O'Connell Refusing to Take the Oath, by Henry Edward Doyle

O'Connell Refusing to Take the Oath

Henry Edward Doyle (1827-1893)

c. 1868

Source: Mary Cusack, Ch. XXXVII

Stressing the amazement of all concerned, Cusack gives an account of O'Connell's triumph in the Clare election of 1829, and his subsequent refusal to take the oath of Supremacy required to take his seat in Parliament. In Chapter XXXVII of her history, she sees it as "undoubtedly the culminating point in O'Connell's career." [Commentary continues below.]

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Cusack paints a dramatic scene here:

On the 15th of May, 1829, O'Connell appeared in the House to take his seat. He was introduced by Lords Ebrington and Dungannon. The House was thronged. The very peeresses came to gaze upon the arch-agitator, expecting to see a demagogue, and to hear an Irish brogue. There were whispers of surprise when they saw a gentleman, and a man who could speak, with the versatility of true talent, to suit his audience. The card containing the oath was handed to O'Connell; he read a portion of it over in an audible voice — the portion which required him to say that "the sacrifice of the Mass, and the invocation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and other saints, as now practised in the Church of Rome, are impious and idolatrous;"" and to deny the dispensing power of the Pope, which never existed, except in the imagination of its framers. With a courteous bow he said, in a voice to be heard throughout the House: "I decline, Mr. Clerk, to take this oath: part of it I know to be false; another part I believe not to be true." [Ch. XXXVII]

In Doyle's rendering, the rather portly O'Connell, with knitted brow, stands firm with one hand raised in repudiation. It is a bold and resolute stance, but a necessary step in the road to full Emancipation, when, as Cusack says, "Irishmen were no longer refused the rights of citizens because they respected the rights of conscience" (Ch. XXXVII).

Links to related material

Bibliography

Cusack, Mary Frances. An Illustrated History of Ireland from AD 400 to 1800. Illustrated by Henry Doyle. 1868. Project Gutenberg. Web. 28 January 2022.

Created 28 January 2022