{"id":630469,"date":"2026-09-20T12:38:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T12:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/630469\/"},"modified":"2026-09-20T12:38:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T12:38:10","slug":"catalpa-six-get-memorial-in-ireland-150-years-after-escape-from-western-australian-prison-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/630469\/","title":{"rendered":"Catalpa Six get memorial in Ireland 150 years after escape from Western Australian prison \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A memorial to the Catalpa Six, who made one of the most audacious prison breaks in history, has been unveiled in Glasnevin Cemetery<\/a>. <\/p>\n

It is the first memorial in Ireland<\/a> to the six Fenian prisoners, Thomas Darragh, Martin Hogan, Michael Harrington, Thomas Hassett, Robert Cranston and James Wilson, who were rescued by an American whaler, the Catalpa, off the coast of Western Australia<\/a> in 1876. <\/p>\n

The Catalpa rescue involved a journey of 12,000 kilometres from New Bedford in Massachusetts to Fremantle in Western Australia, which took 10 months. It was a close run thing and the rescue was almost scuppered by a British frigate, the Georgette, which attempted to intercept the men. <\/p>\n

The 150th anniversary of the escape has already been marked by the National Museum of Ireland<\/a> with a short exhibition featuring the American flag that flew above the Catalpa. <\/p>\n

A new book, Catalpa: The Epic Story of the Greatest Prison Rescue in Irish History, by Michael Barry, has been published to coincide with the anniversary. <\/p>\n

Around 40 relatives of those connected with the Catalpa rescue attended the ceremony which took place at the Republican plot in Glasnevin Cemetery. <\/p>\n

The memorial features a cross and a series of stone markers commemorating those involved in the rescue. <\/p>\n

\"FormerFormer IRA prisoner John Crawley speaking at the launch of a memorial to the Catalpa Six in Glasnevin Cemetery. Photograph: Ronan McGreevy\/The Irish Times <\/p>\n

The project was funded by the supporters of the Fenian Memorial Committee of America with the support of the National Graves Association. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0The life of an IRA gunrunner: \u2018I was in a corner in a dark basement with Whitey Bulger\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Speaking at the unveiling, NGA\u2019s national chairman Se\u00e1n Whelan said the memorial in Ireland is long overdue. <\/p>\n

The oration was given by John Crawley, the author of The Yank: My Life as a former US Marine in the IRA<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Crawley, who was given lengthy sentences for IRA activities during the Troubles, said the work of the Fenians in bringing about a united Ireland was unfinished. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn dedicating this beautiful monument, we hope one day it will be acknowledged in a free and grateful nation,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cLet us strive to achieve the ultimate goal \u2013 a national democracy within an all-Ireland republic. Glory O to the Bold Fenian Men.\u201d <\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018Ireland has always done death a little differently. We have a sense of the devastation it can bring to families and communities\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A memorial to the Catalpa Six, who made one of the most audacious prison breaks in history, has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":630470,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[986,615,11519,215044,61,60,27238,14312,43],"class_list":["post-630469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-australia","tag-dublin","tag-glasnevin","tag-glasnevin-cemetery","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-irish-republican-army","tag-national-museum-of-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=630469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630469\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/630470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=630469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=630469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=630469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}