John Boyle O'Reilly
Encyclopedia
John Boyle O'Reilly was an Irish
-born poet, journalist and fiction writer. As a youth in Ireland
, he was a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood
, or Fenians, for which he was transported
to Western Australia
. After escaping to the United States
, he became a prominent spokesperson for the Irish community and culture, through his editorship of the Boston newspaper The Pilot
, his prolific writing, and his lecture tours.
, near Drogheda
in Ireland
at the onset of the Great Irish Famine. Ireland was at that time a part of the United Kingdom
, and many Irish people bitterly resented British rule. There was a strong nationalist
movement. O'Reilly's relatively wealthy family was fiercely patriotic; his mother was closely related to John Allen
, who had played an important role in Robert Emmet
's rising in 1803.
The son of a schoolmaster, O'Reilly received a good early education. When he was about thirteen, his older brother contracted tuberculosis
(TB), and O'Reilly took his place as apprentice at a local newspaper. At the age of fifteen, he moved to Preston, Lancashire to live with his aunt and uncle, and took up work on a local newspaper. In June 1861, O'Reilly enrolled in the 11th Lancashire Rifle Volunteers, with which he received some military training. He must have enjoyed military life, because on returning to Ireland in 1863, he enlisted with the 10th Hussars in Dublin.
Some time in 1865, O'Reilly joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood
, then commonly known as the "Fenian
s", a secret society of rebels dedicated to an armed uprising against British rule. He turned his energies to recruiting more Fenians within his regiment, bringing in up to 80 new members. By late 1865, the Fenians had become such a large and popular movement that they could no longer evade detection by the British authorities. The government made a number of raids, seized records, and gathered evidence from informers. Many Fenians were arrested, including O'Reilly (see Fenian Rising
).
for transportation
to the British colony of Western Australia
. The Hougoumonts passage was the last convict ship transport to Western Australia. After arriving in Fremantle
on 9 January 1868, O'Reilly was admitted to the Convict Establishment (now Fremantle Prison
), but after a month he was transferred to Bunbury
. He was assigned to a party of convicts tasked with building the Bunbury–Vasse
road.
At Bunbury, O'Reilly quickly developed a good relationship with his warder Henry Woodman, and was appointed probationary convict constable. As assistant to the warder, he did record and account keeping, ordering of stores, and other minor administrative duties. He was frequently used as a messenger, which required him to travel regularly between the work camp and the district convict prison in Bunbury. The warder apparently used O'Reilly to maintain contact with his family, for the prisoner became a regular visitor to the Woodman family home, and at some point began a romantic liaison with Woodman's daughter Jessie. This ended badly, at least for O'Reilly; he wrote poetry expressing his agony of mind, and hints at romantic causes. On 27 December 1868, O'Reilly attempted suicide
by cutting the veins of his left arm. After falling into a faint from loss of blood, he was discovered by another convict, and his life was saved.
While in Bunbury, O'Reilly formed a strong friendship with the local Catholic priest, Father Patrick McCabe. Late in 1869, McCabe offered to arrange for O'Reilly to escape the colony. By February, McCabe's plan was ready for execution. On 18 February 1869, O'Reilly absconded from his work party, and met up with a party of Irish settlers from the local town of Dardanup. Together they rode to the Collie River
where a rowboat was waiting for them. They rowed out of the Leschenault Inlet into the Indian Ocean
, and north about twelve miles up the coast. O'Reilly hid in the dunes, awaiting the departure from Bunbury of the American whaling ship Vigilant, which Father McCabe had arranged would take him on board. The ship was sighted the next day, and the party rowed out to it, but the captain reneged on the agreement, and the Vigilant sailed off without acknowledging the people in the rowboat. O'Reilly had to return to the shore and hide again while his friends tried to make arrangements with another ship. After two weeks, they succeeded in making a deal with the captain of the American whaler Gazelle. O'Reilly and his friends met the Gazelle three miles out to sea on 2 March, and he was taken on board. With him was a ticket of leave convict named James Bowman, who had heard of the intended escape. He had blackmailed the conspirators into allowing him to join O'Reilly.
