ABSTRACT
By the time of his death in 1847 the international reputation of Daniel O'Connell as one of the most influential Catholic leaders of the period was well established. Montalembert's interest in a free press was shared by his Catholic contemporaries in Munich, particularly those of the so-called Gorres Circle, The major figure in this group was the journalist and historian Joseph Gorres. The subject of three mid-nineteenth century biographies produced in Germany, who received extensive press coverage in both the liberal and Catholic press and whose life and career were discussed in many other popular publications of the period, particularly in travelogues, O'Connell was a man of considerable renown in the German states, counting Goethe and Ludwig I of Bavaria among his admirers. O'Connell can justifiably be considered as one of the fundamental influences which resulted in the political awakening of German Catholicism in the nineteenth century.
