Irish America

Irish America

John Boyle O'Reilly

Window on the Past: Where Shall We Seek for a Hero?

By Michael Quinlin

Fall 2024

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180 years after his birth on June 28, 1844, the lessons of legendary Irish rebel, patriot, poet, and activist John Boyle O'Reilly deserve to be remembered and cherished. In today’s society of discontent and distrust mingled with guarded hope and optimism, O’Reilly would be hailed simultaneously as a disruptor of the status quo, a man unafraid to speak truth to power, a … [Read more...] about Window on the Past: Where Shall We Seek for a Hero?

Where Shall We Seek for a Hero?
Reflections on John Boyle O’Reilly

By Michael Quinlin

by 4 Comments

180 years after his birth on June 28, 1844, the lessons of legendary Irish rebel, patriot, poet and activist John Boyle O’Reilly deserve to be remembered and cherished.  In today’s society of discontent and distrust mingled with guarded hope and optimism, O’Reilly would be hailed simultaneously as a disruptor of the status quo, a man unafraid to speak truth to power, a … [Read more...] about

Where Shall We Seek for a Hero?
Reflections on John Boyle O’Reilly

The Catalpa Rescue

By Donald J. Magilligan

December/ January 2021

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In 1876, a daring escape from an Australian prison colony by six Fenian prisoners was masterminded by the revolutionary and journalist John Boyle O’Reilly. The sailing triumph of the Catalpa and the daring escape of six prisoners from an Australian prison dates back to 10 years earlier, 1866, to the failure of the Fenian rising in Ireland, when they were among those … [Read more...] about The Catalpa Rescue