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Daniel O'Connell
Photo: portrait photograph, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons10

Daniel O'Connell

Irish poet, actor, writer and journalist

Daniel O'Connell (II) (1849 – 23 January 1899) was a poet, actor, writer and journalist in San Francisco, California, and a co-founder of the Bohemian Club. He was the grand-nephew of Daniel O'Connell (1775–1847), the famed Irish orator and politician.2

From Wikipedia’s article on Daniel O'Connell (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born 1849, died Jan 23, 1899.1

About

O'Connell's strict classics-oriented education in Ireland stood him in good stead for his early career choices of teacher and journalist. In San Francisco, he formed friendships with artists and influential men who joined with him in presenting and promoting theatrical productions and in publishing books and newspapers. He wrote short stories for magazines and journals, and lived a life rich in food, drink, and the arts. A dedicated family man in America, O'Connell never lost his Irish poet's sense of overarching sadness joined with keen pleasure in the sensations of the physical world.

From Wikipedia’s article on Daniel O'Connell, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2

Companies

Early life and education

  • Date not recordedClongowes Wood College3
  • Date not recordedBelvedere College3

Career

Occupation: journalist, editor, poet.5

O'Connell was born to distinguished lawyer Charles O'Connell in 1849 in Ennis, County Clare, Ireland, some two years after the death of his famed grand-uncle Daniel O'Connell. Young O'Connell attended Belvedere College, a Jesuit school in Dublin, but was called home at the deaths of his mother and sister in a coach accident. This tragic event was later judged to be the source of O'Connell's sense of the impermanence of the world. After the funeral, he was transferred without enthusiasm to Clongowes Wood College where he studied the classics for three years. O'Connell signed on with the Royal Navy as a midshipman. He traveled around Cape Horn to California in 1868.

After disembarking in San Francisco, O'Connell took a position as professor of belles-lettres at Santa Clara College, then accepted an offer from St. Ignatius College in San Francisco to teach Greek.

From Wikipedia’s article on Daniel O'Connell (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Personal life

  • Born1849, County Clare6
  • DiedJan 23, 1899, Sausalito7
  • CitizenshipUnited States8

In 1874, O'Connell married Annie Ashley, called Mabel, the daughter of California state senator and U.S. representative from Nevada Delos R. Ashley, who had died the previous year. The marriage produced seven children. The O'Connell marriage was described by a close friend as a perfect union, "with kindred tastes and boy-and-girl love." With seven children who adored their father, the O'Connell home became a "small world where love reigned." Gipsy O'Connell, one of the daughters, later expressed that her favourite of her father's poems was "Sing Me A Ringing Anthem" from Lyrics.

From Wikipedia’s article on Daniel O'Connell (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Sources

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