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An Address to the Irish People

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An Address to the Irish People is a political pamphlet by Percy Bysshe Shelley, published in Dublin in 1812. It appeals for reform in Ireland, including Catholic emancipation and repeal of the legislative union with Britain, while rejecting violence as a means of achieving those aims.[1][2]

Arguments

Shelley addresses readers across religious divisions. He argues that people should not lose civil rights because of their beliefs, and asks Catholics and Protestants to work together. His appeal also reaches beyond Ireland: he presents the pursuit of liberty and fair treatment as a shared human concern.[1]

The pamphlet urges readers to discuss public affairs, develop their knowledge and resist injustice through reasoned persuasion. Shelley contrasts this with disorderly crowds and organisations using force. He links political change to personal conduct, asking readers to practise honesty, patience and concern for others.[1]

The closing pages propose an association to advance these principles. In the postscript, Shelley explains that he wrote the address in England and wanted to make its language and price accessible to poorer readers.[1]

Publication and response

Shelley was nineteen when he arrived in Dublin in February 1812. Copies of the pamphlet were sent to contacts and distributed around the city, including by Shelley himself. His visit also produced further political pamphlets.[2]

In her account for Wordsworth Grasmere, historian Sinéad Fitzgibbon describes the address’s immediate effect as slight. She argues that Shelley misjudged his intended audience by assuming that poor Irish readers needed an outsider to explain their situation.[2]

An 1890 edition, published for the Shelley Society, reprinted the 1812 pamphlet with an introduction by T. W. Rolleston and bibliographical material by Thomas J. Wise. Its reproduced title page includes a comma in An Address, to the Irish People; both forms refer to the same work.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Percy Bysshe Shelley, An Address to the Irish People (1812), reprinted for the Shelley Society by Reeves and Turner (1890), title and advertisement, original text pp. 1–7 and 18–22; title page of the 1890 edition and bibliography, pp. 27–28.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Sinéad Fitzgibbon, “Percy Bysshe Shelley and revolutionary Ireland”, Wordsworth Grasmere, 26 March 2014. Accessed 10 October 2026.
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