The Irish nationalist leader was inspired to crusade for land rights by the tenant farmers on his own estate, but struggled to find personal happiness there
It was from the balcony of Avondale House that Charles Stewart Parnell, “the uncrowned king of Ireland”, first practised his impassioned speeches. It looms above as visitors enter the sumptuous front hall, adorned with Gothic cornicing, of Parnell’s Georgian home in County Wicklow. One of Ireland’s great historical figures, Parnell was the charismatic leader of the Irish nationalist movement.
But his nanny, charmed by his commanding presence and respect for the Wicklow countryside, “spotted something that other people didn’t”, says tour guide Ger O’Byrne, and became convinced that her charge was born to rule. After his father died in 1859, leaving Avondale in considerable debt, Parnell assumed ownership on turning 21.
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