McCabe had arranged for the Gazelle to take O'Reilly only as far as Java, but adverse weather prevented the ship's finding safe passage through the Sunda Strait
. The captain decided to sail for Roderiquez, Mauritius
, at that time a British colony. As soon as the Gazelle arrived at Roderiquez, it was boarded by a magistrate and a contingent of police, who claimed to have information that the Gazelle carried an escaped convict from Western Australia, and demanded that he be given up. The crew gave up Bowman, but denied having O'Reilly on board. The Gazelles next port of call was to be Saint Helena
, another British colony. The captain recommended that O'Reilly transfer to another ship before then. On 29 July, the Gazelle met the American cargo vessel Sapphire on the high seas, and O'Reilly changed ships. The Sapphire arrived at Liverpool
on 13 October, and O'Reilly transferred to another American ship, the Bombay. The Bombay docked in Philadelphia
on 23 November 1869, where O'Reilly was enthusiastically welcomed by Irish compatriots.
priest. His first major assignment was coverage of the Fenian convention in New York
in 1870, and the subsequent third Fenian invasion of Canada
. The invasion was a disaster, and his experience of covering it prompted O'Reilly to reverse his opinion on military Fenianism. In rejecting militancy, he turned to achieving Ireland's independence by raising the status and self-esteem of its people.
O'Reilly expressed his views through his prolific writing, his lecture tours, and his work on the Pilot. He was well received by Boston's large Irish-born population, and the Pilots readership grew until it was one of the most-read newspapers in the country. O'Reilly soon became its editor, and eventually part-owner.
soon after he earned his PhD from Harvard, where he would later teach. A decade later when they returned to Cambridge, Mary started an open-air school that developed into Shady Hill School
. It continues today near Harvard Square. Their three children were Richard, Joan, and Hester.
three collections of poetry, a novel, and a treatise on health and exercise. His poetry was extremely popular, and he was often commissioned to write poems for important commemorative occasions. By the late twentieth century, most of his earlier work was dismissed as popular verse, but some of his later, more introspective poetry, such as his best known poem, "The Cry of the Dreamer", is still highly regarded.
In 1875, John Devoy
sought O'Reilly's advice on how the Clan na Gael
might rescue the six military Fenians serving time in Western Australia. The first plan was to storm Fremantle Prison and rescue the Fenians by force of arms; O'Reilly rejected that. He suggested that a rescue party pick up the escapees according to a prearranged plan. He also recommended their buying a whaling
ship for the purpose, as it could have an appearance of legitimate business in Fremantle. O'Reilly's plan was adopted, and ultimately led to the Catalpa rescue
.
In his later years, O'Reilly became prone to illness, and suffered from bouts of insomnia
. Late in the evening of 9 August 1890, while suffering from insomnia, he took some of his wife's sleeping medicine, which contained chloral hydrate
. In the early hours of the morning, he was found dead. There remains doubt as to the cause of death. Public announcements attributed O'Reilly's death to heart failure
, but the official death register claims "accidental poisoning". If O'Reilly died by an overdose of chloral hydrate, then it is possible that he took his life
, or misused his wife's medicine.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
-born poet, journalist and fiction writer. As a youth in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, he was a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood
Irish Republican Brotherhood
The Irish Republican Brotherhood was a secret oath-bound fraternal organisation dedicated to the establishment of an "independent democratic republic" in Ireland during the second half of the 19th century and the start of the 20th century...
, or Fenians, for which he was transported
Penal transportation
Transportation or penal transportation is the deporting of convicted criminals to a penal colony. Examples include transportation by France to Devil's Island and by the UK to its colonies in the Americas, from the 1610s through the American Revolution in the 1770s, and then to Australia between...
to Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
. After escaping to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, he became a prominent spokesperson for the Irish community and culture, through his editorship of the Boston newspaper The Pilot
The Pilot (newspaper)
The Pilot is the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Boston and claims the title of "America's Oldest Catholic Newspaper", having been in continuous publication since its first issue on September 5, 1829...
, his prolific writing, and his lecture tours.
Early life
O'Reilly was born at Dowth Castle, County MeathCounty Meath
County Meath is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Mide . Meath County Council is the local authority for the county...
