Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa

Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa (1831-1915), an Irish Fenian leader, was born at Rosscarbery, County Cork. In 1858 Rossa set-up the Phoenix Society which was to merge into the Irish Republican Brotherhood. He was arrested numerous times for connections with the Fenian movement, but was released and exiled in 1871, sailing to the United States on board the Cuba, with his friend John Devoy and three other exiles (dubbed "the Cuba Five").

Related Topics:
1831 - 1915 - Irish - Fenian - Rosscarbery - County Cork - 1858 - Irish Republican Brotherhood - 1871 - United States - John Devoy

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

From New York City Rossa organised the first ever bombings by Irish republicans of English cities, in the 1880s (the "dynamite campaign"). This made him an infamous and greatly maligned figure in Britain, and the British government demanded his extradition. Furthermore it caused a rift in the Irish independence movement itself, as many disavowed his tactics. Rossa was shot several times on Broadway by an Englishwoman, Yseult Dudley, but his wounds were not life-threatening. The British government claimed she was mentally unstable, and not acting on their behalf, although Rossa's supporters and even many of his detractors found this hard to believe.

Related Topics:
New York City - Irish republican - English - 1880s - Britain - British government - Broadway - Yseult Dudley

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rossa was allowed to visit Ireland in 1894. When he returned in 1904, he was made a Freeman of Cork city. Rossa fell seriously ill in his later years, being confined to a hospital bed in Staten Island, where he died in 1915 at the age of 84. The new republican movement in Ireland were quick to realise the propaganda value of the old Fenian's death, and Thomas Clarke telegrammed John Devoy: SEND HIS BODY HOME AT ONCE. His body was returned to Ireland for burial. His funeral at Glasnevin Cemetery on August 1 was a huge affair, garnering substantial publicity for the Irish Volunteers and the IRB at the time when a rebellion (later to emerge as the Easter Rising) was being planned. The eulogy, given by Patrick Pearse, remains one of the most famous speeches of the Irish independence movement. It ended with the lines: "They think that they have pacified Ireland. They think that they have purchased half of us and intimidated the other half. They think that they have foreseen everything, think that they have provided against everything; but, the fools, the fools, the fools! ? They have left us our Fenian dead, and while Ireland holds these graves, Ireland unfree shall never be at peace."

Related Topics:
1894 - 1904 - Cork - Staten Island - 1915 - Republican - Thomas Clarke - John Devoy - Glasnevin Cemetery - August 1 - Irish Volunteers - Easter Rising - Patrick Pearse

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A memorial to O'Rossa stands in St. Stephen's Green, and a bridge over the Liffey was renamed in his honour. A park in Skibbereen is also named for him.

Related Topics:
St. Stephen's Green - Liffey

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~