A love affair that changed the course of Irish history

‘FOR both of them it had been virtually a case of love at first sight.’’ Such was the view of one of our most eminent historians, the late FSL Lyons, as he chronicled the fallout from one of the great political love stories.

Nobody can be certain if their hearts went all a-flutter when first they met. But the evidence suggests Charles Stewart Parnell and Katherine O’Shea were smitten, almost from the moment they laid eyes on one another.

Fascination with the passionate but ultimately doomed relationship has endured for well over a century. And we can still but speculate how different things might have been for Ireland had they never got together.

The fallout from the affair wrecked Parnell’s political career and contributed to his untimely death aged 45. The ultimate historical conundrum is that if he had not died in 1891, would the power of his personality have restrained the growth of physical force republicanism?

He was the Irish MP capable of galvanising his party in the House of Commons, doggedly pursuing Irish home rule. After his passing a huge void was created in Ireland’s national life. In the undergrowth various stands were coming together, culminating 25 years later in the 1916 Rising.

Within another two years the remnants of the old Parnellite party were swept away by a new force, Sinn Féin, in the 1918 general election.

The momentum from those times are with us still. Events shaped by the Rising, and the subsequent War of Independence and Civil War, pushed the old constitutional drive for home rule aside. A new and more brutal reality now dominated the relationship with our nearest neighbour.

When Parnell first laid eyes on Katherine in the summer of 1880 she had been married to Captain William O’Shea for 13 years. Although the couple had three children, it was a troubled relationship and they were living apart.

Culturally and socially, Parnell and Ms O’Shea had strong similarities. Photographs taken at the time suggest they shared a certain haughty demeanour – perhaps there was destiny in their eventual union.

For his part, Captain O’Shea deservedly or otherwise, has long had a bad press in the annals of Irish history. Variously dismissed as a “scoundrel” and “vagabond”, his wife would accuse him of consorting with prostitutes in London and Paris.

Those who visit the Parnell family home in Avondale, Co Wicklow, now a museum, may sense an aura of the unhappiness which blighted the life of the young Parnell. His parents’ marriage was not a happy union.

In his early years he was shy and had to master a stammer. It has been speculated one of the attractions of Ms O’Shea is that she provided him with the warm home life he craved.

By 1881 they had begun to live together for short periods. The following year she gave birth to a child who died shortly afterwards. Parnell believed himself to be the father.

It is accepted Captain O’Shea knew what was going on. But he stayed silent, convinced his decision to look the other way would pressure Parnell to help him with his own political ambitions.

In a classic Irish twist to the tale, matters were complicated by the possibility of an inheritance from Katherine O’Shea’s aunt. When the captain failed to secure an expected windfall, relations soured all round.

He filed for divorce. Parnell was cited in public as an adulterer.

Famously, a week of “intense and tortured” debate by his parliamentary colleagues in Committee Room 15 of the House of Commons, split his party.

He would marry his lover. But the die was cast as far as his political future was concerned.

Worn out physically and mentally, his health rapidly deteriorated. “On 6 October 1891, aged only 45, he died at Brighton, in the arms of his wife Katherine,’’ writes FSL Lyons in one of his most lingering sentences.

He was laid to rest in Glasnevin Cemetery. Katherine, who never set foot in Ireland, died 100 years ago this month. She was buried in Sussex.

A rock of Wicklow granite with the single motif ‘Parnell’ marks the grave of the “uncrowned king of Ireland”. Whenever we gaze upon it we can but wonder what might have been – had fate not played its hand all those years ago.

He was the Irish MP capable of galvanising his party in the House of Commons, doggedly pursuing Irish home rule