Happy St Pattys Day everyone!!
Thank you so much to our friend Brian McColl, radio announcer and radio guru extraordinaire, who joined us this morning from Dublin Ireland to give us a look at how St Pattys Day is celebrated 'across the pond'! Brian is 100 percent Irish and he loves Canadians! You can reach him at http://www.bmacmedia.com/
While in Boston last summer, my husband and I went to a pub called 'The Black Rose'. On the paper placemat was a story that I found incredibly interesting, so I saved the placemat for today, because it is a true St Pattys Day story! Here it is:
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'Nine Famous Irishmen'
In Ireland, nine men were captured, tried, and convicted of treason against Her Majesty, the Queen during what has been referred to as the "Young Irish Disorders", in 1848 or thereabouts. The nine, who were sentenced to death, were Pat Donahue, Charles Duffy, Michael Ireland, Morris Lyene, Thomas McGee, Terrence McMannus, Thomas Meagher, John Mitchell and Richard O'Gorman.
The judge asked if there was anything any of them wished to say before being sentenced. Meagher, whose response summed up the attitude of them all, replied, "My Lord, this is our first offense, but not our last. If you will be easy with us this once, we promise on our word as gentlemen, to do better next time, sure we won't be fools to get caught."
The judge, outraged rather than amused at Meagher's remarks, indignantly decreed that the defendants should be hanged until dead, and drawn and quartered. Passionate protests, however, influenced Queen Victoria to commute the sentence to banishment for life and transportation to far, wild Australia.
In 1874, an astounded Queen Victoria received word that the Sir Charles Duffy who had been elected Prime Minister of Australia was the very same Charles Duffy who had been transported there some twenty-five years earlier. curious about the fate of the other eight young Irishmen convicted with Duffy, the Queen demanded that the records of those transported and banished from England during the incidents of 1848 be researched and revealed. This is what they found:
Thomas Meagher Governor of Montana
Terrence McMannus Brigadier General, U.S. Army
Patrick Donahue Brigadier General, U.S. Army
Morris Lyene Attorney General of Australia
Richard O'Gorman Governor of Newfoundland
Michael Ireland Attorney General of Australia
Thomas McGee Member of Parliament
Minister of Agriculture
President of Council, Dominion of Canada
John Mitchell Writer and prominent New York politician
His son became Mayor of New York City
