Showing posts with label AOH Irish History. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AOH Irish History. Show all posts
Thursday, November 19, 2015
Irish Historian's Report November 2015
THE BATTLE OF YELLOW FORD
by Mike
McCormack
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| Map and Illustration of The Battle of Yellow Ford |
The
year was 1587, and the English were concerned about the Irish Chieftains whom they
had not yet brought under control – especially in Ulster. Something had to be done to insure their
non-interference with Crown activities.
One of the more powerful clans was the O'Donnell of Tyr Connail, the
present day Donegal. Doe Castle was the
seat of ‘The MacSweeney of the Battleaxe’ and the teenage son of ‘The
O’Donnell’, was sent there to be trained in the arts: literature, music,
swordsmanship, horsemanship and all the educational pursuits befitting a young
Irish prince. One day, a trading ship
sailed into Rathmullen on Lough Swilly, 24 miles from Doe Castle. They were offering Spanish wines, and fine
fabrics for the Donegal Chieftains and their ladies. Red Hugh O'Donnell, the 15-year old heir to
the Tyr Connail Chieftainship and two friends, Dan MacSweeney and Hugh
O’Gallagher, were invited aboard to see the merchandise. Once on board, they were overpowered and the
young prince was taken captive. The
kidnapping infuriated the Irish, but Lord Deputy Perrot reassured them that Red
Hugh would remain alive, as long as the O'Donnells remained passive. The young prince was taken to Dublin
Castle. The O’Donnells had been
harboring 25 survivors of the Spanish Armada who shipwrecked on the Donegal
coast in August 1588; they offered them to the English in exchange for Red
Hugh. The offer was accepted and the
Spaniards were marched to Dublin to make the exchange. When the English got the Spaniards, they
beheaded them on the spot and sent the O’Donnells home, refusing to honor the
agreement.
As
Christmas neared in 1591, O’Donnell had been imprisoned and brutally treated
for near six years. So many wardens had
been replaced, it was doubtful if anyone remembered a red-haired boy in a cell
in the bowels of Dublin Castle. Then, on
Christmas night, 21-year old Red Hugh made a daring escape with Henry and Art
O’Neill, sons of the late Shane O’Neill, Chieftain of Tyrone. They fled into
the Wicklow Mountains where, days later, close to death, covered with snow and
embracing the lifeless body of Art O’Neill (Henry died during the escape) in an
attempt to keep him from freezing, Red Hugh was found by the great Munster
Chieftain, Fiach McHugh O'Byrne. Red
Hugh's escape sent a thrill through all of Ireland: the heir of Tir-Connaill was safe. He was brought to Hugh O’Neill at Dungannon,
who escorted him to Hugh Maguire, Lord of Fermanagh. The Maguire brought him to Tir-Connaill, where
in May, 1593, he stood on the Rock of Doone, the ancient crowning stone of Clan
O'Donnell, and received a title higher than any foreigner could give - that of
The O'Donnell, Prince of Tir-Connaill.
There were now two War Chiefs in Ulster ready to oppose the English.
 |
| Painting - "The Battle of Yellow Ford" by JB Vallely |
The
English, worried by the audacity of the northern Chieftains, captured The
Maguire's fort at Enniskillen which guarded the Gap of the Erne - one of the
two the main accesses to Ulster. Maguire
called on The O'Donnell for assistance, and O'Donnell rallied his clan. Thus began the great rising of the Ulster
Chieftains known as The Nine Years War.
O'Donnell swept through Ulster driving the English before him. By the time they reached Enniskillen, Hugh
O'Neill's brother, Cormac had joined them, and Enniskillen was recaptured. The English attacked Monaghan and again were
defeated, but in the battle, the banner of the Red Hand of O'Neill flew among
the Irish; Clan O'Neill had taken the field against the English, and at their
head was The O'Neill, England's trusted Earl of Tyrone. The English were now in trouble for, the
Irish had revealed their strength. The
three Hughs were in command of close to 1,000 horse-soldiers and 7,000 foot, at
a time when the entire English force in Ireland was less than 2,000. With Enniskillen safely in their hands, the
three Hughes moved toward the Blackwater where an English Fort controlled the
other main access to Ulster - the Gap of the North. The Crown sent Lord Ormond and a newly
arrived army of 4,000 foot and 300 horse to reinforce Blackwater. The Irish
decided to stop him at a ford in the Callan River known as the Yellow Ford.
