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Remembering John Boyle O'Reilly

By
Paul Keating,
IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Tuesday, March 10, 2009, 4:08 PM
Updated Thursday, July 23, 2009, 6:09 PM

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ON Monday night, the august and newly renovated American Irish Historical Society in New York opened its door for a performance by Sean Tyrrell from Galway City, who was touring with his own production of "Cry of a Dreamer: The Life of Sean Boyle O'Reilly" on behalf of the Irish American Cultural Institute.

Only a handful of people saw it due to scant and last minute publicity, but that didn't take away from the powerful presentation given by Tyrrell on a topic that caught his attention a number of years ago as he traveled around the U.S. as a folk singer.

While many people are content to sit at home and watch dramatic historical recreations on the History Channel or PBS, there is nothing like a live artist who throws himself into the subject at hand and breathes new life into the persona of those whose lives touched us directly or indirectly in the past.

Like many, I was very unfamiliar with the fascinating story of Sean Boyle O'Reilly, whose saga and struggle for Irish freedom against the tyranny of Great Britain was fought halfway around the world in the later part of the 19th century. He only lived 46 years from 1846 to 1890 but over that span he established himself as a great Irish patriot, poet and writer who fought injustice in his native land, in England, Australia and his adopted home in America where he eventually settled in Boston.

O'Reilly was a Fenian who wanted to free Ireland from the United Kingdom, and was tried and convicted of insurrection and imprisoned first in England and then to the Penal Colonies in Australia. His lust for freedom included trying to break out of the bonds of captivity, and his guile, and ironically, the aid of Englishmen whom he befriended -- as opposed to the English Government which he despised - allowed him to do so first in England and then Fremantle in Australia.

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