Category: 1867

Jerry Aher: A Fenian’s Story

Previously writing on the Ballymacoda History Project, I have covered the 1867 Fenian rising and the involvement of Ballymacoda men Peter O’Neill Crowley and Thomas ‘Bowler’ Cullinane. In this post I’ll delve into the story of another contemporary of O’Neill and Cullinane – Jeremiah (Jerry) Aher – who as well as being involved in the raid on the Coastguard station during the rebellion, was also later associated with one of the most famous Fenian prison breaks of the time – the Catalpa rescue.

Photograph of Jerry Aher, taken after his deportation to Australia

Some records list Jeremiah Aher as being born in Ballymacoda in 1841, but he was more than likely born in 1844. This is corroborated by:

  1. Parish records – there is a Jeremiah Aher listed as being baptized on September 4th 1844.
  2. The 1867 Irish prison register – Jeremiah Aher is listed as being 23 years old in 1867, at the time of his arrest for participation in the Fenian rising.
  3. The 1882 California voter register (where, as we will see later, Jeremiah lived for many years), lists his age as 38, again pointing to a birth year of 1844.

Jeremiah was the son of William Aher and Mary Crowley, and it was through his mother that he was a cousin of the aforementioned Peter O’Neill Crowley, who led the rising locally in 1867. Jeremiah had four brothers – John, Timothy, Thomas and William, and two sisters – Johanna and Mary.

The raid on the coastguard station at Knockadoon took place on the night of the Fenian rising – Tuesday March 5th, 1867. The raid, in which Aher, Cullinane and others were involved was led by O’Neill Crowley and John McClure, an American born veteran of the Civil War. The primary goal of the operation was to secure arms, and it was successful, with John Devoy calling it “the neatest job done by the Fenians in the Rising“. While the raid in Ballymacoda was successful, the rising nationally was ultimately a failure and as we have seen previously O’Neill Crowley met his fate at Kilclooney Wood on the morning of Sunday March 31st, three weeks after the rising.

Jerry Aher was tried along with the other captured Fenian rebels in Cork and was convicted of treason on May 2nd 1867. He was sentenced to 7 years penal servitude. While they were awaiting trial, Aher and many other Fenian prisoners were held in Mountjoy jail in Dublin.

Reports of the sentencing of some of the Fenian prisoners, including Jerry Aher, which carried in English newspapers after the rebellion.

He and his fellow convicts were deported first to England, to be held in the infamous Millbank prison in London (now the site of the Tate Britain gallery), which was used as a holding area for those awaiting deportation to Australia. Aher and the other prisoners were held at Millbank until October 1867. His prisoner record from Millbank actually lists him as being removed from there on September 30th, and also records a visit from his father. After Millbank, they were to be deported to Western Australia aboard the prison ship Hougoumont.

The voyage of the Hougoumont lasted 89 days, with the vessel arriving in Western Australia on January 10th 1868, and was of particular historical significance in that it was the last convict ship to carry Irish prisoners to Australia. David Joyce (from the Garryvoe area) and Edward Kelly were aboard the same ship, as well as Thomas ‘Bowler’ Cullinane. The Fenian prisoners, 62 of the 289 convicts that arrived aboard Hougoumont, were taken to Fremantle Prison, and Jerry Aher became convict number 9645. Conditions for the men in Fremantle Prison were very poor. When not completing back-breaking labor, or seconded to work parties assigned to the hard labor of road building in searing temperatures around Fremantle, the Fenian prisoners were confined to their small cells. Before the rising and his arrest, Jerry Aher had been a carpenter and his skills were put to use in the colony.

From the Perth Gazette and West Australian Times, announcing the arrival of the Hougoumont, January 17th 1868

Aher’s prison record lists multiple disciplinary actions during his stay in Fremantle, all occurring in February and March 1869. On February 3rd 1869 he was sentenced to 7 days bread and water for ‘mutinous conduct‘. He was sentenced to the same punishment again on February 19th and March 6th for ‘refusal to work‘. On March 20th, he was sentenced to ‘indefinite solitary confinement‘, again for ‘refusal to work‘. It is not clear how long he remained in solitary.

In early May 1869, Aher and other Fenian prisoners were granted an official pardon, signed by the British Home Secretary, Henry Austin Bruce. This was largely due to the sustained campaign for a Fenian amnesty at home in Ireland. Records show that Jerry Aher received a free pardon on May 15th.

While some of the Fenian prisoners left immediately, for example as in the case of Thomas ‘Bowler’ Cullinane who left for Sydney soon after their pardon, Jerry Aher stayed on in the Perth/Fremantle area. In 1873, he met and married Mary Ann Brennan, herself an Irish emigrant. Their first son, William Joseph Aher was born in July 1874. In the next phase of Jerry Aher’s life, he would participate in one of the most daring Fenian prison breaks of the time, the Catalpa rescue.