The
O'Neill constructed defenses, The O'Donnell organized a cavalry and The Maguire
set to block an enemy retreat. What
happened next had never before happened in Ireland. On the morning of August 14, 1598, the
English were outmaneuvered, outgunned, outfought, and out-generaled by the
Irish. The Queen's army was destroyed,
Blackwater Fort was in Irish hands and all of Ireland stood open before their
army of liberation. Elizabeth was not on
the brink of losing Ireland; she had lost it, and would spend a fortune to
regain it. She raised the largest force
ever assembled – 25,000 troops – and sent her Earl of Essex to lead them. But Essex delayed, though Elizabeth demanded
he attack. In September, he finally
moved north. The two armies met in
Louth, and O'Neill called for a parlay.
The two leaders met on horseback in the middle of a stream at the Ford
of Bellaclynthe. What was said will
never be known, but when it was over, Essex turned his army south, and returned
to Dublin. In defiance of Elizabeth, he
had granted O'Neill a truce!
 |
| Hugh O’Neill and his Troops |
Essex
deserted his army and left for England to plot rebellion against her. Whether O'Neill had proposed such a strategy
during their meeting is unknown, but he was playing the politics of avoiding
conflict with Elizabeth. She was, after
all, an old woman and couldn't last much longer. He had been negotiating with her successor,
James Stuart of Scotland, and may well have offered Essex a position in the new
reign in return for a truce until Elizabeth's death. The only obstacle between O'Neill and the
Kingship of Ireland was a frail old woman who would not die. However, before she did, she had one more go
at taking Ireland – and she succeeded.
But that’s another story. For
now, Ireland was Irish.
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
AOH Historian's Report
A Disease That Haunted The Irish
By Mike McCormack
 |
| Cholera Outbreak in Athlone, Ireland 1832 |
Cholera is an infection of the human
intestine and is recognized as one of the most efficient killers of all time;
it works quickly to kill, often on the same day as infection. Cholera causes
violent vomiting, cramps and diarrhea and is spread by contaminated excrement
and handling clothing and bedding of infected people. In crowded cities,
sewage-contaminated water supplies were a major source of its spread, but no
one realized that until after 1854. Before that, it had arrived in America with
Irish and German immigrants, crowded below decks on coffin ships with little or
no fresh water or sanitary facilities for a rough six-to-eight-week passage
across the Atlantic.
 |
| Depiction of Cholera Outbreak in The Five Points, NYC in 1832 |
It decimated the polluted immigrant
slums into which many immigrants were forced to live. In June 1832, an outbreak
of cholera spread rapidly throughout the crowded, unsanitary dwellings of New
York’s Five Points neighborhood before spreading to the rest of the city
killing 3,500 in two months. Nativists blamed the disease on the life style of
the poor – namely Catholicism, poverty and drink until the disease spread
uptown, where well-to-do families kept the cause of death a secret. New York’s
Croton reservoir was completed in late 1842 to bring clean water to the city
for drinking and street cleaning, but the Croton Water Board objected to
wasting that clean water in the Five Points. A second major outbreak occurred
in 1849 killing 5,017. For the next 20 years, deaths in the Five Points area
was triple that of the rest of the city.
 |
| Cholera Cross in Clinton County, Illinois |
In 1842, cholera also broke out in
Saint Louis brought by German and Irish immigrants coming up the Mississippi
from New Orleans where upon arrival; dehydrated from the voyage they drank
great gulps of contaminated water. Like their countrymen in New York the Irish
were forced into a filthy slum area called the Kerry Patch. As a result, the
St. Louis death toll reached 4,500 in three months. The increase of immigrants
in 1849 fleeing Ireland’s Great Hunger led to a second major outbreak that took
more than 7,000 lives. In May 1849, the city took over Arsenal Island in the
Mississippi and renamed it Quarantine Island. All ships were stopped there for
inspection and those passengers who seemed ill remained in hastily built sheds
until they either recovered or died, just like Grosse Isle in Quebec. Thousands
were buried there before the island – cemetery and all – washed away in the
spring floods of the 1860s after the city built dykes on the west side of the
river and changed its flow.
 |
| Federal Mortality Census Report for 1850 |
However, the quarantining efforts
failed to stop bacteria from infecting St. Louis’ water supply. With no other
dumping site available, chamber pots were emptied into the streets and rain
washed the excrement into the limestone caves beneath the city where raw sewage
from the city was also dumped. It eventually overflowed into a low area near
the Kerry Patch creating a putrid pool angrily called Kayser’s Lake. Henry
Kayser was the city engineer who decided to divert the entire city’s waste
water into the limestone caves beneath the city rather than build sewers to
save money. In 1849, approximately one-tenth of the population of St. Louis
died from disease.
