Parnell: A Novel

By Brian Cregan

Dublin, March 1874. Charles Stewart Parnell, only twenty-six years old, speaks in public for the first time as a candidate for Ireland’s Home Rule Party. Hesitant and nervous, he stumbles through his speech to the sound of booing and leaves the platform humiliated. He vows that in future he will find his voice – and make it heard.
Within three years of this speech, Parnell made the House of Commons unworkable; within six years he had destroyed the landlords in Ireland; and within a decade he controlled the House of Commons and put English Prime Ministers in and out of government at will.
Parnell: A Novel charts the life of this most enigmatic and remarkable of men, as seen through the eyes of his loyal secretary James Harrison. From the Houses of Parliament to the blighted villages of the West of Ireland, from the courtrooms of the Royal Courts of Justice to the cells of Kilmainham Gaol, this is the story of how the character of one man could alter the fate of two nations.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The History Press
• Release date: Aug 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9780752496962

Reviews for Parnell

[n.w.moors-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Charles Stewart Parnell is an Irish hero, a preeminent political warrior who sparred with politicians like Disraeli and Gladstone. This story of his life is narrated by his secretary and friend, James Harrison, and deals with his political exploits in the House of Commons where he fought to bring Home Rule to the Irish. Parnell came from a wealthy landowner family in Ireland (his mother was American) and he was not like others of his class. He entered politics at the age of twenty-nine. He wasn't a fiery speaker, possibly not even a great one when speeches defined a politician, but he was resolute to the point of obduracy and knew how to wield Parliamentary rules to his benefit. He managed to obstruct Parliament until he got some of what he wanted for Ireland, despite being jailed by his political enemies. And then he lost it all because of his love for a woman.I found the details of the politics fascinating, especially as how it relates to our current political situation. In a way, Parnell was the Mitch McConnell of his time, using Parliamentary rules and customs when he could and ramming other bills through when nothing else worked. He ruled his Home Rule party with an iron fist which ultimately led to his downfall when he couldn't concede he was in the wrong about his adulterous affair. I learned a lot from reading this book, but two things stand out: one of the chief architects of Parnell's downfall was Joseph Chamberlain, father of Neville, and the word boycott comes from a technique used by the Irish Land League against a landlord who was evicting his tenants, a Captain Boycott who subsequently lent his name to history.Regardless, Parnell is an Irish hero. By the way, I've been to see Parnell's cell in Kilmainham Gaol and his grave, which rests in Glasnevin Cemetery on a cholera pit holding thousands of Irish victims and is marked merely by a boulder with only Parnell inscribed upon it. (If you're in Dublin, take the tours of Kilmainham Gaol and Glasnevin Cemetery; they're both fabulous). Parnell died young at age forty-five, worn out by the seven months in jail and his arduous efforts on behalf of the Irish people. His funeral was attended by over 200,000 people. Gladstone described him: "Parnell was the most remarkable man I ever met. I do not say the ablest man; I say the most remarkable and the most interesting. He was an intellectual phenomenon." Liberal leader H. H. Asquith called him one of the three or four greatest men of the 19th century, while Lord Haldane described him as the strongest man the House of Commons had seen in 150 years. Historian A. J. P. Taylor says, "More than any other man he gave Ireland the sense of being an independent nation."