Broadside ballad entitled 'The Tara Monster Meeting'

Commentary

Verse 1 begins: 'On the fifteenth day of August, / In the year of Forty Three, / That glorious day, I well may say, / Recorded it will be'. There are no publication details given, but this is one of two songs - printed by James Lindsay - on this sheet.

Daniel O'Connell (1775-1847), known as 'the Liberator' for his role in achieving Catholic Emancipation, was the leader of the powerful Repeal Association, whose aim was to repeal the Act of Union (1800) between Britain and Ireland thus gaining total Irish emancipation. After numerous political manoeuvring, O'Connell organised rallies which became so well attended that they were named 'monster meetings'. The meeting at Tara, Co. Meath in the summer of 1843, is now estimated to have been attended by 750,000 people.

This style of text, with its implicit political propaganda, would not only have made for compelling entertainment, but would also perhaps have stimulated political thought, reasoning and debate.

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