Parnell, Charles Stewart (1846–1891)

Irish nationalist politician. He supported a policy of obstruction and violence to attain home rule, and became the president of the Nationalist Party in 1877. In 1879 he approved the Land League, and his attitude led to his imprisonment in 1881. His career was ruined in 1890 when he was cited as co-respondent in a divorce case. Because of his great influence over his followers, he was called ‘the uncrowned king of Ireland’.

Parnell, born in Avondale, County Wicklow, was elected member of Parliament for Meath in 1875. He welcomed Gladstone's Home Rule Bill, and continued his agitation after its defeat in 1886. In 1887 his reputation suffered from an unfounded accusation by The Times of complicity in the murder of Lord Frederick Cavendish, chief secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Three years later came the adultery scandal, and for fear of losing the support of Gladstone, Parnell's party deposed him. He died suddenly of rheumatic fever at the age of 45.

As a member of the Irish Home Rule party led in the House of Commons by Isaac Butt, Parnell was instrumental in disrupting the business of the House and in securing the support of the Fenians. In the autumn of 1881 he was imprisoned in Kilmainham jail for incitement to violence, but was released in the following May, when an arrangement concerning Irish affairs, called the ‘Kilmainham Treaty’, was arrived at with Gladstone. However, the Phoenix Park murders upset all plans (Parnell not only had no connection with the crime, but even denounced it in the House of Commons). Subsequently, the documents purporting to prove his complicity were shown to be forgeries, and Parnell was completely vindicated by the report of the special commission.