John O'Leary (Fenian)

John O'Leary ( born 23 July 1830; died 16 March 1907 Alan O'Day, "‘O'Leary, John (1830–1907)’", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, May 2006] ) was an Irish poet and fenian. He studied both law and medicine but did not take a degree and for his political beliefs he was imprisoned in England during the nineteenth century.

Early life

Born in the town of Tipperary, County Tipperary, the catholic O'Leary was educated at the local protestant Grammar School, The Abbey School, and later the catholic Carlow College. He identified with the views advocated by Thomas Davis and met James Stephens in 1846. Alan O'Day, "‘O'Leary, John (1830–1907)’", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, May 2006]

He began his studies in law at Trinity College, Dublin, in 1847, where, through the Grattan Club, he associated with Charles Gavan Duffy, James Fintan Lalor and Thomas Francis Meagher.

1848 rising

After the failure of the 1848 Tipperary Revolt, O'Leary attempted to rescue the leaders from Clonmel Gaol, and was himself imprisoned from September 5, 1849. A further uprising in Munster on September 16, 1849 gave him an opportunity to escape from prison, which he took.

Irish Republican Brotherhood

Unable to pursue his studies at Trinity College, O'Leary enrolled at Cork University, Cork, in 1850, and in 1855, he visited Paris, France, where he became acquainted with Kevin Izod O'Doherty, John Martin and the American painter, John Whistler. O'Leary subsequently worked as a financial agent for the newly-formed Irish Republican Brotherhood and was editor of "The Irish People".

Arrest and trial

In 14 September 1865, O'Leary was arrested, and tried on charges of high treason. [O'Leary Vol II, p.205 & 211] He was sentenced to twenty years' penal servitude, of which nine years were spent in English prisons prior to his exile to Paris in 1874.

Conclusion

Following the Amnesty, he returned to Ireland in 1885 with his sister, the poet Ellen O'Leary, both of whom became important figures within the Dublin cultural and nationalist circle which included W. B. Yeats, Maud Gonne, Rose Kavanagh, Rosa Mulholland, Dora Sigerson, and Katharine Tynan. [Deirdre Toomey, "‘O'Leary, Ellen (1831–1889)’", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004]

Yeats' Tribute

In his poem, "September 1913", the poet W.B. Yeats laments the death of O'Leary with the line:

:"Romantic Ireland's dead and gone; it's with O'Leary in the grave" ["Collected Letters, 1.503"]

Works

* "" (1885)
* "Recollections of Fenians and Fenianism in 1896"

References

ources

*Dr. Mark F. Ryan,"Fenian Memories", Edited by T.F. O'Sullivan, M. H. Gill & Son, LTD, Dublin, 1945
*John O'Leary, "Recollections of Fenians and Fenianism", Downey & Co., Ltd, London, 1896 (Vol. I & II)
*Leon Ó Broin, "Fenian Fever: An Anglo-American Delemma", Chatto & Windus, London, 1971, ISBN 0 7011 1749 4.
*Ryan, Desmond. "The Fenian Chief: A Biography of James Stephens", Hely Thom LTD, Dublin, 1967
*"Four Years of Irish History 1845-1849," Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co. 1888.
*Christy Campbell, "Fenian Fire: The British Government Plot to Assassinate Queen Victoria," HarperCollins, London, 2002, ISBN 0 00 710483 9
*Owen McGee, "The IRB: The Irish Republican Brotherhood from The Land League to Sinn Féin", Four Courts Press, 2005, ISBN 1 85182 972 5
*Speeches From the Dock, or Protests of Irish Patriotism, by Seán Ua Cellaigh, Dublin, 1953

External links

* [http://www.astonisher.com/archives/mjb/irishlit/irishlit_ch12.html The Politics of Irish Literature]