Last Conquest of Ireland

JOHN MITCHEL (1815-75) was born in Dungiven, Co. Derry, the son of a Presbyterian minister. He qualified as a solicitor, joined Young Ireland and was later a Fenian. He was transported to Van Diemen's Land in 1848, escaped and travelled to America, where he worked as a journalist, championing the southern states in the civil war. He was the central ideologue of nineteenth-century Irish separatism; shortly before his death he was elected MP for Tipperary. Patrick Maume is a researcher with the Dictionary of Irish Biography

• Note on the Text; Introduction by Patrick Maume; THE LAST CONQUEST OF IRELAND (PERHAPS): Introduction; 'Repeal Year' (1843); 'The Repeal Year' still; O'Connell's oratory; Determi nation of the Enemy; The trial; O'Connell in Prison; Approach of the Famine, in 1845; Land-Tenure Report; [Thomas] Davis, his influence, aim and labours; Duties of Government; Loss of the Irish crops; "Belief of Famine"; Labour-rate Act; Death of O'Connell; Lord Clarendon, Viceroy; Dublin during the Famine; The 'United Irishman' newspaper; March, 1848; Rage of the British Press; Juries in Ireland; Triumph of the Enemy; Arrest of O'Brien; Consummation of the 'Conquest'; APPENDIX: from The Nation (Dublin), 15 May 1858.

"It set the template for popular attitudes to this catastrophic event and for the intellectual and academic debate on the subject to this day." Books Ireland Sept 2005 "this account of the O'Connell Repeal campaign and the famine years, up to Mitchel's 'trial' and transportation to Van Dieman's Land in 1848, is the best I have read. It deserves a wide readership." Irish Democrat 2006 "these somewhat obscure writings reveal themselves as something of a profound critique not just of Ireland but also of the very idea of Irish society ... even in the strangest of terrains we can suddenly come across gems and when we do we can put them on the shelves and know that they will always be there for us." Books Ireland Nov 2006 "The reprinting of the Last Conquest at last provides an accessible edition of a work which is foundational for historiographical debates over the Famine." Irish Studies Review 14 (4) 2006 "University College Dublin Press has now published over thirty 'Classics of Irish History'. These contemporary accounts by well known personalities of historical events and attitudes have an immediacy that conventional histories do not have. Introductions by modern historians provide additional historical background and, with hindsight, objectivity." Books Ireland Nov 2007 "In the historiography of the Great Famine Mitchel's Last Conquest is ubiquitous - frequently cited, rarely read in its entirety. The book is usually credited with playing a crucial role in establishing the genocidal interpretation of the famine, particularly in Irish-American circles. To be sure this reputation has merit; Mitchel's pen drips with poison in the most famous passages. "Mitchel's work offer[s] fascinating partisan portraits of Europe's first great populist leader. Subsequent generations of nationalists managed to craft and deploy a useful popular memory of the Great Liberator, but th[is] work remind[s] us that O'Connell could be remembered rather differently. "Scholars of nineteenth-century Irish and Irish-American politics should reacquaint themselves with these classics, part of a long running and immensely useful series from University College Dublin Press. Patrick Maume has edited and written the introductions for no less than nine of the books in this series, lending them his breadth of knowledge and keen analysis that have made him one of the most learned and intellectually generous young scholars in the field." Irish Literary Supplement Fall 2008