Daniel O’Connell (1775–1847) was one of the most remarkable people in the nineteenth century. Famous in his day as the most feared lawyer in Ireland, O’ Connell tormented judges, terrorised opposing barristers, and won a reputation for saving the lives of so many men who would otherwise have been hanged. He became ‘The Counsellor’, the fearless defender of the people. And he secured that reputation through his campaign for Catholic emancipation, when he founded the first successful mass democratic movement in European history, and became ‘The Liberator’.