Rebel Matters Podcast

We are very proud to be part of #DouglassWeek, the weeklong, wide-ranging celebration of the great abolitionist Frederick Douglass’s visit to Ireland over 175 years ago. For this episode, we speak with historian Laurence Fenton, the author of Frederick Douglass in Ireland: 'The Black O'Connell' and 'I Was Transformed' Frederick Douglass: An American Slave in Victorian Britain.  #DouglassWeek runs between 8-14 February, 2021 and is an all-island, collaborative event series that celebrates the arrival of Frederick Douglass in Ireland between 1845-1846. Douglass had been born into slavery but escaped bondage on a plantation in Maryland by fleeing to the North, where he became a prominent anti-slavery activist. Douglass lectured to large and enthusiastic audiences in Dublin, Wexford, Waterford, Cork, Limerick and Belfast, met with Daniel O’Connell, and reflected upon the devastating effects of the famine then beginning to sweep the nation. Laurence talks us through Douglass' life, and that memorable Irish visit.