With the Fenian pardons issued in 1869, and another round in 1871, only a small number of Fenian prisoners – those deemed most militant by the British – remained in captivity. One of those was James McNally (also known by his alias James Wilson), a Fenian from Newry, Co. Down. McNally had a letter smuggled out of the prison and sent to John Devoy in America. Devoy, an ardent Fenian, had himself been granted amnesty in England in 1871 on the condition that he emigrate to America and never return.

Dear Friend, remember this is a voice from the tomb. For is not this a living tomb? In the tomb it is only a man’s body that is good for worms, but in the living tomb the canker worm of care enters the very soul. Think that we have been nearly nine years in this living tomb since our first arrest and that it is impossible for mind or body to withstand the continual strain that is upon them. One or the other must give way. It is in this sad strait that I now, in the name of my comrades and myself, ask you to aid us in the manner pointed out… We ask you to aid us with your tongue and pen, with your brain and intellect, with your ability and influence, and God will bless your efforts, and we will repay you with all the gratitude of our natures… our faith in you is unbound. We think if you forsake us, then we are friendless indeed.

Letter from James McNally to John Devoy, which prompted the Catalpa Rescue

Devoy consulted with other exiled Fenians in America – John Boyle O’Reilly, himself an escapee of the same prison colony in Australia which held the remaining Fenian prisoners, and Thomas McCarthy Fennell, a Fenian who had left the colony after being pardoned in the 1871 amnesty. All were members of Clan na Gael. It was Fennel who suggested that a ship be purchased and sailed to Australia to rescue the remaining imprisoned Fenians. The rescue was funded by Clan na Gael. What they purchased was the Catalpa, a three-masted merchant bark, 90 foot long, and the ship sailed for Australia from New Bedford, Massachusetts on April 19th, 1875, as a legitimate whaling expedition, under Captain George S. Anthony. Most of the crew were unaware of the real intent of the voyage. In parallel with the sailing of the Catalpa, Devoy had enlisted two Fenian agents to travel to Western Australia – John Breslin and Thomas Desmond – to begin preparations in advance of the arrival.

Illustration of the Catalpa and the Fenian prisoner escapees

Jerry Aher had secured work as a carpenter, and encountered Desmond who told him of his mission in Western Australia – that is how he became involved in the Catalpa rescue. While there is no information available on exactly how Jerry Aher contributed, his local knowledge and contacts were no doubt invaluable to the Fenian agents and the overall escape plan. On March 29th, 1876 the Catalpa berthed at Bunbury, Western Australia, and Captain Anthony along with Breslin and Desmond, who had met the ship on arrival, sailed for Fremantle on board the steamer Georgette. The plan was to secure escape of the remaining Fenian prisoners while they were part of a work party, and this was executed successfully. Having been pursued for a time by the authorities, the Fenian prisoners and the Catalpa eventually escaped, and the men were finally free. The Catalpa sailed triumphantly into New York in August 1876, carrying the escaped Fenian prisoners.

In May 1876, passenger records show that Jerry Aher sailed for Melbourne with his wife and child onboard the Northern Light. Later that year he travelled to San Francisco, California, where he settled permanently. This is corroborated by multiple items if historical evidence. The 1880 United States Federal Census shows Jerry Aher living at 38 Larkin Street, in San Francisco. His occupation is given as ‘House Carpenter‘, which indicates he once again fell back on his pre-rising/incarceration occupation. The 1882 Voter Register for California, shows that he became a naturalized US citizen on February 27th, 1882. Twenty years later, the 1900 United States Federal Census shows the Aher family living at 1411 Bush Street in San Francisco, and at 158 20th Avenue in the 1910 Census.

I have found no records to indicate that Jerry Aher ever returned to Ballymacoda.

Jeremiah Aher in later life, pictured with his wife and three sons

Jerry Aher died in California on January 29th 1926, having lived an extraordinary life. He was buried in Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Colma, San Mateo County. Mary Ann died on December 28th 1930.

The grave of Jerry Aher, in Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Colma, San Mateo in California. Unfortunately the gravestone is in a state of disrepair today.

References & Further Information

Amos, K., The Fenians in Australia, 1865-1880, Sydney, 1988

Australian Convict Transportation Registers – Other Fleets & Ships, 1791-1868

Ballymacoda & Ladysbridge Parish Records, Entry for baptismal of Jeremiah Aher, September 4th, 1844

Ireland, Prison Registers, 1790-1924

Millbank Prison Record for Jeremiah Aher – UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951

Fremantle Prison Convict Database

Australia, Marriage Index, 1788-1950

The San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco, California, Tuesday, December 30, 1930 (Obituary for Mary Ann Aher)

1880 United States Federal Census

California, U.S., Voter Registers, 1866-1898

1900 United States Federal Census

1910 United States Federal Census

Biography of Jeremiah Aher, State Library of Western Australia, JS Battye Library of West Australian History Collection

The Dungarvan Observer, April 17th, 1926 (republished obituary of Jeremiah Aher under the heading of ‘Death of Old Fenian in San Francisco’)

The Manchester Martyrs

An edited version of this article also appeared in the Cork Holly Bough Christmas 2023 Edition.

