James Fintan Lalor (1807-1849) was one of the most original thinkers of the Young Ireland movement, and one of the most frequently appropriated by later Irish activists. From Michael Davitt to James Connolly, a host of self-proclaimed disciples celebrated Lalor in succession as a proto-Fenian rebel, the prophet of Irish land reform, the fourth evangelist of Irish nationalism, and the Irish apostle of revolutionary Socialism. Not all of these definitions fit the reality of Lalor's political thought, but they attest to the deep impression he made on several generations of Irish readers. This edition offers a fresh transcription of Lalor's articles in their original newspaper form, removing the small alterations handed down from Lilian Fogarty's canonical 1918 edition. The introduction provides an overview of Lalor's career and explains the circumstances surrounding each article. An appendix completes the selection with two important documents: Lalor's surprising 1843 letter to Sir Robert Peel, and an unpublished article intended as Lalor's second contribution to the Nation.
This small corpus - a mere twelve articles written between 1847 and 1848 - nevertheless suffices to argue for Lalor's inclusion among the great Irish writers of the nineteenth century.