Wolfe Tone Commemoration 2009.

by clarina - none Tue May 26, 2009 05:13

looking forward to this, hope it gets as great a crowd as last years!

by Sharon. - Individual. Tue May 26, 2009 23:30

Hi Clarina !

Thanks for that comment - much appreciated!
And I'll take this opportunity to mention that Fermanagh Republican , John Joe McCusker , will give the main oration this year.

Thanks again !

Sharon.

by Robert Wed May 27, 2009 20:12

"To subvert the tyranny of our execrable government, to break the connection with England, the never failing source of all our political evils, and to assert the independence of my country--these were my objects. To unite the whole people of Ireland, to abolish the memory of all past dissentions, and to substitute the common name of Irishman, in the place of the denominations of Protestant, Catholic, and Dissenter--these were my means."

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfe_Tone

by Sharon. - Individual. Wed May 27, 2009 20:37

Hi Robert!

We published a Wolfe Tone article from 1989 , entitled 'Murder Most Foul' , on our blog four years ago and it still makes for interesting reading - it can be viewed at the 'Related Link' , below (first piece on the March 9th post) .

" From my earliest youth I have regarded the connection between Great Britain and Ireland as the curse of the Irish nation , and felt convinced that , while it lasted , this country could never be free nor happy . My mind has been confirmed in this opinion by the experience of every succeeding year , and the conclusions which I have drawn from every fact before my eyes . In consequence , I was determined to employ all the powers which my individual efforts could move , in order to separate the two countries . That Ireland was not able of herself to throw off the yoke , I knew ; I therefore sought for aid wherever it was to be found . In honourable poverty I rejected offers which , to a man in my circumstances , might be considered highly advantageous . I remained faithful to what I thought the cause of my country , and sought in the French Republic an ally to rescue three millions of my countrymen ".

Thanks !

Sharon.

by Robert Thu May 28, 2009 12:19

In a slightly wider context, it's interesting to note that Wolfe Tone was not by any means the only one in his time to have extremely deep concerns about "British Rule".

Though the information has only recently become much better known, it appears that none other than major English "Romantic" Poet Percy Bysshe Shelley also felt some deeply troublesome rumblings within himself regarding the way England went about its business.

"Millions to fight compell’d, to fight or die
In mangled heaps on War’s red altar lie . . .
When legal murders swell the lists of pride;
When glory’s views the titled idiot guide."

From TimesOnLine (July 12th 2006) at http://www.tls.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,25341-22667....html

by Eileen Thu May 28, 2009 21:32

It seems Shelley was a great admirer of the United Irishmen, and, that like many (all probably) of the United Irishmen, he had an "all-merciful" hatred of Lord Castlereagh in particular.

"I met murder on the way -
He had a mask like Castlereagh -
Very smooth he looked, yet grim;
Seven bloodhounds followed him"

From http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2006/jul/14/poetry.comment

Shelley, Castlereagh, and Wolfe Tone:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Shelley%2C+Castler...&aqi=

by Sharon. - Individual. Thu May 28, 2009 22:08

Hi Robert and Eileen !

Like Tone , by his own actions it appears that Shelley knowingly removed himself from the privileged life that was his for the taking - I think his family disowned him , financially and physically , as his heart was not comfortable within the confines of the so-called 'upper class' . He had a conscious .

AN ADDRESS TO THE IRISH PEOPLE (1812) :

Fellow Men,
" I am not an Irishman, yet I can feel for you. I hope there are none
among you who will read this address with prejudice or levity, because it
is made by an Englishman, indeed, I believe there are not. The Irish are
a brave nation. They have a heart of liberty in their breasts, but they are
much mistaken if they fancy that a stranger cannot have as warm a one.
Those are my brothers and my countrymen, who are unfortunate.

There are many Englishmen who cry down the Irish,
and think it answers their ends to revile all that belongs to Ireland ; but it
is not because these men are Englishmen that they maintain such opinions,
but because they wish to get money, and titles, and power."
Percy Bysshe Shelley.
(From here -
http://www.archive.org/stream/addresstoirishpe00shelric...u.txt )

Shelley had the opportunity to be a man of leisure but could not pay the price expected of such a lifestyle . People of that calibre are in short supply today , unfortunately.

Thanks!
Sharon.