The execution of three Irishmen in Manchester on November 23rd 1867 caused anger and revulsion across the island of Ireland. William Philip Allen, Michael Larkin, and Michael O’Brien were executed outside the New Bailey Prison in Salford in front of a crowd of thousands. Allen, born 1848, was a native of Tipperary, but grew up near Bandon, Co. Cork. Larkin, born 1835, was a native of Co. Offaly. Michael O’Brien was from Ballymacoda.

The Manchester Martyrs, Allen, Larkin & O’Brien

Michael O’Brien was born in Ballymacoda on January 17th 1838, the son of John & Johanna O’Brien (née O’Neill). His family rented a large farm, but were evicted in 1856. After school, he was apprenticed to a draper in nearby Youghal, where he worked for Arnott, Grant & Co., and later moved to the Queen’s drapery in Cork city. He became involved in the Fenian movement there, through contacts with Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa, and for three years he served as deputy to Brian Dillon, leader of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) in Cork city.

In late 1861, he lost his job and decided the following year to emigrate to the United States. At this time, the Northern and Southern states were engaged in the American Civil War (1860-1865). In August 1862, O’Brien joined a Union Army regiment from New Jersey. Records available from the 13th New Jersey Infantry Regiment (Company E), confirm that O’Brien enlisted on August 14th 1862 with the rank of Private, for a period of 3 years. The same record also shows that he was discharged at Eckington U.S. Army General Hospital in Washington, D.C. on February 5th 1863, with the discharge noting ‘Disability‘ as the reason, which one would assume meant he was recovering from some injury received in battle. This seems to be confirmed in October 1864, when O’Brien signed up for the Union Army once again – this time for a period of 1 years service in the 10th Regiment of the Ohio Infantry. The official soldier roster for the Ohio Infantry (seen below), confirms this service, and that he was discharged at San Antonio, Texas on October 17th 1865, having completed his service.

Entry for Michael O’Brien in the Official Soldier Roster, Ohio Infantry

After discharge, he returned to Ireland where he obtained a job as a shop assistant in Cork city and lived for a period with his sister Mary in Glenagare, Ladysbridge. During this time, O’Brien became involved in procuring arms for the Fenian movement in Ireland and England, and travelled regularly for this purpose. In late 1866, he was arrested in Liverpool along with three other Fenians on charges of possession of firearms, after police found army rifles in the basement of a house which they used at the time. Remarkably, all four were acquitted in November that year due to lack of evidence against them.

The Fenian Rising of March 5th 1867 is the next significant event in the story. In the aftermath of the failed rising, two men fled to Britain in an attempt to re-organize. Thomas J. Kelly and Timothy Deasy had fought in the American Civil War similar to Michael O’Brien. They had both been involved in the Fenian Rising and were now on the run from authorities. O’Brien himself had been involved in the rising and had also fled to England, where he stayed with Edward O’Meagher Condon in Manchester, using the assumed name ‘William Gould‘. On September 11th 1867, Kelly and Deasy were arrested in the early hours of the morning in Oak Street in Shudehill, Manchester. Police suspected them of being about to commit a burglary, and didn’t realize until later that the men they had in custody were the wanted Fenians, Kelly and Deasy.

On September 18th, Kelly and Deasy were being transferred from the courthouse to Belle Vue Gaol in Manchester, a Victorian age prison which was known for its deplorable prisoner living conditions. The police van in which they travelled was heavily guarded by mounted police officers. The van contained six prisoners, including a 12 year old boy and two women. Police Sergeant Charles Brett travelled inside the van with the prisoners. As the van travelled along Hyde Road and passed under a railway arch, a man ran into the road and forced the driver to stop at gunpoint. At that moment, a large group of Fenians, including Michael O’Brien and Edward O’Meagher Condon, appeared and attempted to surround the van and the mounted officers, with the goal of liberating Kelly & Deasy.

The scene of the ambush today, the railway arch replaced by a modern bridge

The Fenian rescuers had great difficulty in opening the van door, and called for Sergeant Brett inside to open the door, who refused. His words of reply, “I dare not. I must do my duty,” were later inscribed on his gravestone. One of the Fenians, later alleged to be a Dublin man by the name of Peter Rice, in an attempt to blow the lock, took aim and fired at it just as Sergeant Brett was looking through the keyhole from the other side to see what was going on outside. He was hit in the head by Rice’s shot and killed. One of the women prisoners took the keys from Sergeant Brett’s corpse, and passed them to the group outside through a ventilation hole. Most of the Fenian’s then escaped, having secured Kelly & Deasy, but some including Michael O’Brien, William Allen, and Michael Larkin were later arrested.