Not knowing the true source of the
disease, people blamed everything from sauerkraut to stench as thousands of new
immigrants joined the prospectors who stopped at St Louis – the gateway to the
west – to outfit for the journey to the recently discovered gold fields of
California. Typically, cholera swept through the poorest areas first and was
interpreted by the Nativist press as being due to the immigrants’ ignorance,
laziness, and moral laxity. By the third week of June, cholera was killing
roughly 100 people a day. Rev. John B. Druyts, Jesuit president of Saint Louis
College, told the frightened students to place themselves under protection of
the Blessed Virgin Mary. Those who survived were to chip in and buy a silver
crown for her statue in the chapel. The effect of this holy resolution calmed
the students. In what was called a miracle, there were no deaths within the
school walls, although there were victims of the disease in almost every house
around the College. In October 1849, a silver crown was reverently carried on a
purple cushion to the statue.
On June 24, citizens crowded a
public meeting and demanded that city officials do something or resign. The
officials did what officials always do: they formed a committee. The committee
not knowing the cause, immediately ordered coal, tar and sulfur pots to be
burned in the streets. They banned fresh vegetables, especially cabbage
believing the smell of sauerkraut was a contributing factor. They also kept
public transportation out of the slums in case the disease might be airborne
and ordered churches to stop all that infernal bell-ringing at funerals since
it lowered the morale of the people. Then they spent $10,000 to buy slop carts
and hired street cleaners, telling them to collect and dump liquid filth into
the once lovely Chouteau’s Pond which had already become gray with industrial
waste, creating another source of infection.
 |
| Map Depicting Cholera Outbreak in Ireland |
More practical prevention came in
1850, when the city drained both Kayser’s Lake and Chouteau’s Pond – not
because it eliminated a cause of the disease, but because they finally
installed a sewer system – and that, unintentionally, was what finally did the
job. Cholera returned again before the end of the century, but it was never
again as lethal.
 |
| Cholera Localities Map - Belfast 1832 |
Many are the stories of sorrow in
the diaries of our immigrant ancestors who were forced to endure the squalor
imposed upon them as a result of the bigotry that condemned them to substandard
living conditions. There are also stories of resilience that allowed them to
not only survive, but to climb out of the derelict districts and set a course
for their sons and daughters that made them the major contributors that the
Irish are today in every field of endeavor. But while we celebrate their
accomplishments and contributions, we should never forget the hardships
suffered by those who laid the groundwork.
Saturday, May 2, 2015
Irish Historian's Report - May 2015
Irish Historian’s Report
Division One is honored to share Irish History articles provided
by The National Historian of The Ancient Order of Hibernians
BRIAN BORU
 |
| Brian Boru at the Battle of Clontarf in the Year 1014 |
A centenary is a 100-year
anniversary and next year we will commemorate the Centenary of the Easter
Rising. However, last year Ireland commemorated a millennium, or a
thousand year anniversary, of the Battle of Clontarf in which the power of the
Vikings in Ireland was forever broken – the only country to ever do so.
Wherever Vikings settled, they took control, but when they tried to control
Ireland they failed. For two centuries they attacked towns and
monasteries, making quick raids and plundering wherever and whenever they
could. Their failure came at the hands of Brian mac Kennedy in 1014.
 | ||
| Brian Boru was The Last High King of Ireland |
Born near present day Killaloe, Co
Clare on the west side of the River Shannon, he was the youngest son of
Kennedy, Chief of the Dal Cassian. His eldest brother Mahon was to
succeed as Chieftain so Brian was sent to Clonmacnoise to become a monk.
At the monastery he learned to read, write and appreciate his heritage.
He studied military leaders & tactics and learned to despise the Viking
raiders who were plundering Irish monasteries. In 951, word came that
Brian’s parents had been killed by Vikings and he left the monastery to seek
revenge. Mahon, who was now Clan Chieftain, announced he was making a
treaty with the Vikings of Limerick, but Brian objected! He and a group
of followers left the clan and began raiding Viking camps. Though few in
numbers, his men defeated larger forces and his fame spread throughout Munster
attracting many more to his banner. As Viking raids continued, Mahon
realized that Brian had been right. He renounced his truce with the
Vikings and the two brothers joined forces. They took Cashel from another
Celtic Chieftain who had made an alliance with the Vikings to stay in
power. Mahon then realized that Limerick was too close to Cashel and his
stronghold in Co. Clare so; Viking power in Limerick had to be eliminated.
 |
| Statue of Brian Boru |
In 968, the two brothers defeated
the Vikings in Limerick and ruled peacefully for eight years over Clare, Cork,
Kerry, Tipperary and Limerick. However, the Vikings returned in 976, and
Mahon attended what was to have been a peace conference with a Chieftain named
MacBrain and his Viking allies. At the meeting, Mahon was killed.