, near Drogheda
Drogheda
Drogheda is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, 56 km north of Dublin. It is the last bridging point on the River Boyne before it enters the Irish Sea....
in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
at the onset of the Great Irish Famine. Ireland was at that time a part of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and many Irish people bitterly resented British rule. There was a strong nationalist
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
movement. O'Reilly's relatively wealthy family was fiercely patriotic; his mother was closely related to John Allen
John Allen
-Politicians:*John Allen , U.S. Representative from Connecticut*John B. Allen , first U.S. Senator from Washington*John Clayton Allen , U.S. Representative from Illinois...
, who had played an important role in Robert Emmet
Robert Emmet
Robert Emmet was an Irish nationalist and Republican, orator and rebel leader born in Dublin, Ireland...
's rising in 1803.
The son of a schoolmaster, O'Reilly received a good early education. When he was about thirteen, his older brother contracted tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
(TB), and O'Reilly took his place as apprentice at a local newspaper. At the age of fifteen, he moved to Preston, Lancashire to live with his aunt and uncle, and took up work on a local newspaper. In June 1861, O'Reilly enrolled in the 11th Lancashire Rifle Volunteers, with which he received some military training. He must have enjoyed military life, because on returning to Ireland in 1863, he enlisted with the 10th Hussars in Dublin.
Some time in 1865, O'Reilly joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood
Irish Republican Brotherhood
The Irish Republican Brotherhood was a secret oath-bound fraternal organisation dedicated to the establishment of an "independent democratic republic" in Ireland during the second half of the 19th century and the start of the 20th century...
, then commonly known as the "Fenian
Fenian
The Fenians , both the Fenian Brotherhood and Irish Republican Brotherhood , were fraternal organisations dedicated to the establishment of an independent Irish Republic in the 19th and early 20th century. The name "Fenians" was first applied by John O'Mahony to the members of the Irish republican...
s", a secret society of rebels dedicated to an armed uprising against British rule. He turned his energies to recruiting more Fenians within his regiment, bringing in up to 80 new members. By late 1865, the Fenians had become such a large and popular movement that they could no longer evade detection by the British authorities. The government made a number of raids, seized records, and gathered evidence from informers. Many Fenians were arrested, including O'Reilly (see Fenian Rising
Fenian Rising
The Fenian Rising of 1867 was a rebellion against British rule in Ireland, organised by the Irish Republican Brotherhood .After the suppression of the Irish People newspaper, disaffection among Irish radical nationalists had continued to smoulder, and during the later part of 1866 IRB leader James...
).
Transportation
For his part in the Fenian conspiracy, O'Reilly was sentenced to twenty years' penal servitude. It appears he was originally sentenced to death but his sentence was commuted to 20 years. He served nearly two years in English prisons before being put aboard the convict ship HougoumontHougoumont (ship)
Hougoumont was the last convict ship to transport convicts to Australia.A three-masted full rigged ship of the type commonly known as a Blackwall Frigate of 875 tons gross on dimensions of 165.5 feet long, 34 ft beam and 23 ft depth of hold, Hougoumont was constructed at Moulmein, Burma...
for transportation
Penal transportation
Transportation or penal transportation is the deporting of convicted criminals to a penal colony. Examples include transportation by France to Devil's Island and by the UK to its colonies in the Americas, from the 1610s through the American Revolution in the 1770s, and then to Australia between...
to the British colony of Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
. The Hougoumonts passage was the last convict ship transport to Western Australia. After arriving in Fremantle
Fremantle, Western Australia
Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...
on 9 January 1868, O'Reilly was admitted to the Convict Establishment (now Fremantle Prison
Fremantle Prison
Fremantle Prison is a former Australian prison located in The Terrace, Fremantle, in Western Australia. The site includes the prison, gatehouse, perimeter walls, cottages, tunnels, and prisoner art...
), but after a month he was transferred to Bunbury
Bunbury, Western Australia
The port city of Bunbury is the third largest city in Western Australia after the State Capital Perth and Mandurah. It is situated south of Perth's central business district...
. He was assigned to a party of convicts tasked with building the Bunbury–Vasse
Vasse, Western Australia
Vasse is a town in the South West region of Western Australia, west of the town of Busselton and southwest of Perth. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Busselton...
road.
