Editor's Note: IrishCentral is delighted to be partnering with Davy Holden, an Irish history expert from Co Kilkenny, on a series of videos he created while recently visiting the US. You can see his previous instalment here - Stay tuned for more from Davy!
I think every Irish person has probably heard of the name Theobald Wolfe Tone at some point.
He was a past student of Trinity College in Dublin and one of the founding members of the Society of United Irishmen. Inspired by the American and French revolutions, in 1791, the United Irishmen were founded in Belfast as an Irish revolutionary organisation with the aim of fighting for Irish independence to achieve equality. They launched their first rebellion in 1798 and a follow-up rebellion in 1803.
In this video is the grave of Theobald's wife, Matilda Tone (original name Martha Witherington), the grave of Theobald's son, William Tone, and the grave of Theobald's granddaughter, Grace Georgiana Tone Maxwell. These are all located in Green-Wood Cemetery, in Brooklyn, New York.
Matilda’s original name was Martha, but she changed her name at the request of Theobald. In 1785, in Dublin, she married the Irish revolutionary at the age of only 17 years old. She moved from Ireland to New Jersey and then from New Jersey to France, following Theobald along on his journey to overthrow the parliament in Ireland and form an independent Irish Republic. After Wolfe Tone’s arrest and death, she initially decided to stay in France and try to build a life there for their three kids. But two out of their three kids died of tuberculosis in France, so in 1807, she moved with her one remaining son, William, to America.
Three years later, in 1810, she and William moved back to France again. Matilda got French citizenship for her son through Napoleon Bonaparte, and William would become a Cadet in the Cavalry Military School and eventually rise to the rank of Lieutenant in the 8th Chasseurs. After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, the British Government denied William entry into Ireland, so the family moved once more from France to the United States and eventually settled in Georgetown, Washington, DC, in 1817.
In 1826, two years before passing away, William published two books on the life of his father, Theobald Wolfe Tone. Both William and his mother Matilda were initially buried in Georgetown, Washington DC, but in 1891, they were both re-interred at Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn.
Theobald Wolfe Tone himself, the father of William and the husband of Matilda, is buried in Bodenstown in Co Kildare, Ireland.
You can watch Davy Holden visit the Brooklyn graves of Theobold Wolfe Tone's relatives here:
You can watch more of Davy Holden's Irish history content on his website and Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok pages.