James Snipplet

Who was James Snipplet?

James Joseph Snipplet was a widely respected member of the British Parliament and lesser known as a poet and songwriter.

A member of the House of Commons under Prime Ministers Sir Robert Peel and Lord John Russell, Snipplet is best known for his impassioned speeches and staunch backroom diplomacy as an advocate for the rights of the poor during the Irish Potato Famine.

Visiting Ireland for the first time in the summer of 1834, Snipplet, a young industrialist, sought a suitable location to build a cotton gin. Touring the countryside, Snipplet was struck with the undaunted spirit of the people, even though they lived in hopeless poverty.

On his second visit, James met and fell in love with Emma Shanley, the daughter of a struggling tenant farmer. After several subsequent visits and numerous love letters, the two married on 2 August 1836. It was this union that would in later years give Ireland a clarion voice in the House of Commons during the Great Potato Famine, for not only did the young industrialist fall in love with Emma, he also fell in love with Ireland.

The potato blight arrived in Ireland in 1844 and by 1846 some seventy-five percent of the crops were lost.