In Search of Thomas Sheahan: Radical Politics in Cork, 1824-1836

This work examines radical political activity in Cork during the crucial decades of the 1820s and 1830s by excavating the political career of Thomas Sheahan, a local radical who played a key role in the politicalization of the city’s tradesmen. Sheahan was one of hundreds of local leaders who built the movements for Catholic emancipation and Repeal but he differed from most in that his central objective was the elimination of economic destitution rather than the elevation of liberalism or the Catholic middle class. He came from humble origins on the northside of the city, but his literary abilities led to his appointment in 1826 as editor of the important Cork Mercantile Chronicle . He maintained links with the shopkeepers of his locality and he was instrumental in establishing the Cork Trades Association during the cholera epidemic of 1832. The trades association played a critical role in the elections and its emergence threatened to divide the O'Connellite movement which had hitherto been completely dominated by the entirely middle class Chamber of Commerce faction.