John Forbes and Daniel O'Connell: the meeting of a Scottish physician with an Irish nationalist in 1841.

Last year was the 150th anniversary of the failure of the potato crop in Ireland, which initiated the famine years of 1845-9. The consequences for agricultural communities dependent on this source of food for survival were disastrous in terms of mortality and emigration, although it was not the sole cause for the emergency of an Irish "diaspora". Within two years the Irish people suffered a further blow with the death of their parliamentary champion, O'Connell. Daniel O'Connell (1775-1847) was popularly known in Ireland as the "Liberator", as he promoted the cause of Catholic emancipation together with repeal of the Act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland of 1801. He was skilled as a barrister and politician, and remarkable in that he advocated non-violent means to achieve his aims. His family were fairly well-to-do landowners in County Kerry, in the south-west. In contrast, John Forbes came from a humbler background of tenant farmers in the north-east of Scotland. It may be of interest to outline the circumstances leading to his meeting with O'Connell in 1841.