Brian was now the undisputed Chieftain and he attacked and defeated the forces
that had slain his brother. After fortifying his power in the south,
Brian built a fleet of ships to patrol the Shannon and defeated the Vikings in
Waterford. Brian then set his sights on the Vikings of Dublin who had
allied with the King of Leinster and were raiding the center of Ireland.
With the support of Malachy, the King of Meath at Tara, who controlled the
northern part of Ireland, they beat the Vikings of Dublin in 1000. Brian
allowed the Vikings to stay, but an annual tribute was imposed. It’s for
that reason that Brian MacKennedy became known as Brian Boru or Brian of the
Tributes. Brian now led his army to Tara, where his ally, Malachy,
ruled. Brian’s reputation was so wide-spread that Malachy submitted with
little resistance and Brian Boru was now High King of all Ireland.
 |
| Ireland marked the 1,000 year anniversary of the battle in 2014 |
Brian’s reign as High King lasted 12
years and the country prospered. Monasteries and schools destroyed by
Vikings were rebuilt as were roads, bridges and churches. Illuminated
manuscripts and delicate metal work that had been hallmarks of monastic art saw
a rebirth. Trade increased and emissaries were even sent to Scotland and
Wales to solicit tribute in return for the protection of the King of
Ireland. Brian built his palace, Kincora, on a hill overlooking a
shallow part of the Shannon where tribute cattle could be driven across.
Today it is the town of Killaloe and a Catholic Church stands on that
hilltop. In its day, Kincora was the most noble of all the halls in
Ireland. Throughout his reign, Brian fought challenges from minor
Chieftains who refused to submit to his authority, but by 1011, all regional
rulers had acknowledged him as High King.
 |
| Re-enactment of The Battle of Clontarf in 2014 |
Then, in 1012, Maelmora, King of
Leinster, rebelled. Knowing he would need help to defeat Brian, he
invited the return of the Vikings, who were eager for revenge. Sigtrygg
Silkbeard, a Dublin Viking leader, called on Vikings from Orkney to the Isle of
Man as well as rebellious Vikings from Limerick, Waterford, Wexford and other
towns Brian had subdued. To Dublin they came and were joined by a few
Irish chieftains who saw this as a chance to quit their obligation to Brian and
avoid their annual tributes. Brian saw this as a threat to his plans for
a better Irish nation. He regretted letting the Vikings stay in Ireland
as long as they promised to be loyal. He would now have to settle this
for good. Brian called the clans for support and even received troops
from ‘Wolfe the Quarrelsome’ and other Vikings whom he had left to rule their
own territories. It was to be Irish and their Viking allies against
Vikings and their Irish allies. Brian set out for Dublin and the final
battle. In the early dawn of Good Friday, March 25, 1014, the army of
High King Brian Boru assembled on the field of Clontarf, just north of Dublin.
Brian, at 73-years old, was too old to lead so the army was commanded by his
son Murchad. Brian was safe behind the lines with his personal
guard. The battle was a bloody clash lasting all day. By evening
the Vikings were pushed back into the sea and the rest of the rebels fled back
to Dublin. The Irish chased them and those who had been guarding Brian
joined in the chase. Brian, meanwhile, knelt in prayer in his tent giving
thanks for the great victory and envisioning a New Ireland. A Viking
warrior named Brodar, who had fled the battle, came across Brian in his
tent. He saw that there were few men guarding the King and he hacked his
way through Brian’s attendants and came up behind the King of Ireland, kneeling
in prayer. It is recorded that Brian, startled by the noise behind him,
turned and drew his sword, prepared to defend himself. He slashed
Brodar’s leg, but it was too late. Brodar’s sword was already descending
and cut off Brian’s head. The High King of Ireland was dead, but
Brodar did not escape to brag of his treachery. Brian’s furious men
seized the wounded Brodar and dispensed proper justice to the man who had
killed the greatest leader that the Irish had ever known. They left
him tied to a nearby tree – with his own intestines!
 |
| Brian Boru Grave Marker St. Patrick's Cathedral, County Armagh |
Brian’s body was taken to Armagh,
the ecclesiastic center of Ireland, and was entombed in the wall of St.
