Nick Maxwell 
Published in Boston in the summer of 1845, Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American slave caused an immediate sensation. Denounced as a ‘catalogue of lies’ by newspapers in the slavery-supporting South, it was praised in the North as the ‘most thrilling work which the American press has ever issued—and the most important’. … Read more
Douglass spent four months in Ireland, giving talks in Dublin, Wexford, Cork, Limerick and Belfast. He crossed over to Britain in early January 1846, speaking to crowds of thousands, dining with statesmen and even contemplating moving his family over permanently. The great success of this leg of the tour, combined with continued worldwide sales of … Read more
A brusque and forthright figure, Captain C.H.E. Judkins was one of the Cunard Line’s longest-serving commanders and a well-known face to generations of transatlantic passengers. He would tell the American writer Margaret Fuller that he took pride in the New York Herald labelling him ‘the nigger captain’. His defence of Douglass, however, may not have … Read more
The French revolutionary government had launched two unsuccessful Irish invasions—in 1796 and 1798—believing that Britain’s naval superiority would be much reduced by the loss of Ireland. In 1803, following lobbying by Irish generals in the French army for the creation of a new Irish corps, Napoleon approved the formation of a light infantry battalion, La … Read more
Irishmen soldiered abroad in the armies of continental Europe from at least 1587, when Irish regiments were formed in Spain, and this tradition continued well into the early nineteenth century. Many were forced to seek fame and fortune abroad after failed rebellions and religious discrimination at home. Following defeat in the Williamite War (1689–91), the … Read more