The handcuffs worn by Deasy, and purportedly the gun used to kill Sergeant Brett

Sergeant Charles Brett was the first police officer killed whilst on duty in Manchester, causing outrage and a significant backlash from the population and policing authorities. Over the proceeding weeks, many innocent Irishmen were targeted for arrest. A £300 award was offered for information leading to the capture of Kelly & Deasy. By this time, both had already escaped to the United States via Liverpool.

Sergeant Charles Brett (1815-1867)

In late October, proceedings began against the men accused of participating in the attack, via a Special Commission overseen by Mr. Justice Blackburn and Mr. Justice Mellor. In total, there were twenty-six accused before the court – with the principal defendants being Michael O’Brien, Edward O’Meagher Condon, William Allen, Michael Larkin and Thomas Maguire. Maguire was a young Irishman and a member of the Royal Marines, who had been on leave and had been seized by police close to the scene of the attack, just because he was Irish. After the fifth day of the trial, the jury retired to consider its verdict. It took them just over an hour to come back with a guilty verdict for each of the five defendants. The men were invited to speak, had they anything to say before sentence was passed. Michael O’Brien, having received U.S. citizenship for his service in the American Civil War, spoke eloquently claiming that as an American Citizen, he should not be facing trial in England. Perhaps the most famous and enduring remarks came from O’Meagher Condon’s address to the court, at the end of which he shouted “God save Ireland!“, which later inspired the popular Republican song of the same name, written by Timothy Daniel Sullivan, and almost became the second national anthem of Ireland.

The fate of the defendants when handed down by the court, was of no surprise to anyone. The only sentence permitted at the time for murder, was the sentence of death by hanging. Thomas Maguire, the young marine arrested near the scene of the ambush, was later pardoned due to the uncertainty of the evidence against him. Similarly, O’Meagher Condon’s sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment because of his American Citizenship. This left Allen, Larkin and O’Brien to face the gallows.

The execution of the Manchester Martyrs at Salford Prison

The executions took place on the morning of November 23rd 1867, on a specially built gallows outside Salford prison. Large crowds gathered from the previous evening to witness what would become the last public executions to take place in Manchester. The executioner was William Calcraft, a man described as “particularly incompetent“. He had purportedly received death threats in advance from the Fenians, and this coupled with his incompetence meant that he bungled two out of three of the executions. Allen was reported as having died instantly, but Larkin and O’Brien struggled after the ropes dropped, indicating they were still alive. Calcraft descended from the scaffold and pulled on Larkin’s legs until he was dead. A Catholic priest, Fr. Gadd who had ministered to the condemned men, refused to allow him to kill O’Brien in the same way, and so for nearly 45 minutes, the horror continued with Fr. Gadd kneeling before O’Brien, reciting the prayers for the dying. One has to take the times into account, but even for 1867 this was a particularly gruesome execution carried out by a demonstrably incompetent executioner.

Reports of the executions carried in news all over Ireland, including this one in the Waterford News (O’Brien referred to using his pseudonym Gould)

The remains of Allen, Larkin and O’Brien were buried in the New Bailey prison graveyard. When the New Bailey closed a year later, their remains were moved to the cemetery at Strangeways prison (HM Prison Manchester). In the publication “Glasnevin Cemetery: Being a Record of Ireland’s Heroic Dead in Dublin City and County” published by the National Graves Association much later in 1932, a mock funeral procession at Glasnevin in Dublin with an empty coffin for each of the men was referenced:

When the news of their execution reached Ireland, solemn funeral processions were held, and three coffinless hearses proceeded to Glasnevin Cemetery, followed by 60,000 mourners. Allen was a native of Tipperary, O’Brien came from Ballymacoda, Co. Cork, and Larkin from Lusmagh, Offaly.

From “Glasnevin Cemetery: Being a Record of Ireland’s Heroic Dead in Dublin City and County” published by the National Graves Association in 1932

In 1991, the remains of the Manchester Martyrs were once again disturbed by the authorities when they were exhumed, cremated, and reinterred at Blakley Cemetery in the northern suburbs of Manchester, along with the remains of 63 other executed prisoners.

Plaque at the sight of the ambush on Hyde Road, Manchester.

Today, there are numerous monuments remembering the Manchester Martyrs, both in England and Ireland:

  • A monument in Glasnevin Cemetery in Co. Dublin.
  • A monument in Birr, Co. Offaly.
  • A monument in Kilrush, Co. Clare.
  • A memorial at the east end of the Quays in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary.
  • A Celtic cross in Ladysbridge, Co. Cork.
  • A monument in St. Joseph’s Cemetery, Moston, Manchester.
  • A plaque denoting the location of the ambush on Hyde Road, Manchester.
Monument in St. Joseph’s Cemetery, Moston, Manchester.

