Crossword Genius

Irish nationalist of old, briefly deceived by Liberals (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

oconnell

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'irish nationalist' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.

'old briefly deceived by liberals' is the wordplay.
'old' becomes 'o' (abbreviation).
'briefly' means to remove the last letter.
'deceived' becomes 'conned' (I've seen this before).
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'liberals' becomes 'll' (a political abbreviation for liberal written twice).
'conned' with its last letter taken off is 'conne'.
'o'+'conne'+'ll'='OCONNELL'

'of' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for oconnell that I've seen before include "Daniel and Mick (1'7)" , "Daniel ........ was called the Liberator" , "Daniel .'. . . . . . ., the great Irish Liberator (1'7)" , "Daniel . . . . . . . ., historical Irish Liberator" , "Daniel . . . . . . . . was known as the Liberator in 19th century Ireland (1'7)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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