Thomas Davis, Selections from His Prose and Poetry: Irish Historical Classics

In 1842-45 Davis assumed the leadership of those who left the Repeal movement to form a new political group known as the 'Young Ireland'. Like O'Connell the Young Irelanders demanded repeal of the Union. However, Davis challenged O'Connell's opposition to non-denominational education arguing that mixed education was essential for unity. Davis was disillusioned with constitutional methods and believed that Irish independence should be achieved even at the cost of bloodshed. He was more interested in promoting a vision of the future where a united Irish society would be governed by a proud and self-confident nationalism. To a large extent Davis created the culture of modern Irish nationalism. Formerly it was based on the republicans of the 1790s and on the Catholic emancipation movement of Daniel O'Connell in the 1820s-30s, that had little in common with each other except for separatism from Britain; Davis aimed to create a common and more inclusive base for the future. He established The Nation newspaper with Charles Gavan Duffy and John Blake Dillon. He wrote some stirring nationalistic ballads, originally contributed to The Nation, and afterwards republished as Spirit of the Nation, as well as a memoir of Curran, the Irish lawyer and orator, prefixed to an edition of his speeches, and a history of King James II's parliament of 1689; and he had formed many literary plans which were unfinished by his early death. He was a protestant, but preached unity between Catholics and Protestants. To Davis, it was not blood that made a person Irish, but the willingness to be part of the Irish nation. Although the Saxon and Dane were, Davis asserted, objects of unpopularity, their descendants would be Irish if they simply allowed themselves to be. He was to the fore of Irish nationalist thinking and it has been noted by later nationalist notables, such as Patrick Pearse, that while Wolfe Tone laid out the basic premise that Ireland as a nation must be free, Davis was the one who built this idea up promoting the Irish identity. He is the author of the famous Irish rebel songs The West's Awake and A Nation Once Again. He also wrote the Lament for Owen Roe O'Neill

About the Author :
Thomas Osborne Davis (14 October 1814 - 16 September 1845) was an Irish writer who was the chief organiser of the Young Ireland movement. To a large extent Davis created the culture of modern Irish nationalism. Formerly it was based on the republicans of the 1790s and on the Catholic emancipation movement of Daniel O'Connell in the 1820s-30s, that had little in common with each other except for separatism from Britain; Davis aimed to create a common and more inclusive base for the future. He established The Nation newspaper with Charles Gavan Duffy and John Blake Dillon. He wrote some stirring nationalistic ballads, originally contributed to The Nation, and afterwards republished as Spirit of the Nation, as well as a memoir of Curran, the Irish lawyer and orator, prefixed to an edition of his speeches, and a history of King James II's parliament of 1689; and he had formed many literary plans which were unfinished by his early death. He was a protestant, but preached unity between Catholics and Protestants. To Davis, it was not blood that made a person Irish, but the willingness to be part of the Irish nation. Although the Saxon and Dane were, Davis asserted, objects of unpopularity, their descendants would be Irish if they simply allowed themselves to be. He was to the fore of Irish nationalist thinking and it has been noted by later nationalist notables, such as Patrick Pearse, that while Wolfe Tone laid out the basic premise that Ireland as a nation must be free, Davis was the one who built this idea up promoting the Irish identity. He is the author of the famous Irish rebel songs The West's Awake and A Nation Once Again. He also wrote the Lament for Owen Roe O'Neill.