Patrick’s cathedral. His army had been victorious and Ireland had become
the only country to break Viking power. After 1014, there was never
another Viking raid in Ireland. After Brian’s death, Malachy returned as
High King and Dalcassian strength was reduced to Munster only. Viking
presence remained in Ireland; their power crushed, but as Brian had decreed –
only as merchants and traders. Eventually they adopted Irish manners and
customs and were absorbed into the mainstream of Irish life. Although the
position of High King was filled from time to time after Brian’s death, Ireland
would never again have a ruler who controlled the entire country as Brian had.
Brian Boru was in fact, the last true High King of the Irish. Centuries
later, when Thomas Davis wrote his inspiring ballad A Nation Once Again,
the reign of Brian Boru was his reference.
Note:
In 977 A.D., when Brian defeated the
Vikings of Limerick, he made them a tribute tribe. Led by ‘Wolf the
Quarrelsome’, they soon became close allies to Brian with Wolf himself
sometimes referred to as Brian’s “brother-in-arms”. Wolf survived
the Battle of Clontarf, but lost his “brother-in-arms” when Brian was killed.
He watched Ireland return to factional fighting and knew there would never be
another High King like Brian Bóru. He left Ireland and travel to the Viking
colony in Iceland. As he sat around the fires on cold Icelandic nights he
retold the story of the Battle of Clontarf, and of the man he knew as a friend
for 37 years. His memoirs were written down and became part of the Icelandic
Sagas. They are considered more factually accurate than any other
accounts for he had attended every council meeting with Brian and was better
informed than any other author.
Monday, April 13, 2015
Historian's Report - April 2015
The Countess of Irish Freedom
By Mike McCormack
 |
| The Countess as a Young Feminist |
She was called the Countess of Irish Freedom by
playwright Sean O’Casey and though she was born with a silver spoon in her
mouth, she spat it out and risked her life for the common people of Ireland that she loved so much.
Constance Gore-Booth was
born into a well-to-do Anglo-Irish family on Feb. 4,
1868 in London. Her father had a large
estate in Co. Sligo where she moved in the circles of the Protestant Ascendancy
growing up as a noted horsewoman and a crack shot as well as a beautiful young
woman. Yet, she couldn’t help comparing her life to the lives of the poor
dispossessed Irish families who surrounded her father’s estate. Even when
she later married into wealth and privilege, she never forgot the plight of the
common Irish. She studied art and in 1898, attended the Julian School in Paris. It was there she met Count
Casimir Markievicz from a wealthy Polish family. Even though he was
Catholic, they were married on Sept. 29, 1901. Constance Gore-Booth was
now the Countess Markievicz.
 |
| Countess Markievicz |
In 1903 they moved to Dublin where she began to make an
impression as a landscape artist. She and Casimir founded the United Arts Club
in 1905 but she soon tired of this life.
Nature should provide me with something to live for, something to die for,
she said. Then in 1906 she found that ‘something. She rented a cottage in
the Dublin hills formerly rented by poet,
Pádraic Colum. He had left old copies of revolutionary publications like The Peasant and Sinn Féin there. Reading
these, Constance found the cause to inspire her
life. In 1908 she became active in nationalist politics, joining Sinn
Féin and Maud Gonne’s women’s group, Inghinidhe
na hÉireann founded to support Irish and boycott British goods.
She went to England in 1908 and stood for election
against a young man named Winston Churchill. She lost and returned to Ireland where she founded Fianna Éireann in 1909, an
organization similar to the boy scouts, but focusing on military drill and the
use of firearms. Pádraic Pearse would later say that without Fianna Éireann, the Volunteers of 1913 would not have arisen. By
1911 she was an executive member of both Inghinidhe and Sinn Féin. She
was jailed for the first time for demonstrating against the visit of King
George V to Ireland. She also involved
herself in the labor unrest of the time, running a soup kitchen during the Great Dublin Lockout of union
workers in 1913 and supporting labor leaders James Larkin and James
Connolly. Her activity took a toll on her marriage and Casimir left for
the Balkans and joined the Imperial Russian cavalry during WWI.
As the war began, Constance was in the center of the
nationalist activity in Dublin which exploded in the Easter
Rising. Most women in the movement participated as nurses or by running
messages through the streets; not the Countess! As part of Connolly’s
Citizen Army, she was second in command to Michael Mallin at St. Stephen’s
Green, supervised the erection of barricades and was in the middle of the
fighting. Driven from the Green, they occupied the College of Surgeons and held it until ordered to
surrender by James Connolly after the rising. The Countess kissed her
automatic pistol before handing it over. The English officer who took
their surrender was a distant relative of hers and he offered to drive her to
jail. No offence, old feller, she
said, but I much prefer to tag along with
my own. At her court martial she told the court, I did what was right and I stand by it.