Michael O’Brien, in his last letter dated November 14th, 1867 said:

..much though I would like to live… I cannot regret dying in the cause of Liberty and Ireland. Let no man think a cause is lost because some suffer for it. It is only a proof that those who suffer are in earnest, and should be an incentive to others to be equally so – to do their duty with firmness, justice and disinterestedness

Excerpt from the last letter of Michael O’Brien, preserved at St Patrick’s Church, Livesey Street, Manchester

O’Donovan Rossa wrote of Michael O’Brien in his book ‘Irish Rebels in English Prisons’ describing him as “one of the truest and one of the noblest; as devoted as a lover and as courageous as a lion.”

The Celtic cross commemorating the Manchester Martyrs in Ladysbridge Village

An interesting thing happened in 1870, three years after the execution of the Manchester Martyrs. A relative of the landlord who had evicted Michael O’Brien’s family was threatened with death unless his family was reinstated. This story carried in the many Irish and English newspapers of the time.

Three years after, or three hundred years after, the Manchester Martyrs will always be remembered and revered for their sacrifices for Ireland.

References & Further Information

Dictionary of Irish Biography, Entry for Michael O’Brien

Find a Grave, Entry for Michael O’Brien

Records of the 13th Regiment, Company E, New Jersey Volunteers

Official Soldier Roster, Ohio Infantry

“Glasnevin Cemetery: Being a Record of Ireland’s Heroic Dead in Dublin City and County”, National Graves Association, 1932

Irish Rebels in English Prisons: A Record of Prison Life, by Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa (1880)

Irish Volunteers, Entry for the Manchester Martyrs

The Waterford News, November 29th 1867

The Leeds Mercury, May 7th 1870

Thomas ‘Bowler’ Cullinane: An Exile’s Return

In the last post, we looked at the events surrounding the 1867 Fenian rebellion in Ballymacoda, in particular the successful raid on the coastguard station at Knockadoon, led by John McClure and Peter O’Neill Crowley, and O’Neill Crowley’s subsequent death at the hands of the crown forces at Kilclooney wood. Thomas ‘Bowler’ Cullinane was a member of the party that raided the coastguard station, this is the story of his exile after the rising and his later return to Ballymacoda.

After the rising of March 5th, Cullinane was tried along with McClure, Edward ‘Ned’ Kelly and David Joyce, on the charge of high treason in front of a Special Commission in Cork. At the trial, presided over by Lord Chief Justice Monahan, Mr. Justice Keogh, and Mr. Justice George, all four were initially sentenced to death at the conclusion of the proceedings on May 24th 1867. The sentence passed down by Lord Chief Justice Monahan was for each of the men to be hanged, drawn and quartered. This medieval punishment had been the statutory penalty for anyone convicted of the crime of high treason against the English crown from 1352 onwards, and was not abolished until 1870.

It only now remains with me to pass the awful sentence of the law upon you, and that sentence is that you and each of you be taken hence from this place from whence you came, and that you shall be from thence drawn on a hurdle to the place of execution, and there be hanged by the neck until each of you be dead, that afterwards your heads be severed from your bodies and that your bodies be divided into four parts, and that those parts be disposed of as her Majesty or her successors shall think fit. This sentence shall be carried into execution on Wednesday, the 19th of June.

The sentence handed down to McClure, Cullinane, Kelly and Joyce by Chief Justice Monahan, on May 25th 1867 at the Special Commission sitting in Cork.

After lobbying efforts by a group of prominent citizens and large protests across Ireland against the execution of the Fenian rebels, the death sentences handed down to many of those involved in the Fenian rising, including McClure, Cullinane, Kelly and Joyce, were commuted to life imprisonment.

Entry in the Irish Prison Register for Thomas Cullinane, listing his crime of high treason

Cullinane was first imprisoned in England, at Millbank Prison in Westminster, London. In October 1867, records show that he was transported to Australia, departing from London on October 12th aboard the prison ship Hougoumont under master William Cozens. The voyage lasted 89 days, with the vessel arriving in Western Australia on January 10th 1868, and was of particular historical significance in that it was the last convict ship to carry Irish prisoners to Australia. David Joyce and Edward Kelly were aboard the same ship, as well as another Ballymacoda native, Jeremiah (Jerry) Aher, who had received a 7 year sentence for his part in the raid of the coastguard station at Knockadoon.

The Fenian prisoners, approximately 62 of the 289 convicts that arrived aboard Hougoumont, were taken to Fremantle Prison. After being allowed a few days rest, the prisoners were taken in groups to commence the hard labor of road building in searing temperatures outside Fremantle. The Fenian workgroups were segregated from general prison population. At times the men were lodged in road camps and required to stay close to the site of their work away from the prison. Patrick Wall, another Fenian who was transported on the Hougoumont described the conditions in a letter to his parents. Thomas Cullinane was very likely in one of these working groups, as there were only six Fenians assigned to permanent duties in the prison which required them to stay at Fremantle, and he was not one of that group.

