An active campaigner on land and tenancy reform, Farrell was arrested and imprisoned for two months in 1889 over a speech deemed to be agitation. He stood as an Anti-Parnellite Irish National Federation candidate at the 1895 general election in Kilkenny City, where the outgoing Anti-Parnellite MP Thomas Curran was not standing again.
A champion of land and tenancy reform, Farrell faced arrest and imprisonment for two months in 1889 following a speech deemed incendiary. He stood for election to the Irish National Federation in 1895, challenging outgoing MP Thomas Curran in Kilkenny City.