Frederick Douglass toured Ireland as the Famine was beginning and was touched by the suffering of the poor that he witnessed. Photograph: Getty Images
“Our success here is even greater than I had anticipated,” pronounced Frederick Douglass a little while after arriving in Ireland in the autumn of 1845. Born into slavery in the US in 1818, Douglass became a powerful anti-slavery advocate through his speeches and writings.
He escaped from slavery in 1838 by disguising himself as a sailor and jumping on a train in Baltimore, Maryland. He made his way to New York, but the presence of slave catchers in the city made him move on to New Bedford in Massachusetts.
The feeling of newfound freedom in the relative safety of the north was akin to having esca
Continue Reading on The Irish Times
This preview shows approximately 15% of the article. Read the full story on the publisher's website to support quality journalism.