John Mitchell, portrait

Irish Politician, activist, later US politician

John Mitchel (Irish: Seán Mistéal; 3 November 1815 – 20 March 1875) was an Irish nationalist activist, solicitor and political journalist. Born in Camnish, near Dungiven, County Londonderry, Ireland he became a leading member of both Young Ireland and the Irish Confederation. He also became a public voice for the Southern American viewpoint in the United States in the 1850s and 1860s before being elected to the British House of Commons in 1875, only to be disqualified because he was a convicted felon. His Jail Journal is one of Irish nationalism's most famous texts