Frederick Douglass in Ireland 180 years ago - An Irish Diary

Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) was born into slavery in America. He managed to escape and spent the rest of his life telling his story and campaigning for an end to slavery. He visited Ireland in 1845 to spread the word. I have just written an Irish Diary about his time in Ireland in the Irish Times newspaper. Read it here.

 

Mural of Frederick Douglass in Cork.

Douglass wrote his autobiography in 1845 and this caused quite the sensation - so much so that he thought it might be best to get away for a while. He toured Ireland on a speaking tour in the Autumn of 1845, visiting Kildare, Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Belfast, Wexford and Waterford. He was positively received wherever he went. This surprised him as he was used to being treated differently in the United States on account of his skin colour. 

He also visited England, Scotland and Wales in 1845. There is a map here of all the towns where he spoke from Exeter in the south of England to Wrexham in northeast Wales and Aberdeen in Scotland.