She was taken to Kilmainham jail where she sat in her cell listening to the
volleys of the firing squads as her comrades were murdered. She too had
been sentenced to death, but General Maxwell commuted this to life in prison on
‘account of the prisoner’s sex.’
She told the officer who brought her the news, I do wish your lot had the decency to shoot me.
Moved by the faith of her comrades, she vowed to become a Catholic and when
released in the General Amnesty of 1917, she kept her promise and became a
Catholic.
 |
| She was directly involved in the fighting during the Easter Rising |
The fire within her had
not been extinguished by the tragic events of 1916, and she continued the
struggle. In 1918 she was jailed by the Brits during a phony ‘German Plot,’
aimed at breaking anti-conscription forces in Ireland. While in prison, she became
the first woman elected to the British Parliament, running as a Sinn Féin
candidate. She refused to take the oath of allegiance to the King and was
denied her seat, but when the first Dáil Éireann was formed two months later,
she was appointed the first Minister of Labor and went on the run. She was
jailed twice during the War of Independence and was released to attend the
Treaty debates. When the Irish Civil War broke out she was once more
involved in the fighting, helping to defend Moran’s Hotel in Dublin. Later she toured the US raising funds for the Republican
cause. After the Civil War she regained her seat in the Dáil, but her politics
ran her afoul of the Free State government and she was jailed
again. Along with 92 other women prisoners, she went on hunger strike and was
released after a month. She joined Eamon de Valera’s Fianna Fáil party in 1926
and was elected as one of it’s candidates in 1927.
 |
| Countess Markievicz Irish Postage Stamp |
However, a month later she
became sick. She had given away the last of her wealth and died in a
public ward among the poor where she wanted to be. It may have been
appendicitis, but many said it was simply overwork. She could have lived a life
of leisure, insulated from the trials and tribulations of the common man, but
she gave it all up and intentionally risked her life for the people she came to
love and respect. When her body was taken to the Republican plot at Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin, for burial, as many as 300,000
people turned out on the streets to bid her farewell. At her graveside,
Eamon de Valera gave the eulogy.
As the 100th anniversary of
the Easter Rising approaches and people are searching for history’s heroes,
they should be told the story of Constance Gore-Booth, she was truly the
Countess of Irish freedom.
Friday, January 2, 2015
Historian's Report - Thomas Clarke Luby
Irish Historian’s Report
Division One is honored to share Irish History articles provided
by The National Historian of The Ancient Order of Hibernians
Thomas Clarke Luby
By Mike McCormack – AOH
National Historian
 |
| Thomas Clarke Luby 1822-1901 |
On January 16, 1822 an Irish revolutionary, author and journalist was born in Dublin, to a Church of Ireland clergyman and a Catholic mother. His uncle was a Professor of Greek and a Fellow and Dean of Trinity College Dublin who couldn’t understand his nephew’s nationalist tendencies. His nephew studied Law and even taught at the college for a time. He was to become one of Ireland’s greatest patriots although today, the name of Thomas Clarke Luby does not attract the admiration it deserves.
Luby supported Daniel O’Connell and his Repeal Association and contributed to The Nation – a nationalist newspaper. As O’Connell grew more conciliatory to the Crown, the paper grew more militaristic. In 1847 Luby and many others, including the editorial staff broke with O’Connell and joined the Young Irelanders in the Irish Confederation. Following a failed rising in 1848, Luby attempted to revive the fighting in 1849 with members of the short-lived secret Irish Democratic Association, but this too ended in failure
 |
| Thomas Clarke Luby |
O’Mahony and Doheny were also two veterans of the 1848 rising after which O’Mahony had fled to France with Stephens before going to America leaving Stephens to return to Ireland. O’Mahony and Doheny had been organizing support in America among exiles of An Gorta Mor and were members of an AOH committee called the Emmet Monument Association. It would later break out as the Fenian Brotherhood. In December Stephens replied that he would, but needed seed money to begin organizing.
