Life
1828-1888; b. 13 Dec., Dublin, studied art; joined Young Ireland; contrib.
United Irishman, and the Tribune; co-fnd. The Irish Felon;
prop. The Patriot, 1848, and suppressed; journalist in Ireland
up to 1848 Rising, in which he played a small part; aided John O’Mahony
in attempt to renew rebellion; emig. America, where he was on the staff
of the New York Tribune; leader writer on Washington States’
Journal, 1857; contrib. Mitchel’s The Citizen; joined
the 69th Regiment, led by Thomas F. Meagher; led the O’Mahoney faction
of the IRB after the Civil War; wrote Fenian Heroes and Martyrs (1868)
and The Modern Revolutionary History and Literary of Ireland (1884),
on ’98 and ’48; received Hon. LLD from St John’s College,
Fordham, 1879; issued Lays of the Fatherland (1850); also poems,
Faith and Fancy (1864); Poems, Lyrical, Dramatic And
Romantic (NY 1870); also best remembered for a declamation, "Shane’s
Head" [var. Shaun]; d. 9 Oct., New York. PI JMC DIH MKA RAF
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Works
Drama, Sybil, A Tragedy in Five Acts [NY 1850] (New York: Kirker
1865). Poetry, Lays of the Fatherland (NY: Redfield 1850);
Faith and Fancy (NY: Kirker 1864); Poems, Lyrical, Dramatic
and Romantic (NY: Kirker 1867) [var. 1870 PI]; Eva, A Goblin Romance
in Five Parts (NY: Kirker 1865). Prose, ’98 and
’48: The Modern Revolutionary History and Literary of Ireland
(NY 1884), xx+402pp. [RAF]; Our Living Representative Men ... (Philadelphia
1860); The Life and Public Services of Andrew Johnson (NY 1866);
Fenian Heroes and Martyrs (Boston: Patrick Donahoe 1868) 461pp.;
American Citizens Prisoners in Great Britain (NY 1870). Chk, ‘98
and ‘48 (1st edn.?1856).
Criticism
Francis
Fairfield (Emerald, NY 1868), Eugene Davis (Shamrock 1877)
and anon. in The Nation, 20 Oct. 1888.
Notes
Anthologised
in Irish Literature, ed. Justin McCarthy (Washington:
University of America 1904); selects ‘Shane’s Head’ [on
a pole before Dublin Castle, ‘I’ll speed me Ulsterwards - your
ghost must wander there, proud Shane/In search of some O’Neill through
whom to throb its hate again.] See also under John Brenan, and PI entry
for same.
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Princess Grace Irish Library (Monaco)