ABSTRACT
When Frederick Douglass, a 27-year-old fugitive slave, arrived in Dublin in 1845, he did not anticipate that within four months he would feel transformed, having spent the happiest time of his life in the company of Irish abolitionists. When Frederick Douglass had concluded his address, a vote of thanks was proposed to him, and carried by acclamation. A large part of the Assembly's discussion in Ireland was concerned with slavery, with a committee being appointed to examine the issue in more depth. Douglass gave a powerful farewell address in which he quoted O'Connell:<disp-quote> America presents to the world an anomaly, such as no other nation ever did or can present before mankind. In 1893, he paid public tribute to the beleaguered country-the first black republic-referencing both Ireland and Daniel O'Connell in his speech:<disp-quote> It was once said by the great Daniel O'Connell, that the history of Ireland might be traced, like a wounded man through a crowd, by the blood.
