PATRIOT
GRAVES
Beáltaine 2007
A Chairde-
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 an obligation to the occupant(s) of such graves, but
also to our posterity, who can better remember and learn from
the example of our heroes, and of those who keep their memory
green.
Your participation in an important project
is invited. The marble headstone on the grave of Colonel
Thomas J. Kelly of the Fenian Brotherhood
is melting under the impact of a century of acid rain; today it
is barely readable. In contrast polished granite stones of
greater age look nearly new. This was brought to my attention
by Martin Galvin and Kevin Kennedy (of Galway) on
Easter Sunday at the Friends of Irish Freedom/Sean
Oglaigh na hÉireann 1916 Commemoration.
Liam Murphy, who had earlier that morning participated in
a Cumann na Saoirse commemoration at the grave of Joe Stynes of
Clan na Gael, returned to Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, and,
with the help of Woodlawn staff, verified the need for action
lest the only remaining locator of the grave of Thomas Kelly
would be in a cemetery computer data base. Charlie Laverty,
President of the New York Irish History Roundtable, is
researching to get the details of the military careers of Thomas
J. Kelly (6th January 1833 – 5th February
1908), in order that he might be properly remembered on both
sides of the Atlantic, and wherever green is worn. We five
constitute a committee in formation.
It is our intention to replace the stone on
this single grave with a granite stone appropriate to an
American soldier, but to add the inscription befitting a
true hero of the Irish nation. We will, additionally,
produce a brief monograph of the significance of himself and of
his contributions; this will include a write-up for the
directory to be published by Woodlawn in conjunction with the
150th anniversary of the opening of the cemetery, as
well as material for distribution.
Thomas J. Kelly has the distinction of
being a hero of two countries. A native of Mount Bellew, County
Galway, and educated in Saint Jarleth’s College, Tuam, he
emigrated to America consequent to An Gorta Mór -
the Great Hunger. Like many another of Ireland’s exiled
children in America, Thomas Kelly became a Fenian, a
believer in the gospel of Tone, dedicated to break the
connection with England (the “evil empire” to most 19th
century Americans).
Like many other Fenians, Thomas Kelly
answered Lincoln’s call for volunteers to fight to preserve
the United States (and to gain valuable military experience to
be turned to the later liberation of Ireland), joining Company
“I” of the 10th Ohio; he rose to the rank of Captain
in the Army of the United States, and to a very important
position coordinating the communications for the Army of the
Cumberland. His military career, however, did not end with the
surrender of the Confederate armies in April of 1865. His
military service continued in the Fenian Brotherhood, the
Irish Republican Army. [The American Fenian uniform buttons
bore the letters “IRA”.]
After the failure of the Rising of 1848,
the locus of Irish revolutionary activity had shifted from
Dublin to New York. A conspiratorial élite of Irish exiles
would seek to organize and train the Irish for the purpose of
the future liberation of their homeland. Realizing that any
activity in America would be futile without cooperation in
Ireland, they reached out to their former comrades-in-arms at
home, with the result that the Irish Republican Brotherhood (the
IRB) came into existence in Dublin on Saint Patrick's Day 1858.
[The IRB, which brought about the Rising in Dublin and the
Proclamation of the Irish Republic during Easter Week 1916, can
trace its origin to the band of 1848 exiles meeting in the
Hibernian Hall near Saint Patrick's old cathedral in New York
City.] James Stephens became the Head Center of the IRB in
Ireland, and the scholar John O’Mahony was appointed Head Center
of the organization in America. O’Mahony had just finished
translating Keating’s History of Ireland from Irish to English
and was inspired by the example of na fianna, the élite national
guard of third century Ireland. He coined the word Fenian for
the brotherhood in America. Soon the terms Fenian and IRB
became interchangeable. At the grave of O’Donovan Rossa in
1915, Pádraig Pearse would say, “They have left us our Fenian
dead,
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. James Stephens was captured in Dublin; Kelly planned
the rescue which was carried out by himself, John Devoy and
others – much to the consternation of Dublin Castle. In May
1866 Stephens, then in New York, appointed Thomas Kelly as his
deputy. After the visionary organizer Stephens stepped down,
Colonel Thomas Kelly, the pragmatic military man, became
leader of the Fenian Brotherhood/IRB. In January
1867 Kelly promptly sailed for England and Ireland to assess the
situation, organize, and plan for a Rising.
In September Colonel 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 was
accidentally shot and 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 named Maguire, who was then
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. He now lies in 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 three men, William Philip Allen,
Philip Larkin and Captain Michael O’Brien (also an American
citizen) 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.
On 22nd November 1992, Derek
Warfield of The Wolfe Tones was the speaker at a ceremony, led
by Deasy family member Bob Bateman, when a new, granite stone
was dedicated on the grave of Captain Timothy Deasy in
Immaculate Conception Cemetery, Lawrence, Massachusetts. It is
our intention that the grave of Colonel Thomas Kelly in
Woodlawn be similarly provided with an appropriate, permanent,
granite headstone, before this year is out. Your contribution
to this effort, in cash or in kind, will be most
welcome. Contributions may be sent to the above address.
Enquiries may also be directed to Liam Murphy (MurphVMI65@aol.com;
(914) 760-4525), or to one of the others named above.
Go saoradh Dia Éire!
MARTIN LYONS
This is a project in progress. Input from
readers regarding the 1867 Fenian Chief, Colonel Thomas Kelly
of Mount Bellew, County Galway, would be most sincerely
welcomed. This could take the form of letters, articles,
passages from books, pamphlets, photographs or line art
engravings. Please only send copies, not originals. For updates
and/or to give or receive information, any of the following men
committed to the erection of this headstone may be contacted:
Kevin Kennedy (of Dunmore, Co. Galway)
109 East 89th Street, New York,
NY 10128 USA
(212) 534-8869
Liam Murphy
P.O. Box 7, Irvington, New York 10533 USA
(914) 760-4525
MurphVMI65@aol.com
Martin Galvin, Esq.
903B Sheridan Ave., Bronx, New York 10451
USA
(718) 665-1800
mgalvinesq@aol.com
Charles Laverty (of The Moy, Co. Tyrone)
P.O. Box 3495, Wayne, New Jersey 07474 USA
(973) 694-7792
Laverty@optonline.net
Martin Lyons (of Glenamaddy, Co. Galway)
12962 NYS Rte 23A, Prattsville, New York
12468 USA
(518) 299-3280
