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He gave up a brilliant political career for the love of a lady. He was galant and yet a romantic fool . The text below is taken from the site out lined and I acknowledge them for its non commercial use.

trueman@pavilion.co.uk

Charles Stuart Parnell (A galant fool) an explanatory text

Charles Stuart Parnell

Charles Stuart Parnell was born in June 1846 and died in 1891. Charles Stuart
Parnell is one of the leading figures in recent Irish history and is most
associated with Home Rule and the issues surrounding it.
Parnell's parents were strong Irish nationalists and he grew up with an
increasing resentment over London's dominance of Ireland. Parnell actively
involved himself in politics after the execution of three Fenians in 1874. These
men became known as the 'Manchester Martyrs' and many in Ireland believed that
their execution was a gross mis-justice. Parnell, aged 29, quickly made a name
for himself and in 1875 he was elected the Member of Parliament for Meath. He
joined Issac Butt's Home Rule Party. Parnell quickly realised that one way of
bringing attention to the cause of the Irish was to totally disrupt the workings
of the 'Mother of all Parliament's'. Parnell became skilled at talking and
talking. His speeches could go on for hours and caused great disruption to what
were seen to be the sacrosanct ways of Westminster.
In 1879, the Irish National Land League was founded and Parnell was appointed
its president. The Land League had three simple policies, the so-called 'Three
F's';
Fair rent
Fixed tenure
Free sale of land
Parnell's long term target was for the farmers of Ireland to own their own land.
Gladstone's attempts to push through land reform for Ireland was defeated in the
House of Lords. This pushed the Land League into supporting acts of violence in
an effort to force Westminster into passing land reform acts. In 1880, Charles
Stuart Parnell publicly stated his belief:
"When a man takes a farm from which another has been evicted you must shun
him on the roadside when you meet him, you must shun him in the streets of
the town, you must shun him in the shop, you must shun him in the
fairgreen and in the marketplace, and even in the place of worship, by
leaving him alone, by putting him in a moral Coventry, by isolating him
from the rest of his country as if he were the leper of old, you must show
your detestation of the crime he has committed."

Such a tactic was used against a land agent called Boycott and boycotting was
used as a word to describe the tactic espoused by Parnell.
Parnell travelled to America to further his cause and to raise money for the
nationalist movement in Ireland. In the latter he was very successful raising
£26,000 and many referred to Parnell as the "Uncrowned King of Ireland".
However, for all the support he received both in America and Ireland, Parnell
was singularly unsuccessful in getting any land reform in Ireland. This lead to
more violence in rural Ireland and the British government introducing
legislation to counter this. A Coercion Act lead to the arrest of Parnell and
others in 1881 and the Irish Land League was suppressed. In March 1882, Parnell
and Gladstone agreed to the 'Kilmainham Treaty'. This lead to the release of
Parnell and the anger that surrounded the land issue in Ireland abated for a
while.
Parnell condemned those who murdered Lord Frederick Cavendish and T Burke in the
Phoenix Park murders. Gladstone continued his dialogue with Parnell and remained
committed to Home Rule. Towards the end of 1882, things appeared to be going the
way of Parnell. In December 1882, the Irish National League was created to
replace the Irish land League. Parnell wanted this new party to be under his
control with the primary aim of winning Home Rule. By 1884, the Irish National
League was very much controlled by Parnell. The strength of the party and
Parnell's standing in Ireland at this time was shown in the results of the 1885
national election. The Irish National League won every seat in Ireland with the
exception of Dublin University and eastern Ulster. Nationally, the 1885 election
was won by Gladstone and the Liberal Party. Gladstone had made his support for
Home Rule clear but this was affirmed in his own mind by the sheer success of
Parnell's party in Ireland. Gladstone's support for Home Rule brought him into
direct conflict with the Conservatives who believed that any weakening of
London's role in Ireland would lead to the break-up of the British Empire as
others within the Empire would seek to get the same as the Irish.
The so-called 'Establishment' used whatever tactic it could to undermine the
position Parnell held in Ireland and to discredit him. In 1887, "The Times"
produced a series of articles that, so the paper claimed, proved that Parnell
was linked to murders in Ireland. One letter had the signature of Parnell on it
- a letter that excused and supported the Phoenix Park murders. The government
set-up an enquiry and it took two years before it was proved that all the
evidence used by the 'Times was forged. One of the forgers later committed
suicide in Madrid. Parnell received a large sum of money from the "Times" and
his name was fully and publicly cleared. 1889 was the year when Parnell's
political power was at its height - Gladstone entertained him at his home at
Hawarden and he was made a freeman of Edinburgh. However, after this, his
political power declined sharply.
In Victorian Britain, divorce was still seen as a scandalous issue. Marriage was
seen as sacrosanct and anyone involved with 'meddling' in someone else's
marriage was seen as a "cad" or "bounder". In December 1889, Parnell became
involved in a divorce that was to end his political influence and the trauma of
this divorce probably hastened his early death.
Parnell was named in the divorce papers between Captain O'Shea and his wife,
Katherine. Many instinctively remembered the recent attempt by "The Times" to
set-up Parnell and this was initially seen as another way of undermining the
authority of a popular politician. However, Parnell was not set-up - he had been
seeing Katherine O'Shea as early as 1880. His close confidants advised Parnell
to take time-off from politics to allow the issue to die a natural death. He
refused. Parnell managed to split the party that represented many of the people
of Ireland at Westminster - the Irish Parliamentary Party. Some sided with
Parnell while others did not. Twenty-seven sided with Parnell and forty-four
sided with the party's vice-chairman Justin McCarthy. This split spilled over
into Ireland where you were either seen as one of Parnell's supporters or you
were not - it became very black or white. The power of the Roman Catholic Church
was important here, especially in rural areas where it held much power. To the
Church, the sanctity of marriage was critical and divorce was seen almost as a
sin. The biggest sinner of all was the person who was central to the divorce,
i.e. the cause of it. Parnell's political reputation suffered badly but not
terminally. In June 1891, he married Katherine and remained active in politics.
However, many feel that he pushed his body too hard as he did not spare himself
from travelling throughout the country giving speeches about the Irish issue. In
October 1891, aged forty-five, Parnell died in Brighton, Sussex.
What was the impact of Parnell?
Parnell brought the whole issue of Home Rule to the forefront of British
politics
He helped to create a political party that had discipline and could operate
effectively at Westminster
Parnell successfully courted the support of Britain's most important
politician at that time - William Gladstone
Parnell showed that there were sections of the British establishment who would
stop at nothing to undermine the cause of the Irish Independence movement.

Poetry by lastromantichero