Derrynane House - Daniel O'Connell

Alas, cameras are banned at Derrynane House, so I have no photographs to show you, but you should go there anyway. The house itself is not particularly exciting compared with some of the other Heritage sites, but it has the incredible draw card of being the family home of Daniel O'Connell, also known as the Liberator or Emancipator.

This guy was incredible. He was raised a Roman Catholic in a family with old money at a time when Roman Catholics weren't really supposed to have lands or money. He was accepted to the prestigious King's Inn law school in Dublin and eventually took the bar. Religious since childhood, he got politics in Dublin and started campaigning for Catholic rights. He did a lot of pro bono work defending Catholics who couldn't otherwise have afforded representation. Campaigning ever more vigorously for equality, particularly religious equality, O'Connell's public profile grew to the point where he was elected to the House of Commons despite the fact that, as a Catholic, he couldn't take his seat.

Arrested and held as a political prisoner, O'Connell published open letters to his supporters, advocating peaceful protest. When he was finally released, O'Connell rode home in a gigantic, thronelike chariot that was presented to him by the thousands of supports who cheered and waved him through the streets. He pioneered the modern political rally, campaigned for and won the change of a number of grossly unjust laws. He was the first Roman Catholic Lord Mayor of Dublin. In his spare time O'Connell cured cancer, saved Earth from an alien invasion and found homes for orphaned Catholic kittens.

Okay, I made up the last sentence. Even so, Daniel O'Connell was a remarkable figure well worth the trouble of reading up on. He also had exceptional taste in real estate. Derrynane is one of the most beautiful places in Ireland, which is one of the most beautiful places in the world.