A Personal Tour of Glasnevin, 11/03/10

[Bang Bang]

Since I became a member of the forum I have been fortunate to have many acts of kindness bestowed upon me by other members and today stands out as probably the most memorable example I could hope for.

When the tour of Glasnevin Cemetery organised by Jakey Boy took place I had to attend hospital for one of these annoying, but essential procedures, that are part of my world now. While I was bitterly disappointed at missing the opportunity to have a tour of this historic site I was realistic enough to know that I could not have kept up with those attending and would have been acutely
embarrassed by slowing the other members of the tour down.

Today, my very good friend JeanGenie organised a tour with his brother-in-Law, Henry, ( whose encyclopedic knowledge of Glasnevin is matched only by his great sense of humour and his kindness in slowing the pace so that an old warrior like myself could pretend that I was keeping up).

The last time I received such kindness and consideration was when my great friend DAMNTHEWEATHER ( who would have given his eye-teeth to be with us today), escorted Lady Bang Bang and I around Nelson's Flagship, Victory.

Herewith is a pictorial record of today's Odyssey.

[Bang Bang]

There is a Monumental (no pun intended) amount of work being carried out in Glasnevin at the moment with the imminent opening of the Cemetery museum almost upon us.

So many little green men ( well, Hi-Vis jacketed ) festooned the Tower that I thought that the patrick's Day Festival had started off a day early!

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Thomas Addis Emmet

( Please see next two posts )

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Thomas Addis Emmet was the second son of Robert Emmet, physician to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and elder brother of executed nationalist Robert Emmet. He was born at Cork, and was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and at University of Edinburgh, where he studied medicine and was a pupil of Dugald Stewart in philosophy. After visiting the chief medical schools on the continent, he returned to Ireland in 1788; but the sudden death of his elder brother, Christopher Temple Emmet (1761- 1788), a barrister of some distinction, induced him to follow the advice of Sir James Mackintosh to forsake medicine for the law as a profession. He married Jane Patten in 1791.

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[jeangenie]

good man bangers you got the pics up quick i'm glad you enjoyed the day. i hope itdidn't wear you out.

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The business which James Pearse founded.

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Graves of the executed Leaders of the 1916 Rising.

"De cum Gloria De agus Onora na hEireann!

'For the Glory of God and the Honour of Ireland'

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Those who remember Boland's Mill, ( Where De Valera was O.C.), or indeed, those who enjoyed a nice crusty loaf or a Turnover from their bakery in Grand Canal Street, may be interested to know that this is where (deceased) members of the Boland family were laid to rest.

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High upon the gallows tree swung the noble-hearted three.
By the vengeful tyrant stricken in their bloom;
But they met him face to face, with the courage of their race,
And they went with souls undaunted to their doom.
"God save Ireland!" said the heroes;
"God save Ireland" said they all.
Whether on the scaffold high
Or the battlefield we die,
Oh, what matter when for Erin dear we fall!



The Manchester Martyrs rest to date in a mass grave, with all other remains transferred and cremated from Strangeways Prison. Ideally, the NGA and their relatives would like to honour them with reburial in Ireland. So far, problems of authenticating these remains after 139 years have stalled this, but we continue to keep a watching brief and maintain contact with the relevant authorities.

THE MANCHESTER MARTYRS

The National Graves Association has a special connection with the Manchester Martyrs – two of our founders were involved in the rescue of Col. Kelly and Capt. Deasy in September 1867, which led to the executions of Allen, Larkin and O’Brien. These three young men were among the participants in the Manchester Rescue and were arrested in a round up of numerous members of the Irish community. Allen, Larkin and O’Brien were part of the post-Famine Irish Diaspora.

Col. Kelly was the head of the revolutionary Irish organisation, the Fenians, at the time. He was arrested with his aide de champs, Timothy Deasy. His identification by an informer led the Manchester Fenians to decide on the prison rescue. Detention without trial was in operation at the time in Ireland, where the 1867 rising had failed. The rescue was successful, Kelly and Deasy made their escape to America, but unfortunately a Manchester policeman was killed. He had refused to hand out the keys and was accidentally hit when the Fenians shot open the lock of the prison van. This led to anti-Irish panic in England and the trials of five suspected Irishmen. (Anti-Irish prejudice was rampant in 19th century England, where poor Irishmen accepted bad pay and accommodation, depressing English wages. There was also considerable bigotry against Catholics.)

In the end, the British press campaigned to get one of the condemned men pardoned, as the evidence on which he had been sentenced to death obviously didn’t stand up, another had his sentence commuted as an American citizens. Only Allen, Larkin and O’Brien were hanged in front of the New Bailey prison in Salford, Manchester. The tainted evidence at their trial, the anti-Irish hysteria at the time, and their own courageous conduct made them patriotic heroes from America to Australia. Their cry: God save Ireland! became the refrain of a popular ballad. ‘God save Ireland’ was the unofficial national anthem until overtaken by the ‘Soldier’s Song’ after 1916.