Percy Bysshe Shelley - idealist, atheist, outcast, political radical and poet .

by Fred Johnston Fri May 29, 2009 12:57 087.2178138

Anyone interested in Wolfe Tone's life might like to know how he was treated in Galway City, that laugh-a-minute hide-out for anonymous letter-writers. I can recall in Kirwan's Lane a plaque against an ancient entranceway which stated that Wolfe Tone trod the boards there in the old theatre as a young man. Instead of preserving this, Galway City Council permitted it to be, eh, 'disappeared' in the construction of a superpub. In spite of numerous queries and letters to local papers from various folk, the plaque has never been recovered and no one will own up to having seen it or removed it. Tone had an affair with the wife of 'Humanity Dick' Martin, whose townhouse was just on the corner. Perhaps someone might contact Galway City Council and ask how a city determined to build a rep as a cultural place can allow monuments of historic value simply to vanish. You may, of course, have to explain that Wolfe Tone is dead and doesn't act with Druid Theatre Co.

by Connemaraman. Fri May 29, 2009 14:24

An affair with Humanity Dick's wife???

Tone was lucky.

If Humanity Dick caught him he would have ended up in prison on Ballinahinch Lake.

In Humanity's personal,and inhumane, prison:

http://www.libraryireland.com/SceneryIreland/Ballynahin...h.jpg

(Still There.)

And the whole course of Irish History since then would have been different!
.

by Sharon. - Individual. Fri May 29, 2009 20:43

Hi Fred !
I know you stated that you and others have publicised the fact that the Wolfe Tone plaque is still missing and it appears that no-one knows anything about it but , all the same , I have just now sent an e-mail to Galway Planning Department and to Galway City Development Board re this issue , in which I included a link to this thread . If they reply to me via e-mail (although I'm probably pushing my luck there!) I will post a copy of their reply on this thread.
Thanks for taking the time to post on this thread !

Hi Connemaraman !
'Humanity Dick' was apparently well versed in the ways of the pistol , and was also known as 'Hairtrigger Dick' / 'Trigger Dick'
I got this -
"....by the end of the 1770's, Richard's education and his families' influence combined to make him a Member of Parliament, a Colonel in the Galway Volunteers, and gained him a wife by the name of Elizabeth Vesey.Richard's duties kept him away from home quite a bit, but the couple had several children, one of whom is rumored to be the child of a liaison between Elizabeth and the tutor hired to educate Richard's sons, Theobald Wolfe Tone... "
- from here :
http://www.lilliputpress.ie/listbook.html?oid=2732877
As you stated - "the whole course of Irish History since then would have been different!" had a ferry / carriage been early or late , or a horse gone lame etc . As Oscar Wilde put it : " The only form of fiction in which real characters do not seem out of place is history" !
Thanks for your comment,
Sharon.

by Fred Johnston Sat May 30, 2009 15:11

Nice one! It is just possible that Galway City Council - or what will be the new Council after the elections - will be shamed into doing some searching around, but I wouldn't hold my breath. It's a great shame, of course, but Galway seems to think that the definition of culture is to knock down old things and built bright new ones.

by Sharon. - Individual. Sat May 30, 2009 20:17

Hi again , Fred !

I should have included the email addresses where I sent my query re the missing Wolfe Tone plaque to in my previous post , but will do so now - and , hopefully, other readers might themselves send a letter of inquiry :
customerservice@galwaycity.ie -- Planning Department.
c&e@galwaycity.ie ---- City Development Board.

"....but Galway seems to think that the definition of culture is to knock down old things and build bright new ones. "
I believe our politicians and planners called that "progress" in the days of the so-called 'Celtic Tiger' , Fred - and old habits die hard ; the 'Tiger' has long since left the few areas it 'graced' with its presence but the careless attitude to our history , the "time-is-money" philosophy and (feigned?) ignorance of our heritage it brought with it remain in place .
Ni seoinini sinn go leir !
Thanks!
Sharon.

by Sharon. - Individual. Wed Jun 10, 2009 12:53

....that this Wolfe Tone Commemoration will be taking place this coming Sunday (14th June).

Thanks!
Sharon.

Bodenstown 2009 posters.

Wolfe Tone Commemoration leaflets 2009.

by Curious Wed Jun 10, 2009 13:35

Does anything survive today of the United Irishman "spirit" that obviously existed in Wolfe Tone's time?

I'm thinking of the "then" situation where several prominent members of "both communities" openly and powerfully supported each other in seeking to bring about an Ireland that was free of British rule (and its tyranny)?

Where such unity between the two communities exists today, it appears (to me at least) to be for the purpose of strengthening British rule in Ireland? -- i.e. some kind of an inverted, mirror-image of the original "United Ireland" effort?

