Helping the poor. But not too much

126. Helping the poor. But not too much

The American Civil War, like the war led by Prussia against Denmark, showed that Britain was no longer the superpower that had emerged from the Napoleonic wars. In both those conflicts, Britain had vi...

22 Tammi 202314min

125. King Cotton and his Lancashire Famine

125. King Cotton and his Lancashire Famine

After talking last week about wars in China and Italy, and potentially with France, in this episode we turn to the United States where one of the biggest wars of the nineteenth century was just breaki...

15 Tammi 202314min

124. The tide begins to ebb

124. The tide begins to ebb

When the Earl of Derby’s second government fell, Victoria tried to impose a Prime Minister of her choice on the elected politicians who felt rather differently. That, though, was obsolete thinking. In...

8 Tammi 202314min

123. Dizzy times

123. Dizzy times

This week we’re into Dizzy times again. Disraeli, or Dizzy as he came to be known, had played a leading role in bringing down the Palmerston government in 1858. That allowed the Earl of Derby, leader...

1 Tammi 202314min

Suosittua kategoriassa Historia

olipa-kerran-otsikko
gogin-ja-janin-maailmanhistoria
mayday-fi
huijarit
mystista
rss-ikiuni
tsunami
totuus-vai-salaliitto
konginkangas
sotaa-ja-historiaa-podi
rss-i-dont-like-mondays-2
rss-sattuu-sita-suomessakin
rouva-diktaattori
apinan-vuosi
rss-subjektiivinen-todistaja
rss-kirkon-ihmeellisimmat-tarinat
historian-nurkkapoyta
tiedetta-ja-sirkushuveja-vanhojen-aikojen-podcast
hippokrateen-vastaanotolla
rss-peter-peter