"Meagher of the Sword" Honored in Brooklyn A gravestone honoring Irish Patriot Thomas Meagher

"Meagher of the Sword"

Honored in Brooklyn

A gravestone honoring Irish Patriot Thomas Meagher, a Fighting 69th Brigade commander and former acting governor of Montana Territory, was unveiled at the Green-Wood Cemetery, in Brooklyn, New York on April 19.

The Green-Wood Historic Fund erected the gravestone to Meagher, whose body was never found after he went missing on the Missouri River in 1867, and placed it next to the grave of his wife Elizabeth.

Meagher, born in Waterford in 1823, received his education from the Jesuits, first at Clongowes Wood in Kildare and later at Stonyhurst College in Lancashire. On his return to Ireland he was greatly influenced by politician Daniel O'Connell, and agreed with him for a need to repeal the Act of Union with Britain.

In 1845, with William Smith O'Brien, he was one of the founders of Young Ireland, a group that shared O'Connell's vision but not his method of non-violent means to attain their common goal. It was a speech that Meagher delivered around this time, urging his countrymen to take up arms against England, that earned him the nickname "Meagher of the Sword."

In 1848 Meagher and others were arrested after the Young Ireland Rebellion at the Battle of Ballingarry in Tipperary and sentenced to death for sedition. The sentence was later commuted to life in exile in Australia.

Meagher escaped Van Diemen's land and arrived in America in 1852. He became an American citizen and led Company K of the Fighting 69th Brigade in battle during the America Civil War.

On fighting for the Union, General Meagher was once quoted, "It is not only our duty to America, but also to Ireland. We could not hope to succeed in our effort to make Ireland a Republic without the moral and material support of the liberty-loving citizens of these United States."

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Nster.com