Have I got this right, or am I just imagining things?

by Sharon. - Individual. Wed Jun 10, 2009 14:07

Hi Curious !

Unfortunately , I think you have got it right , yes .
I'd like to think it's because of the overwhelming and constant campaign waged by the (mainstream) media against all things republican , but I feel it goes deeper than that . Perhaps - hopefully ? - 'only' a mix of the above and an 'any-political-change-will-hit-me-in-the-pocket' -type attitude , fused together into a wariness of what it is that Irish republicans seek .
Wasn't it Tone who spoke of "the men of no property" ?
But times change , Curious - and we'll be here to witness it , I hope!

Thanks!
Sharon.

by Cailin Thu Jun 11, 2009 18:34

Lads I've got friends coming over from Glasgow for the commemoration and they are staying in Bewleys @ Newlands Cross... Im just wondering if the bus from town stops anywhere along that end of the Naas Road....

just to save them coming into town to head back out that direction....thanks a mill...

by Sharon. - Individual. Thu Jun 11, 2009 19:15

Hi Cailin !

The Bodenstown bus has been known to pull-in at Newlands Cross to collect passengers and as far as I know it can do so this year , as well , if necessary - I'm just waiting on final confirmation that a stop-off at Newlands Cross can be arranged : watch this thread for details.

Thanks!
Sharon.

by galway republican Fri Jun 12, 2009 15:37

at least 20 of us are heading out sunday to kildare for the big day, RSF ABU

by Sharon. - Individual. Fri Jun 12, 2009 19:34

Hi Cailin !
The Dublin bus will indeed be pulling-in at Newlands Cross on Sunday to collect passengers for the Wolfe Tone Commemoration : it will be stopping about 20 metres past the Newlands Cross traffic lights (where the old provincial bus stop used to be) between 1pm and 1.15pm , and I'm told there will be no problem with letting you and your comrades get off the bus at Newlands Cross on the return journey . Just make sure the bus stops first . Or at least slows down.... ;-)

Hi Galway Republican !
It will take ye even longer to get there this time than it usually does - you'll no doubt be taking it in relay to carry Councillor Tomás Ó Curraoin shoulder high!

Thanks!
Sharon.

by Con Lehane Sun Jun 14, 2009 16:27

Republican Sinn Fein's breakthrough in the elections should surely be celebrated:

"All for one and one for all as RSF celebrates victory

Ruairi O Bradaigh, the president of Republican Sinn Fein (RSF), was so chuffed with his party’s performance in the local elections that he issued a press release. “It can be done,” he purred, hailing the victory of Tomas O Curraoin in Connemara. “That outstanding success proves that RSF candidates are electable,” he said.

O Bradaigh didn’t mention that every other RSF candidate who stood in the elections failed dismally. Particular mention must go to Peter Fitzsimons, the RSF candidate for Kells town council, who secured just five votes (the quota was 255).

Then there was Des Dalton, the party’s vice-president, who stood in Athy. Dalton refused to register RSF as a party in the south, with the result he and the other candidates were described as “independent” on the ballot papers. Dalton explained that he would have no truck with “the Leinster House assembly”, as he disparagingly calls the Dail. The voters of Athy showed what they thought of his patronising attitude — treating Dalton to a mere 95 votes."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/art...0.ece

by Sharon. - Individual. Sun Jun 14, 2009 20:24

Hi Con !
I think perhaps you're in the wrong thread - to devote a full post on recent elections (even if is only a 'copy and paste' job!) in a thread about a Wolfe Tone Commemoration is off topic - perhaps , if you genuinely feel aggrieved about that issue , you could start a new thread . There must be other articles you could 'copy and paste' to fill it , do you think ?
Also , you may want to watch the sources you use to fill your new thread - the writer of that 'Sunday Times' article you quoted is the same 'journalist' that informed his readers that " republican paramilitaries are lurking in the shadows behind protesters...." in relation to the 'Shell2Sea' issue !
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/art...7.ece
To be fair to that author , he never told his readers whether those shadowdy creatures were "chuffed" or 'purring' as they "lurked in the shadows" , but I'm sure , Con , that you can borrow from enough articles like that to fill your new thread , regardless.
Also - is it possible that any one person - "Dalton" - can take it on themselves alone to "refuse to register RSF as a party in the South" ?

Thanks again , Con . We may yet meet-up in your new thread !
Sharon.

by Sharon. - Individual. Tue Jun 16, 2009 00:13

.....and a few pics from the 2009 Wolfe Tone Commemoration can be viewed at the 'Related Link' below .

Thanks!
Sharon.