On last Saturday evening we were marched five miles with bed and bedding on our backs, to our rude habitation, which consists of four miserable twig huts and a tent. I sleep with twelve others in the tent. We are sure of nocturnal visits from mosquitoes, and a species of very small lively insect which takes the greatest delight in playing with you until morning, waiting for the next night’s entertainment to renew the sport. We work pretty hard all day under a burning sun; the only comfort the place affords us is that we are near the sea shore, where we bathe after our day’s labor.

Description of the conditions in a Fenian workgroup, described by Patrick Wall in a letter to his parents, quoted in newspaper ‘The Irishman’ in April 1868.

The convict records available for Fremantle Prison record Thomas Cullinane as ‘Thomas Bowler‘, prisoner number 9671. His record also mentions as a note, ‘character bad‘, and records ‘mutinous conduct‘ in February 1869 for which he was sentenced to 7 days bread and water. In early May 1869, Cullinane and other Fenian prisoners were granted an official pardon, signed by the Home Secretary, Henry Austin Bruce. This was mainly due to the sustained campaign for a Fenian amnesty at home in Ireland. Thomas ‘Bowler’ Cullinane was mentioned specifically in the text of the pardon.

I have the honor to inform you that Her Majesty’s Govt. have decided upon granting a Remission to Thomas Cullinane or Bowler and the other prisoners named in the accompanying Warrant under the Royal Sign Manual, who were convicted of Treason or Treason Felony in Ireland and who are now under sentence of Penal Servitude in Western Australia.

Partial text of the pardon of the Fenian exiles, a link to the full text is available in the references below.

Upon his release, records show that Cullinane first travelled to Sydney in New South Wales aboard the ship Rangatira on September 21st 1869, then to London aboard the Suffolk on October 26th.

Excerpt from The Freeman’s Journal, February 1870 mentioning the return of Fenian prisoners, including Thomas Cullinane

Some time after his release, Cullinane travelled to America where he was to remain until returning to Ballymacoda in 1910. I have found little trace of his activities in America. There are three main reasons as to why the records are difficult to trace. Firstly, Cullinane was known to use the alias ‘Bowler’, which he may also have used in America. Secondly, records of the day use many alternative spellings of his last name e.g. ‘Cullinan’. Finally, it is very difficult to conclusively determine a birth year due to conflicting references, which would be useful for filtering US naturalization records etc. for Cullinane:

  • His headstone says he died in March 1928, aged 84 (giving a birth year 1843 or 1844).
  • His convict record from Australia lists his birth year as 1844.
  • His death record from ‘Civil Registration Deaths Index, 1864-1958‘ lists his age at death as 88 (giving a birth date of 1839 or 1840).
  • Newspaper sources mentioning his return to Ireland from June 1910 give his age as 72 (giving a birth year of 1837 or 1838).
  • The Irish prison register entry for June 1867 lists his age as 22 (giving a birth year of 1844 or 1845).
  • The 1911 Census of Ireland taken in early April lists his age as 73 (giving a birth year of 1837 or 1838).
  • Searching the Ballymacoda & Ladysbridge Parish baptismal records for Thomas Cullinane yielded no matches, however some records are barely legible given the age of the documents.

Regardless of his life in America, which as mentioned above is difficult to piece together, there are numerous sources that confirm Thomas Cullinane returned to Ballymacoda in 1910. He was unmarried, and planned to spend the rest of his days living with his sister Johanna (O’Brien) in Ballymakeigh. Newspaper sources from the time indicate that there was a homecoming event for Cullinane in Ballymacoda, with this description being published:

Though he had been a long time away, his heart always reverted to the land for which he strove so nobly, and lately he returned to his native district of Ballymacoda. To signalize the homecoming and to give him a welcome worthy of his patriotic record a meeting was held in Ballymacoda last week. A platform, over which Stars and Stripes floated, was erected for the proceedings, which were marked with the greatest enthusiasm.

Description of the homecoming of Thomas Cullinane, published widely at the time (this instance from ‘The Courier-Journal’, Louisville, Kentucky, June 26th, 1910).
Excerpt from The Irish Standard, July 2nd 1910 mentioning the return of Thomas Cullinane

The 1911 Census of Ireland confirms Thomas as living with his sister Johanna at Ballymakeigh.

1911 Census of Ireland record showing Thomas Cullinane

Thomas Cullinane died on March 18th 1928 and is buried in the Hill Cemetery in Ballymacoda.

