1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Steele, Thomas

STEELE, THOMAS (1788–1848), Irish politician and writer, a member of a Somerset family which settled in Ireland during the 17th century, was born on the 3rd of November 1788. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and at Magdalene College, Cambridge, and succeeded to a large estate in Co. Clare. As a volunteer he fought against the Bourbons in Spain in 1823, and, returning to Ireland, he became an enthusiastic worker for Roman Catholic emancipation, helping greatly to return Daniel O’Connell to parliament for Co. Clare at the famous election of 1828. It is interesting to note that Steele himself was a Protestant. Having ruined his fortune by contributing liberally to the causes in which he was interested, he died in London on the 15th of June 1848. He wrote Notes of the War in Spain (1824) and some essays on Irish questions.