Tuesday 10 August 2010

D is for...

Daniel O'Connell Memorial Church

This church can be found in Caherciveen, Co Kerry and is the only church in the Republic of Ireland that has not been dedicated to a holy, saintly or religious person. Instead it has been dedicated to the most famous inhabitant of Caherciveen.

Daniel O'Connell was and still is considered to be one of the great men of Irish history. He struggled and fought for equality for both the English (read Protestant) and the Irish (read Catholic). A Catholic himself, he knew first-hand the difficulties of living in a country where the Irish were considered to be inferior to the English. But he had had an education, a privilege forbidden to most of his countrymen and that education helped him in his life to try and end the discrimination. He abhorred violence and has been the inspiration to other great leaders in more recent years: Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King for example.


If you want to know more about Daniel O'Connell, read this article from Clare Library.

For more D-words from around the world, please check out ABC Wednesday and join in the fun!

Photo taken in July 2009 in Caherciveen, Ireland

20 comments:

  1. wow- a rare man and one who deserves to be remembered. I find myself awed by people who stand up when others don't- Here we learn about a slave, Frederick Douglas, who taught himself to read and write, and has the most moving and eloquent speeches for the abolition of slavery-
    I'm just awed by their hearts, minds, and motivation

    ReplyDelete
  2. Was it just a bad day? That place looks dark and foreboding to me.

    ReplyDelete
  3. nice one,
    happy ABC Wednesday!

    ReplyDelete
  4. A nice tribute to Daniel O'Commell, and very fitting that the Church should be named in memory of a great man.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nice and very informative D post for today.Thanks for sharing and thanks too for visiting my cruel D entry (=^_^=)

    ABC Wednesday: D is for donut

    ReplyDelete
  6. I like people who can stand up for themselves. Very interesting to have a church named for him and not a saint. Great post Mara.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great tribute post to a great man, and that looks like a beautiful church in his honor.

    ReplyDelete
  8. How fascinating and educating! It is unusual for a church to be named after a 'regular' person. Although, Daniel sounds like he could be a saint.

    ReplyDelete
  9. So many buildings are named after people, but you never know the reason why. Nice to learn the history behind this one.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Great piece of history that I did not know about.

    ROG, ABC Wednesday team

    ReplyDelete
  11. This is what I love on a Wednesday - swithching on my laptop and learning something new. This was so interesting and yes, informative too. We have only visited Ireland once but I would love to go again.

    Thanks so much for being part of the ABC fun!

    Denise
    ABC Wednesday

    ReplyDelete
  12. Very interesting - we never stopped in Caherciveen as the rain there was bouncing two feet off the pavements as it hit the ground and we drove around to Knights Town on Valentia Island before stopping.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Nice D post for this week! Thanks for sharing the story behind it. Have a delightful day!

    ReplyDelete
  14. a rare man and a distinguished one too.. thanks u for sharing this post..!

    ReplyDelete
  15. That was a nice informative D post about a bit of history today. Thanks for sharing it with us, I'm always open to learn new things.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Interesting facts. I was surprised that the parking went 'downhill' instead of diagonal.

    ReplyDelete
  17. This is the first Catholic church I've seen not named after some kind of saint. I'm reading a book on the evolution of Protestantism now. Quite interesting to find out how it all began and where it all is today.

    ReplyDelete

Any weighty (and not so weighty) comments are welcome!