Nine Irish Convicts

5/31/76

Dan,

This is the article I mentioned that Dad had among his possessions.

Each time I read it I am more impressed by it.

Jim

NINE IRISH CONVICTS

In the Irish Uprising of 1848, nine men were captured, tried and convicted of treason against Her Majesty, Queen Victoria. All were sentenced to death. The condemned men were:

Patrick Donahue
Charles Duffy
Michael Ireland
Morris Lyene
Thomas McGee
Terence McManus
Thomas Meagher
John Mitchell
Richard O'Gorman

Passionate protests from all over the world persuaded Queen Victoria to commute the death sentences. The men were banished to Australia - as remote and full of prisoners as Russian Siberia.

Years passed. In 1874 Queen Victoria learned that a Sir Charles Duffy who had been elected Prime Minister of Australia was the same Charles Duffy who had been banished 26 years earlier. She asked what hd become of the other eight convicts. She learned that:

Patrick Donahue became Brigadier General in the United States Army.

Morris Lyene became Attorney General for Australia.

Michael Ireland succeeded Lyene as Attorney General.

Thomas McGee became Minister of Agriculture for Canada.

Terence McManus became a Brigadier General in the United States Army.

Thomas Meagher was elected Governor of Montana.

John Mitchell became a prominent New York politician and his son, John Purroy Mitchell, a famous mayor of New York City.

Richard O'Gorman became Governor General of Newfoundland.



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"If our democracy is to flourish, it must have criticism; if our government is to function it must have dissent." Henry Steele Commager.