At Bunbury, O'Reilly quickly developed a good relationship with his warder Henry Woodman, and was appointed probationary convict constable. As assistant to the warder, he did record and account keeping, ordering of stores, and other minor administrative duties. He was frequently used as a messenger, which required him to travel regularly between the work camp and the district convict prison in Bunbury. The warder apparently used O'Reilly to maintain contact with his family, for the prisoner became a regular visitor to the Woodman family home, and at some point began a romantic liaison with Woodman's daughter Jessie. This ended badly, at least for O'Reilly; he wrote poetry expressing his agony of mind, and hints at romantic causes. On 27 December 1868, O'Reilly attempted suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
by cutting the veins of his left arm. After falling into a faint from loss of blood, he was discovered by another convict, and his life was saved.
Escape
Collie River
The Collie River is a river in the South West region of Western Australia.The river was named after Dr Alexander Collie who, along with Lt. William Preston, was the first European explorer to find the river in 1829....
where a rowboat was waiting for them. They rowed out of the Leschenault Inlet into the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
, and north about twelve miles up the coast. O'Reilly hid in the dunes, awaiting the departure from Bunbury of the American whaling ship Vigilant, which Father McCabe had arranged would take him on board. The ship was sighted the next day, and the party rowed out to it, but the captain reneged on the agreement, and the Vigilant sailed off without acknowledging the people in the rowboat. O'Reilly had to return to the shore and hide again while his friends tried to make arrangements with another ship. After two weeks, they succeeded in making a deal with the captain of the American whaler Gazelle. O'Reilly and his friends met the Gazelle three miles out to sea on 2 March, and he was taken on board. With him was a ticket of leave convict named James Bowman, who had heard of the intended escape. He had blackmailed the conspirators into allowing him to join O'Reilly.
McCabe had arranged for the Gazelle to take O'Reilly only as far as Java, but adverse weather prevented the ship's finding safe passage through the Sunda Strait
Sunda Strait
The Sunda Strait is the strait between the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra. It connects the Java Sea to the Indian Ocean...
. The captain decided to sail for Roderiquez, Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
, at that time a British colony. As soon as the Gazelle arrived at Roderiquez, it was boarded by a magistrate and a contingent of police, who claimed to have information that the Gazelle carried an escaped convict from Western Australia, and demanded that he be given up. The crew gave up Bowman, but denied having O'Reilly on board. The Gazelles next port of call was to be Saint Helena
Saint Helena
Saint Helena , named after St Helena of Constantinople, is an island of volcanic origin in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha which also includes Ascension Island and the islands of Tristan da Cunha...
, another British colony. The captain recommended that O'Reilly transfer to another ship before then. On 29 July, the Gazelle met the American cargo vessel Sapphire on the high seas, and O'Reilly changed ships. The Sapphire arrived at Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
on 13 October, and O'Reilly transferred to another American ship, the Bombay. The Bombay docked in Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
on 23 November 1869, where O'Reilly was enthusiastically welcomed by Irish compatriots.
Recognition
O'Reilly settled in Charlestown, a neighborhood in Boston, which had a large Irish community, and soon found work on the newspaper the Pilot, started by a Jesuit CatholicCatholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
priest. His first major assignment was coverage of the Fenian convention in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1870, and the subsequent third Fenian invasion of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The invasion was a disaster, and his experience of covering it prompted O'Reilly to reverse his opinion on military Fenianism. In rejecting militancy, he turned to achieving Ireland's independence by raising the status and self-esteem of its people.
O'Reilly expressed his views through his prolific writing, his lecture tours, and his work on the Pilot. He was well received by Boston's large Irish-born population, and the Pilots readership grew until it was one of the most-read newspapers in the country. O'Reilly soon became its editor, and eventually part-owner.
Marriage and family
In 1872 O'Reilly married Mary Murphy, a journalist who wrote for the Young Crusader under the name of Agnes Smiley. They had four daughters: Mollie, Eliza, Agnes and Blanid. Agnes O'Reilly went on to marry the philosopher William Ernest HockingWilliam Ernest Hocking
William Ernest Hocking was an American idealist philosopher at Harvard University. He continued the work of his philosophical teacher Josiah Royce in revising idealism to integrate and fit into empiricism, naturalism and pragmatism...
soon after he earned his PhD from Harvard, where he would later teach. A decade later when they returned to Cambridge, Mary started an open-air school that developed into Shady Hill School
Shady Hill School
Shady Hill School is an independent, co-educational day school in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1915, Shady Hill serves students in pre-kindergarten through 8th grade. The school has an enrollment of approximately 500 students.Current Shady Hill Head of School Mark Stanek became the...
