|
Annual Fenian Commemoration
Calvary
Cemetery in Queens, New York.
 On Sunday, November 7, 2021 Cumann Na Saoirse Náisiúnta
(National Irish Freedom Committee) held its annual Fenian
Commemoration at Calvary Cemetery in Queens, New York.
The morning began with Maggie Trainor welcoming all gathered
at the base of the majestic Fenian monument. The monument
was erected in 1907 by the IRB Veterans’ Association of New
York and is dedicated to the Fenians of 1865 to 1867
period. She then called Sue Heller forward to read the 'The
Fenian Faith' which was written by the late Brian Mor just
prior to his death in 2012.
Maggie then read "The Fenian Proclamation of 1867". Maggie
reminded those assembled that it had been written in 1867
and that the Fenians of that time period had laid the
groundwork for Easter 1916 and the revolutionary period that
followed it. Then she called upon Byron Heller to read the
1916 proclamation in English immediately followed by Mike
Costello who delivered it as Gaelige.
Maggie spoke of those who had passed since we had last
gathered, mentioning cultural stalwart Gerry Enright. Gerry
had passed away on September 3rd in his native
County Limerick, where he retired a few years ago for health
reasons. He was well known and liked within the New York
trad scene. He was a longtime supporter and friend of the
NIFC. Maggie then informed the crowd of the recent death of
Bob Bateman. Bob had also been a regular attendee to the
commemoration. He was the great-grandnephew of the Fenian
hero, Captain Timothy Deasy of Clonakilty, County Cork, and
cousin to Liam Deasy of Bandon, County Cork. As an
historian he was a recognized authority on the Irish
Republican Brotherhood. Sympathies were extended to their
families and the crowd in unison recited an Sé do bheatha,
A Mhuire.
In closing the ceremony, Maggie thanked all who had traveled
and reminded all to get a copy of the program that had been
produced for the occasion. It contained all the documents
that were read plus articles by Padraig Mac Donnchada, which
presented the historical background of the partition of
Ireland and an article on the Fenian graves at New York
Calvary Cemetery by Liam Murphy. Also included was a
commemorative insert written by Bob Bateman on "The
Manchester Martyrs." The National Irish Freedom
Committee thanks all who attended .
The Manchester Martyrs
By
Bob Bateman
 With
the end of the American Civil War in 1865, the Fenian
Brotherhood in America sent its most trusted military
officer, Captain Thomas Kelly, home to Ireland to assess the
prospects for a Rising, and to advise on military matters. By
summer 1865, John Devoy was convinced that the time was ripe
for a rising.
The Fenian Chief,
James Stephens, was captured in Dublin; Kelly, with John
Devoy and others, rescued Stephens from Richmond Gaol – much
to the consternation of Dublin Castle.
Kelly arranged their harrowing
escape from Ireland, via a collier to Kilmarnock in Scotland, thence
by rail to London, whence to Paris and ultimately to America. In
May 1866 Stephens, then in New York, appointed Thomas Kelly his
deputy. After the visionary organizer Stephens stepped down, 29th
December 1866, now Colonel Kelly, the pragmatic military man,
became Chief Organizer of the Irish Republic (Virtually
Established) and leader of the Fenian Brotherhood / IRB.
Kelly promptly sailed for England and Ireland in January 1867,
to assess the situation, organize, and plan for a Rising.
Colonel Thomas
Kelly and Captain Timothy Deasy were arrested in Manchester. On
18th September 1867, they were rescued from a prison van
by a group of bold Fenian men in what has become know to history as
“the smashing of the van.” During the rescue a policeman,
Sergeant Brett, was accidentally killed. Kelly and Deasy
escaped to America. There were nearly eighty arrests, and
twenty-seven charged. Five Irishmen, none of whom had fired the
shot, were condemned to death in a hasty show trial. One turned out
to be an uninvolved Royal Marine, who, after a campaign by
journalists who had attended the trial, was released. Another,
Captain Edward O’Meagher Condon (US citizen and veteran of
Corcoran’s Irish Legion), at the request of the American Consul, had
his sentence commuted to life at hard labor – Condon would be
released eleven years later at the request of US President Hayes -
who acted on a unanimous resolution of Congress. Later author of
The Irish Race in America, he now lies in New York’s Calvary
Cemetery. At the trial in Manchester, Condon was asked if he had
anything to say, he replied, “I have nothing to retract – nothing to
take back. I can only say ‘God Save Ireland.’”
“God Save
Ireland!”
repeated the three men beside him. Those men, William
Philip Allen, Michael Larkin and Captain Michael O’Brien
(American citizen and Civil War veteran) were hanged on the
cold damp, foggy morning of 23rd November 1867
– the Manchester Martyrs. T.D. Sullivan would
be inspired to write “God Save Ireland”, which became
a virtual national anthem for Ireland until superseded by “Amhrán
na bFian”
during Easter Week 1916.
Patriot Graves
are the hallowed resting places of heroes, and as such due all
respect. The proper keeping of such graves is an obligation of the
living, not only to the occupants of such graves, but also to our
posterity, who might better remember and learn from the example of
our heroes, and of those who keep their memory green.
The grave of the 1867
Fenian/IRB Chief, Colonel Thomas Kelly (of Mountbellew,
County Galway, and Company “I” of the “Bloody Tinth” Ohio)
in The Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx received a new,
granite headstone in 2008, and was rededicated by a
committee headed by Martin Lyons of Glenamaddy, and
including Martin Galvin, former Editor of The Irish
People, which ceremony was attended by Éamonn Griffin of
the National Graves Association in Ireland, who traveled out
from County Wexford for the occasion. The grave of Captain
Timothy Deasy (of Clonakilty, County Cork, and Company “I”,
“Irish 9th” Regiment of Massachusetts) in
the Immaculate Conception Cemetery in Lawrence,
Massachusetts, in 1992, similarly received a new stone, and
was rededicated by his kinsman, Robert Bateman, assisted by
Derek Warfield of The Wolfe Tones.
Go saoraidh Dia Éire!
| |
|