 |
| Fenian Brotherhood Membership Certificate |
On 17 March 1858, a courier arrived in Dublin with the acceptance of Stephens’s terms by the newly-formed Fenian Brotherhood and with the first of three monthly instalments of £80. That very evening the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) was established, in Peter Langan’s timber-yard in Lombard Street as Thomas Clarke Luby swore in James Stephens and Stephens, in turn, swore in Luby with an oath that Luby had composed. The oath ended with the words: that I will yield implicit obedience, in all things not contrary to the law of God to the commands of my superior officers; and that I shall preserve inviolable secrecy regarding all the transactions of this secret society that may be confided in me. So help me God! Sounds remarkably like the AOH oath ending, doesn’t it.
 |
| Fenian Brotherhood Medal |
In mid-1863 the Luby started the Irish People newspaper with financial aid from American Fenians. The staff of the paper included such noted revolutionaries as Charles Kickham, John O’Leary, Denis Mulcahy, O’Donovan Rossa, James O’Connor and John Haltigan. In 1864, Stephens left on a tour of America and Luby was appointed to lead the IRB. On 15 July 1865 American plans for a rising in Ireland were discovered when the emissary lost them at Kingstown railway station. They found their way to Dublin Castle and the police raided the offices of the Irish People on 15 September, arresting Luby, O’Leary and O’Donovan Rossa. Kickham was caught a month later as was Stephens. Fenian prison warders, John J. Breslin and Dan Byrne aided Stephens in escaping to France while Luby was sentenced to 20 years.
After six years, Luby was pardoned in January 1871, but was banished from Ireland till the expiration of his 20-year sentence. After a brief spell in Europe he sailed to America and settled in New York. He lectured all over the country for years and wrote for a number of Irish newspapers on political topics, never surrendering his belief that his homeland deserved independence – even though he would never see her again! At the memorial meeting on the death of patriot John Mitchel, he was chosen to deliver the principal address in Madison Square Garden.
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| Thomas Clarke Luby Gravesite in Bay View Cemetery, New Jersey |
On 29 November 1902, two months before his 80th birthday, Thomas Clarke Luby – dedicated Irish patriot – died in Jersey City, NJ after years of rallying Irishmen to support the cause of a free Ireland. He was buried in Bay View Cemetery in that city beside his wife – the daughter of John Frazer, who wrote poems for The Nation and the Irish Felon. His epitaph reads: Thomas Clarke Luby 1822 – 1901 He devoted his life to love of Ireland and quest of truth.
Monday, December 8, 2014
Historian's Report December 2014
Irish Historian’s Report
Division One is honored to share Irish History articles provided
by The National Historian of The Ancient Order of Hibernians
LIGHTS FROM THE PAST
By Mike McCormack - AOH National Historian
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| Newgrange, County Meath |
There are more than just Christmas lights illuminating the darkness as the sun rises on the Winter Solstice in Ireland. On December 21, a marvelous event occurs at Bru na Boinne. On a hill in the Boyne Valley of Co. Meath stands a complex of three monuments to the early settlers of Ireland, and their civilization: Knowth, Dowth and Newgrange. Built more than 5000 years ago, they are among the oldest man-made, still-standing structures on the planet. Newgrange, in particular, is surrounded by enormous standing stones. A magnificently carved kerbstone lies before the entrance to its 65-foot passage which runs to the center of the mound where three chambers are formed of interlacing stones. The passage is the most interesting part of the structure for it is inclined at precisely the proper angle to align astronomically with the rays of the rising sun on the winter solstice. At dawn on December 21, the shortest day of the year and the point at which the power of the sun begins its annual return, the rising sun’s rays shine through a portal above the entrance, travel along the inclined passage and illuminate a symbol on the rear wall. This only happens on December 21 and partially on the two days before and after. And it has been happening precisely at that time for the past 5000 years or more. At other times of the year, the rising sun casts shadows on the kerbstone from the standing stones indicating the times for planting, harvesting and other events.
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| The Entrance Stone at Newgrange |
In spite of the amount of verifiable information available on this historic site, some still stand with their backs to Newgrange, and stare in awe at Stonehenge, marveling at the antiquity of a site constructed 1,000 years later. Or they wonder at the pyramids which were only started hundreds of years after Boyne Valley monuments were completed. Finally, in 1989, the New York Times, which is ever slow to credit Irish accomplishments, noted that a British journal had announced that the astrological alignment of Newgrange appeared to be by design rather than by accident. Welcome aboard! Now that we’ve got their attention, it might be time to tell them about the other sites!
