M‘Neile was an influential, well-connected demagogue, a renowned public speaker, an evangelical cleric and a relentless opponent of “Popery”, who was permanently inflamed by the ever-increasing number of Irish Roman Catholics in Liverpool. He was infamous for his stirring oratory, his immoderate preaching, his prolific publications, and his inability to accurately construe the meaning of the scripture upon which his diatribes were based (see below). He was just as deeply loved, admired and respected by some, as he was an object of derision and scorn for others.