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 situation. On 16 Nov. he addressed a large meeting in Conciliation Hall. But the sun of his authority was already setting. An attempt at reconciliation with the Young Ireland party ended in failure, and he sadly saw the country drifting into rebellion. He appeared in the House of Commons for the last time on 8 Feb. 1847; but his voice, once so resonant, had sunk almost to a whisper. He appealed to the house to save his country: ‘She is in your hands—in your power. If you do not save her, she cannot save herself.’ His physicians recommended change of air, and held out hopes of speedy recovery. But he felt he was dying. ‘They deceive themselves,’ he wrote to Fitzpatrick on 1 March, ‘and deceive you who tell you I am recovering.’ Accompanied by his son Daniel, Dr. Miley, and his faithful valet Duggan, he left Folkestone on 22 March for Rome. Travelling by easy stages through France, where the profoundest reverence was paid him, he reached Genoa on 6 May. After lingering a few days, he died of congestion of the brain on Saturday, 15th. In compliance with his wish his heart was embalmed and taken to Rome, where it was laid, with imposing solemnities, in the church of St. Agatha. His body was brought back to Ireland, where it was received on 5 Aug. 1847 with almost royal honours, and interred in Glasnevin cemetery. In 1869 a round-tower, 165 feet high, was erected to his memory, and his body was removed to a crypt at its base.

O'Connell had four sons and three daughters. Morgan [q. v.] the second and John [q. v.] the third son are separately noticed. The eldest son, Maurice, M.P. for Tralee (1833–1853), died on 18 June 1853; the youngest, Daniel, M.P. for Tralee (1853–1863), reached a great age. Of the daughters, Ellen (d. 1883) married Christopher Fitz-Simon of Grantcullen, M.P. for co. Dublin; Catherine was wife of Charles O'Connell, M.P. for co. Kerry; and Elizabeth was wife of Nicholas Joseph Ffrench.

Notwithstanding his dislike to sit for his portrait, there are several portraits of O'Connell in existence—by Sir David Wilkie at the National Bank, Dublin; by Haverty in the London Reform Club, of which O'Connell was an original member, and in the city hall, Limerick; by Catterson Smith in the city hall, Dublin; and by Mulvany in the National Gallery of Ireland. Portraits by Carrick and Maclise are familiar from frequent reproduction. He sat to Duval and also to Haydon. But he was best known to his contemporaries by the political sketches of H. B. (John Doyle). There are statues of him by Hogan in the Dublin Royal Exchange and at Limerick; by Foley in Dublin, and by Cahill in Ennis. The personal appearance of O'Connell was remarkably prepossessing. Slightly under six feet, he was broad in proportion. His complexion was good, and his features, with the exception of his nose, which was short, were regular; but it was his mouth, which was finely chiselled, that gave to his face its chief charm. Always addicted to outdoor sports, he was passionately fond of hunting on foot. Habitually careless in the matter of dress, he was accustomed from the commencement of his political career to wear nothing but of Irish manufacture. Almost childishly fond of display, he was prodigal in the exercise of his hospitality; and, though his income was what most men would call large, he was constantly harassed by debt. At his death his personal property amounted to barely 1,000l. He was an indefatigable worker, rising generally before seven, and seldom seeking rest before the small hours of the morning. He denied that he was originally intended for the church, but, owing to his education, there was undoubtedly not a little of the cleric in his composition. He was fond of theology, and more than once posed as the public champion of his faith. But religion was to him always more than theology, and he carried with him in all his relations of life a consciousness of the divine presence. A sincere Roman catholic from choice and conviction, he was tolerant of every form of religious belief. In general literature he was not particularly well read. His knowledge of history, even of his own country, was extremely defective. Of a naturally gay and boisterous disposition, he possessed an inexhaustible fund of good humour and mother-wit. He spoke his mind freely on all subjects, and loved and hated with equal cordiality. His intemperate use of strong and often coarse epithets he defended on the ground that it was right to speak in the strongest terms consistent with truth of one's friends and one's enemies. But outside politics he was remarkably lenient in his judgments; and, though intolerant of opposition, he was absolutely free from jealousy, and quickly recognised merit wherever he saw it. In his married life he was very happy, and his letters to his wife reveal a tenderness and love that are at times extremely touching.

O'Connell was an able and conscientious lawyer. His knowledge of the Irish language and Irish nature gave him a unique position in criminal causes, and in cross-examination he was without a rival. But the intricacies and delays of the law were