The Bru na Boinne complex is only one of four major passage tomb sites in Ireland. The others are Lough Crew, Carrowkeel and Carrowmore. They all date from before 3000 BC; all consist of cruciform (three) chambers at the end of a passage and are covered in most instances by a mound. A unique style of stone carvings are found on all, including lozenge shapes, leaf shapes, and circles, some surrounded by radiating lines. At Lough Crew, Co. Meath there are also three parts on hilltops – Carnbane East and West and the third, less well preserved, is at Patrickstown. The cairn in Carnbane East is directed to receive the beams of the rising sun on the spring and autumnal equinox – the light shining down the passage and illuminating art on the back wall.
Carrowkeel in Co. Roscommon is a beautifully situated megalithic hill top passage tomb cemetery, consisting of 14 passage cairns, all are round in shape except one, which is a long oval shape consisting of a forecourt and cruciform passage grave. This is a classic Irish passage tomb, consisting of a passage leading to a central chamber with three equally spaced side chambers. The most interesting feature of this tomb is a portal above the entrance, just like the one at Newgrange, but unlike Newgrange this one is aligned to the midsummer sunset.
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| Illuminated Passageway on The Winter Solstice |
December 21st is coming and Bru na Boinne will again receive its annual message from the sun telling man that the days will now get longer and the long night of winter is coming to an end. Hopefully the long night of ignorance about Irish accomplishments is ending as well.
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Historian's Report October 2014
To Commemorate Or Not
To Commemorate?
By Mike McCormack
In 1891 Parnell died and the IPP was now led by his assistant John Redmond. In 1893, a second Home Rule Bill was submitted and this one passed Commons, but was defeated in the House of Lords. By the General Election of 1910, Liberals and Conservatives in the House of Commons were evenly matched. Liberal Prime Minister Herbert Asquith came to Redmond with an offer. If the IPP supported his move to break the power of Lords and have his Budget passed, Asquith would introduce another Home Rule Bill. The Parliament Act of 1911 thus forced Lords to agree to limit their veto power. If a Bill passed Commons twice, Lords could not veto it – only delay its implementation for two years!
In 1912, a third Irish Home Rule Bill was submitted. At a Home Rule Rally in Dublin, Padraic Pearse gave the Bill a qualified welcome saying, it is clear to me that the bill we support today will be for the good of Ireland, and that we will be stronger with it than without it. But he concluded with the warning, however, if we are tricked this time, there is a party in Ireland, and I am one of them, that will advise the Gael to have no counsel or dealing with the Gall (foreigner), but to answer henceforward with the strong arm and the sword’s edge . . . If we are cheated once more there will be red war in Ireland! The Bill was passed by Commons and Lords could now only delay its implementation for two years. It would become law in 1914; but it never came into force! The reasons for that were many. First, the Loyalists in northern Ireland started an armed militia (Ulster Volunteer Force) to oppose it. Secondly, in a mutiny at the Curragh Military HQ in Ireland, British officers vowed to resign rather than force the implementation of Home Rule if it passed. Further, bowing to Conservative power in parliament, Asquith proposed an amendment to the Bill to let the counties in Ulster vote to be included or excluded from the Bill. Loyalists wanted to exclude all counties of Ulster and the Liberals delayed its implementation until the end of WWI. Partition was then suggested and the King signed the Bill into law on September 18th 1914, but with a pre-condition that it not come into effect until a provision had been made for Ulster!
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| Unionist Leaflet on The Home Rule Bill |
The Bill that had been held out as a carrot on a stick, promising a new constitutional order and restraining the energies of a militant approach to freedom for 40 years, would now not be implemented as it was passed, but would be altered to partition Ireland. And Ireland would remain a Crown colony! The perfidy of the British government was once more displayed and the frustrated Irish militant leaders took to the streets of Dublin to take what the Crown would not give.
After the Easter Rising inspired the War of Independence in January, 1919, a fourth Irish Home Rule Act was passed in 1920 establishing Northern Ireland as an entity within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and attempting to establish Southern Ireland as another entity as a partitioned country. It was too late for the Irish had already elected their own leaders in a legally-held British election and they chose to sit in a parliament of their own called Dail Eireann. They maintained that parliament until they fought the British to the treaty table to establish the Irish Free State with more independence than was ever contemplated in all of the Home Rule Bills.
Later, the Irish Free State Constitution Act of 1922 permitted the ultimate realization of limited Irish independence through the removal many of the links with Britain and in 1949 it became a republic, ending its tenuous membership in the British Commonwealth. Therefore, to commemorate the Home Rule Bills, which were never enacted, would only serve to commemorate Loyalist bigotry and Britain’s perfidious duplicity as one of the many causes of Ireland’s War of Independence; on second thought, maybe we should commemorate it, after all!
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