Charles Stewart Parnell

Charles Stewart Parnell (June 27 1846 – October 6 1891) was an Irish political leader and one of the most important figures in 19th century Ireland and the United Kingdom; William Ewart Gladstone thought him the most remarkable person he had ever met. A future Liberal Prime Minister, Herbert Henry Asquith, described him as one of the three or four greatest men of the nineteenth century, while Lord Haldane described him as the strongest man the British House of Commons had seen in 150 years.

Mrs Katherine O'Shea

Parnell was viewed as an Irish national hero, referred to as the Uncrowned King of Ireland, a term originally coined to describe Daniel O'Connell. However Parnell's triumph was shortlived, when it was 'revealed' (though it had been widely known among politicians at Westminster) that Parnell had been the longterm partner, and father of three of the children of Katherine O'Shea. Although now known as Kitty O'Shea, this name was coined by Parnell's opponents, and no-one who knew her called her Kitty. (A "kitty" was a slang term for a prostitute.) She was the wife of a fellow Galway MP, Captain Willie O'Shea, who had initiated divorce proceedings after failing to secure a large inheritance due to his wife. After her divorce she became Parnell's wife, Mrs. Katherine Parnell. Under pressure from the religious wing of the Liberal Party, Gladstone reluctantly indicated that he could not support the Irish Parliamentary party as long as Charles Stewart Parnell remained its leader.

Related Topics:
Uncrowned King of Ireland - Daniel O'Connell - Westminster - Katherine O'Shea - Willie O'Shea

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Parnell refused to resign, leading to a wholesale party split between Parnellites and Anti-Parnellites. When at a party meeting, he challenged Gladstone's intervention with the question, "Who is the master of the party?" a notoriously waspish MP, Tim Healy responded with the legendary "Who is the mistress of the party?" putdown.

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See also: Diocese of Meath

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