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