The grave of Thomas ‘Bowler’ Cullinane, at the Hill Cemetery, Ballymacoda

References & Further Information

The Gaelic American – Vol. III No. 24 June 16, 1906, Whole Number 144, Villanova University, Falvey Memorial Library

Claim a Convict, details for the ship Hougoumont (1868)

Fremantle Prison Convict Database

A Gerringong Fenian, The Story of John O’Neil Goulding and the 1867 Kerry Uprising by John Graham, Published 1999

The Great Amnesty Campaign of 1869, Irish History Podcast

Convict Records available on UNE, the repository for research outputs of the University of New England at Armidale, NSW Australia

Ancestry.com. Ireland, Prison Registers, 1790-1924 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA:

Historic Graves, Thomas Bowler Cullinane

The Freeman’s Journal, published in Dublin, February 2nd, 1870

The Irish Standard, Saturday July 2nd, 1910

Full text of the Royal pardon granted to Thomas Cullinane and other Irish convicts under sentence of penal servitude in Western Australia

Amos, K., The Fenians in Australia, 1865-1880, Sydney, 1988

Peter O’Neill Crowley and the 1867 Fenian Rising

The Fenian rising of March 1867 was yet another attempt to remove the shackles of foreign oppression. After the 1798, 1803, and 1848 rebellions, it was the fourth failed rebellion in 70 years. In this post, we’ll focus on the events of 1867 as they relate to Ballymacoda, and one of its most famous sons – the Fenian leader and Irish patriot Peter O’Neill Crowley.

Peter O’Neill Crowley was born in Ballymacoda on May 23rd, 1832 into a respectable farming family. Through his mother, he was a grand-nephew of Fr. Peter O’Neill, the Ballymacoda parish priest flogged at Youghal in 1798 and later deported to Botany Bay. After his father died when he was still quite young, Peter O’Neill Crowley came under the influence of his grand-uncle, and acknowledged later in life that his involvement with the Fenian’s was inspired by his grand-uncle. The young O’Neill Crowley was well known and respected in Fenian circles, and was known to be a man of principle and a strict pioneer. In time, he became the leader of the reportedly 100-strong group of Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) members in the Ballymacoda area.

On Tuesday March 5th, the day of the rebellion, O’Neill Crowley and John McClure, an American born veteran of the Civil War, led a party to raid the coastguard station at Knockadoon, with the objective being to secure the cache of weapons located there. Among the raiding party were Thomas ‘Bowler’ Cullinane, Jerry Aher, David Joyce and Thomas Walsh. The raid was successful, with the weapons being secured and the coastguards disarmed without a single shot being fired. Taking the coastguards hostage, the group then marched towards Killeagh with the prisoners, expecting to join up with other units from Youghal and Midleton. However, this didn’t materialize as planned, with only a handful of men being present at the meeting place when the party from Ballymacoda arrived. The group of rebels from Midleton had earlier been involved in a battle with the police in Castlemartyr while attempting to raid the barracks there, where the leader of the group, Timothy Daly had been shot and killed.

McClure made the decision to disband all unarmed men, and march with the remaining men and prisoners towards Castlemartyr, where the prisoners were released. Having observed a large group of crown forces at Mogeely about to commence a search of the area, O’Neill Crowley, McClure and others decided to march north in an attempt to merge with other pockets of fighters in the Munster region. While the raid on the coastguard station at Knockadoon was successful – John Devoy called it ‘the neatest job done by the Fenians in the Rising‘ – the wider rising was a failure, and soon the party from Ballymacoda was on the run, eventually reaching Kilclooney wood near Mitchelstown. The group spent a few weeks taking refuge in the wood until being engaged by the British on the morning of Sunday March 31st, 1867, three weeks after the rising. The British had reportedly received information that the group was hiding there, and that same problem that always plagued rebellions and rebel groups throughout Irish history – informers – was to cause the death of O’Neill Crowley.

On the morning of the 31st, Kilclooney wood was surrounded by an estimated 120+ British soldiers, made up of members of the Sixth Carbineers, two companies of the Sixth Warwickshire infantry and a company of Royal Engineers. The men were commanded by Major Bell. A gun battle ensued, with the Fenian group hopelessly outnumbered. O’Neill Crowley was initially badly wounded when he was hit by a bullet which broke a finger on one hand. A group of soldiers began to advance towards the wood, while the rest kept it surrounded from all sides to prevent escape of the group of rebels. McClure and O’Neill Crowley were captured together, attempting to cross a river, O’Neill Crowley was shot and fatally wounded as he attempted to cross. He was attended to by an army surgeon, and a priest was sent for to administer last rites before he died. He was aged just 34, a few months shy of 35.

