Thomas F Meagher
Thomas Francis Meagher is probably the only person who can claim to have played a prominent part in the history of both Ireland and the United States.
He was born on 3rd August 1823 in County Waterford and was educated by the Jesuits at Irelands premier Catholic boarding school. As a result of Catholic Emancipation, Meagher's father (a prominent merchant ) became the first Catholic mayor of the city since the anti-Catholic Penal Laws.
Not surprisingly, this background politicised Meagher at an early age and he briefly became involved with Daniel O’Connells campaign to repeal the Act of Union with England. While O’Connell advocated peaceful means to achieve Irish independence, Meagher favoured physical force and in 1845 formed the Young Ireland Movement along with William Smith O’Brien. By 1847 he was openly preaching revolution.
Heavily influenced by revolutionary events in France and on 1stMarch 1848 introduced the Tricolour Flag as the flag of the future Republic of Ireland. This tricolour of green, white and orange is inspired by the French and Newfoundland tricolours.
The flag symbolises peace (white) between the descendents of the Gaelic Catholic Irish (green) and the Colonialist Protestant British (orange). In its first appearance the orange stripe was at the staff of the flag. The flag was adopted as the effective national flag during the War of Independence with Britain (1919-1922) and is now the National Flag of Ireland, as recognised in the 1937 Constitution of Ireland(Bunreacht na hÉireann 1937).
In the summer of 1848, Meagher and other leaders of the failed Famine Rebellion (1848) were arrested, charged and convicted of sedition and sentenced to be "hanged, drawn and quartered". These sentences were commuted to transportation to Van Diemans Land (Tasmania). In 1852 Meagher escaped to New York City and became an American citizen. During the American Civil War, Meagher commanded the Irish Brigade.
From 1865 to 1867, Meagher was acting Governor of the Montana Territory. His death on 1st July 1867, remains a source of some mystery. He had been involved in delicate negotiations between Republicans and Democrats in Montana and there was ongoing trouble with the Sioux. He was also believed by the British and Canadian authorities to be still actively engaged in Irish nationalism. He is believed to have fallen into the River Missouri at Fort Benton, Montana but his body was never recovered. His enemies claimed he had been drinking heavily and behaving erratically prior to his disappearance while others believed he had been assassinated.
In an interesting footnote, some time later,a body with a gunshot wound was found in a shallow grave near the scene of Meagher's disappearance. This body was bought by carnival showmen and put on show as a slain gunslinger from the Old West. Some believe this to be the body of Thomas Francis Meagher but it would surely be a sad state of affairs if a man who served Ireland and the United States of America so well ended up as a freak show.
A statue of Meagher stands in Billings Montana.
A similar statue was erected in the City of Waterford in 2004.
He was born on 3rd August 1823 in County Waterford and was educated by the Jesuits at Irelands premier Catholic boarding school. As a result of Catholic Emancipation, Meagher's father (a prominent merchant ) became the first Catholic mayor of the city since the anti-Catholic Penal Laws.
Not surprisingly, this background politicised Meagher at an early age and he briefly became involved with Daniel O’Connells campaign to repeal the Act of Union with England. While O’Connell advocated peaceful means to achieve Irish independence, Meagher favoured physical force and in 1845 formed the Young Ireland Movement along with William Smith O’Brien. By 1847 he was openly preaching revolution.
Heavily influenced by revolutionary events in France and on 1stMarch 1848 introduced the Tricolour Flag as the flag of the future Republic of Ireland. This tricolour of green, white and orange is inspired by the French and Newfoundland tricolours.
The flag symbolises peace (white) between the descendents of the Gaelic Catholic Irish (green) and the Colonialist Protestant British (orange). In its first appearance the orange stripe was at the staff of the flag. The flag was adopted as the effective national flag during the War of Independence with Britain (1919-1922) and is now the National Flag of Ireland, as recognised in the 1937 Constitution of Ireland(Bunreacht na hÉireann 1937).
In the summer of 1848, Meagher and other leaders of the failed Famine Rebellion (1848) were arrested, charged and convicted of sedition and sentenced to be "hanged, drawn and quartered". These sentences were commuted to transportation to Van Diemans Land (Tasmania). In 1852 Meagher escaped to New York City and became an American citizen. During the American Civil War, Meagher commanded the Irish Brigade.
From 1865 to 1867, Meagher was acting Governor of the Montana Territory. His death on 1st July 1867, remains a source of some mystery. He had been involved in delicate negotiations between Republicans and Democrats in Montana and there was ongoing trouble with the Sioux. He was also believed by the British and Canadian authorities to be still actively engaged in Irish nationalism. He is believed to have fallen into the River Missouri at Fort Benton, Montana but his body was never recovered. His enemies claimed he had been drinking heavily and behaving erratically prior to his disappearance while others believed he had been assassinated.
In an interesting footnote, some time later,a body with a gunshot wound was found in a shallow grave near the scene of Meagher's disappearance. This body was bought by carnival showmen and put on show as a slain gunslinger from the Old West. Some believe this to be the body of Thomas Francis Meagher but it would surely be a sad state of affairs if a man who served Ireland and the United States of America so well ended up as a freak show.
A statue of Meagher stands in Billings Montana.
A similar statue was erected in the City of Waterford in 2004.
