Townsend Street’s Constitutional Experiment
The firmly dated moment came on 10 May, when an aggregate meeting at Townsend Street Chapel, Dublin, resolved to form the Catholic Association. Lord Killeen chaired the gathering. O’Connell moved the proposal, Sir Thomas Esmonde seconded it, and Richard Lalor Sheil was among its prominent advocates. Its stated object was the redress of Catholic grievances, above all the remaining legal disabilities that denied Catholics full participation in public life. The place was significant: a Catholic chapel in the capital became a venue for political deliberation at a time when religious affiliation still shaped access to power.