The priest who administered the last rites, Rev. T. O’Connell, at the time curate in nearby Kildorrery, described the scene he witnessed that morning in 1867 in The Irish Standard 20 years later:

A few particulars in connection with the last moments of Peter O’Neill Crowley may not be uninteresting to your numerous readers at the present moment. I can well recall the memorable morning in March, ’67, when I was hastily summoned to administer to the patriot the last rites of that church which he loved so well. On my arrival at Kilclooney Wood, I found Dr. Segrave, surgeon to the flying column, busily engaged in staunching the wound with one hand, whilst from a prayer book in the other he read aloud – at the young man’s request – the Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus. I was greatly touched by the scene, and especially by the exclamation – ‘Thank God – all is right now’, and then turning to the doctor he said ‘Thank you very much, the priest is come, leave me to him’. I saw at once the critical condition of the brave soul, whose heart’s blood was ebbing fast away. I saw that there was no time to lose, and having made him as comfortable as circumstances would permit, by means of the soldiers knapsacks, I then and there, surrounded by the military and police, administered the last sacraments. The fervor and devotion for which he prepared for death – though suffering very much – were most striking, and made on me an indelible impression. His lively faith and firm hope coupled with, if I might so write, his true heroism, so affected me that I could have wished myself in his place. It was whilst kneeling by his side and whispering to him words of consolation that he gave expression with his dying lips to that noble sentiment – one well worthy of Saint Lawrence O’Toole – ‘Father, I have two loves in my heart – one for my religion, the other for my country. I am dying today for the fatherland. I could die as cheerfully for faith’.

Rev. T. O’Connell, by then P.P. in Castlemartyr, describes administering the last rites to O’Neill Crowley, The Irish Standard, May 28th 1887
Depiction of the death of O’Neill Crowley, from the monument in Kilclooney

Peter O’Neill Crowley’s body was removed to a workhouse in nearby Mitchelstown, and a short inquest followed which found ‘The deceased was shot by troops whilst in the execution of their duty‘. His body was released to his sister, and brought to Ballymacoda for burial beside his grand-uncle Fr. Peter O’Neill in the churchyard. His funeral cortege was reported to be comprised of thousands of mourners, but it is impossible to get accurate figures. Numerous sources also indicate that his coffin was shouldered all the way from Mitchelstown to Ballymacoda, stopping overnight to rest in Killeagh.

O’Neill Crowley’s Grave in the churchyard in Ballymacoda, marked by a large Celtic Cross

Over the years numerous commemorations have taken place at Kilclooney, notably in 1898 when a memorial was erected (re-erected in 1960), at the 100 anniversary of the battle in 1967 and in the year 2000 when Derek Warfield, historian and ex-leader of the Wolfe Tones group was the guest speaker. A new viewing station was unveiled at Kilclooney Wood in 2013, in advance of the commemoration held in 2017 to mark the 150th anniversary. Peter O’Neill Crowley is also commemorated in numerous parts of Cork and further afield:

  • O’Neill Crowley Terraces in Ballymacoda, in Castlemartyr, and in Mitchelstown.
  • Peter O’Neill Crowley Bridge (formerly George IV Bridge) on the Carrigrohane road in Cork city.
  • O’Neill Crowley statue at the National Monument on Grand Parade in Cork city, erected to commemorate the Irish patriots who died during the period 1798 – 1867.
  • O’Neill Crowley Street in Youghal.
  • O’Neill Crowley Quay in Fermoy.
  • Peter O’Neill Crowley Gaelic Athletic Club formed in the Clonard area of Belfast in 1902 – they went on to win two Antrim Senior Hurling titles in 1903 and 1907.
Plaque at the viewing station in Kilclooney, erected 2013

The memory of O’Neill Crowley is also captured in the folk songs ‘Erin’s Lovely Lee‘, and ‘Peter Crowley‘, recordings of which are available in the collection of the Clare County Library (see references for links).

Peter O’Neill Crowley memorial on the National Monument on Grand Parade.

The Fenian leader John Devoy said of O’Neill Crowley: “Peter O’Neill Crowley was one of the best men in the Fenian Movement, and Ireland never gave birth to a truer or more devoted son. His devotion to the cause of Irish liberty was sublime and his courage dauntless“. It would be difficult to disagree with this opinion.

Peter O’Neill Crowley’s Gaelic Athletic Club, Belfast 1902

In a future post, we’ll look at the aftermath of the 1867 rebellion, in particular what became of the other protagonists from the Ballymacoda area who took part in the rebellion.

References and Further Information

Historical Remains of Ballymacoda and Ladysbridge, Ballymacoda / Ladysbridge Community Council Historical Society

Fenian Heroes & Martyrs, John Savage, Published by Patrick Donahoe, 1868

The Irish Standard, May 28th 1887

Recollections of an Irish Rebel, A Personal Narrative, By John Devoy.

Erin’s Lovely Lee, recording captured in the Carroll Mackenzie Collection at Clare County Library collection

Peter Crowley, recording captured in the Carroll Mackenzie Collection at Clare County Library collection

Kilclooney Wood and Peter O’Neill-Crowley, Micheál Ó’h0Aonghusa, 2012