John Mitchel and the Rejection of the Nineteenth Century

Young Ireland and Irish Revolutions

“…Until 1847 when Mitchel split with The Nation, he wrote most of its political content. 47 In 1846 the tensions between the O'Connellites and Young Ireland came to a head when O'Connell sought to form an alliance with the Whigs in order to oust Peel and the Tories. Such a compact was resisted by Young Ireland and at a series of meetings in June.…”

John Mitchel and his biographers

“…54 More than any other member of the pantheon of nationalist heroes Mitchel has been neglected, probably as a consequence of what Quinn describes as his 'repugnant' thinking but possibly also, as Donnelly suggests, because his militancy appeared to be of direct significance during the northern troubles of the late twentieth century, and because Irish historians were keen to distance themselves from the taint of republicanism. 55 Yet reassessments have emerged that have perhaps, in the cooler atmosphere of twenty-first century Ireland, begun to offer an opportunity to reexamine Mitchel and place his broad-ranging ideas more precisely than either nationalist hagiography or historiographic indifference have hitherto done. For example, Paul Bew's recent survey of modern Irish history noted that Mitchel had a 'profound influence on the Irish popular mind'.…”