The Manchester Martyrs were buried in quicklime in Strangeways Prison, which for Irish people was the final indignity. Efforts to defuse the situation by allowing them a dignified burial were rebutted by the British authorities. It had always been the wish of their families and the Irish people to bury them at home, but for over 100 years all efforts have failed. During the 1880s there were even rumours that the Irish might attack the prison to remove their remains by force. The NGA has kept a watching brief for over ten years and learned that their cremated remains left Strangeways Prison some time ago with those of others executed. They rest in a mass grave in Blackley Cemetery Plot number C.2711 Manchester. The Association is actively involved in resolving the issue of their last resting place. We can state that, at the very least, we are making steady progress towards a monument marking their grave. If possible, and this is not easy after over 125 years, we hope to bring them home to a dignified Christian burial in the Manchester Martyrs’ Plot in Glasnevin.

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[greensmudge]

Lovely post and pics Bang Bang.

[Bang Bang]

He was born at Rosscarbery, County Cork, to Denis O'Donovan and Nellie O'Driscoll,[2] a family of tenant farmers. He became a shopkeeper in Skibbereen, where, in 1856, he established the Phoenix National and Literary Society, the aim of which was "the liberation of Ireland by force of arms", This organisation would later merge with the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), founded two years later in Dublin.
In December 1858, he was arrested and jailed without trial until July 1859. In 1865, he was charged with plotting a Fenian rising in 1865, put on trial for high treason and sentenced to penal servitude for life due to his previous convictions. He served his time in Pentonville, Portland and Chatham prisons in England.
In an 1869 by-election, he was returned to the British House of Commons for the Tipperary constituency, in which he defeated the Liberal Catholic Denis Caulfield Heron by 1054 to 898 votes. The election was declared invalid because he was an imprisoned felon.
[edit]Life in the United States

After giving an understanding that he would not return to Ireland, in effect his exile, O'Donovan Rossa was released as part of the Fenian Amnesty of 1870. Boarding the S. S. Cuba, he left for the United States with his friend John Devoy and three other exiles. Together they were dubbed "The Cuba Five".
O'Donovan Rossa took up residence in New York City, where he joined Clan na Gael and the Fenian Brotherhood.
Rossa organised the first ever bombings by Irish republicans of English cities in what was called the "dynamite campaign". The campaign lasted through the 1880s and made him infamous in Britain. The British government demanded his extradition, to no effect. But it did cause a rift in the Irish independence movement itself, as many disavowed his tactics.
In 1885, Rossa was shot outside his office near Broadway by an Englishwoman, Yseult Dudley, but his wounds were not life-threatening. The British government claimed she was mentally unstable, and not acting on its behalf, although Rossa's supporters and even many of his detractors found this hard to believe. More likely, she was incensed at the fund he organised (the so-called "Skirmishing Fund") which was intended to support the arming of those who would fight the British.


"The Cuba Five"
From left to right: John Devoy, Charles Underwood O'Connell, Henry (Harry) Mulleda, Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa, and John McClure.
Rossa was allowed to visit Ireland in 1894, and again in 1904. On the latter visit, he was made a "Freeman of the City of Cork".

Death and funeral

Rossa was seriously ill in his later years, and was finally confined to a hospital bed in St. Vincent's Hospital, Staten Island, where he died at the age of 83.
The new republican movement in Ireland was quick to realize the propaganda value of the old Fenian's death, and Thomas Clarke cabled to John Devoy with the message: "Send his body home at once".
His body was returned to Ireland for burial and a hero's welcome.
The funeral at Glasnevin Cemetery on 1 August 1915 was a huge affair, garnering substantial publicity for the Irish Volunteers and the IRB at the time when a rebellion (later to emerge as the Easter Rising) was being planned. The graveside oration, given by Pádraig Pearse, remains one of the most famous speeches of the Irish independence movement. It ended with the lines: "They think that they have pacified Ireland. They think that they have purchased half of us and intimidated the other half. They think that they have foreseen everything, think that they have provided against everything; but, the fools, the fools, the fools! — They have left us our Fenian dead, and while Ireland holds these graves, Ireland unfree shall never be at peace." His grave was renovated in 1990 by the National Graves Association.


Monument to Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa, in Dublin’s St Stephen’s Green

[Bang Bang]

Lovely post and pics Bang Bang.

Thanks Greensmudge, glad you enjoy them.

[Bang Bang]

See previous post;

O'Donovan Rossa

The Cuban Five

Monument to Rossa in St. Stephen's Green

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A memorial to all of those who died on hunger strike in the cause of Irish freedom.

"It is not those who can inflict the most, but those who can suffer the most, who will conquer"