. It continues today near Harvard Square. Their three children were Richard, Joan, and Hester.
Poetry
O'Reilly published his first book of poems, Songs from the Southern Seas, in 1873. Over the next fifteen years, he publinlol lthree collections of poetry, a novel, and a treatise on health and exercise. His poetry was extremely popular, and he was often commissioned to write poems for important commemorative occasions. By the late twentieth century, most of his earlier work was dismissed as popular verse, but some of his later, more introspective poetry, such as his best known poem, "The Cry of the Dreamer", is still highly regarded.
In 1875, John Devoy
John Devoy
John Devoy was an Irish rebel leader and exile.-Early life:Devoy was born near Kill, County Kildare. In 1861 he travelled to France with an introduction from T. D. Sullivan to John Mitchel...
sought O'Reilly's advice on how the Clan na Gael
Clan na Gael
The Clan na Gael was an Irish republican organization in the United States in the late 19th and 20th centuries, successor to the Fenian Brotherhood and a sister organization to the Irish Republican Brotherhood...
might rescue the six military Fenians serving time in Western Australia. The first plan was to storm Fremantle Prison and rescue the Fenians by force of arms; O'Reilly rejected that. He suggested that a rescue party pick up the escapees according to a prearranged plan. He also recommended their buying a whaling
Whaling
Whaling is the hunting of whales mainly for meat and oil. Its earliest forms date to at least 3000 BC. Various coastal communities have long histories of sustenance whaling and harvesting beached whales...
ship for the purpose, as it could have an appearance of legitimate business in Fremantle. O'Reilly's plan was adopted, and ultimately led to the Catalpa rescue
Catalpa rescue
The Catalpa rescue was the escape, in 1876, of six Irish Fenian prisoners from what was then the British penal colony of Western Australia.-Fenians and plans to escape:...
.
In his later years, O'Reilly became prone to illness, and suffered from bouts of insomnia
Insomnia
Insomnia is most often defined by an individual's report of sleeping difficulties. While the term is sometimes used in sleep literature to describe a disorder demonstrated by polysomnographic evidence of disturbed sleep, insomnia is often defined as a positive response to either of two questions:...
. Late in the evening of 9 August 1890, while suffering from insomnia, he took some of his wife's sleeping medicine, which contained chloral hydrate
Chloral hydrate
Chloral hydrate is a sedative and hypnotic drug as well as a chemical reagent and precursor. The name chloral hydrate indicates that it is formed from chloral by the addition of one molecule of water. Its chemical formula is C2H3Cl3O2....
. In the early hours of the morning, he was found dead. There remains doubt as to the cause of death. Public announcements attributed O'Reilly's death to heart failure
Congestive heart failure
Heart failure often called congestive heart failure is generally defined as the inability of the heart to supply sufficient blood flow to meet the needs of the body. Heart failure can cause a number of symptoms including shortness of breath, leg swelling, and exercise intolerance. The condition...
, but the official death register claims "accidental poisoning". If O'Reilly died by an overdose of chloral hydrate, then it is possible that he took his life
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
, or misused his wife's medicine.
Legacy and honors
- 1896, a multi-figure bronzeBronzeBronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
sculpture in O'Reilly's honor was created by Chester Daniel French and erected on the Fenway in Boston. - Named for him, the John Boyle O' Reilly Club in Springfield, MassachusettsSpringfield, MassachusettsSpringfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...
celebrated their 125th anniversary in 2005. - In the early 1900s, Boyle O'Reilly Terrace, an estate built on the north side of DroghedaDroghedaDrogheda is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, 56 km north of Dublin. It is the last bridging point on the River Boyne before it enters the Irish Sea....
, was named after him. - In 2002 an interpretative dispay was opened for John Boyle O'Reilly, in Western Australia on the Leschenault Peninsula Conservation Park, from where he escaped to America http://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx?ItemId=121043&page=4
- In April 2011 The John Boyle O'Reilly Association was established in Netterville his ancestoral home, near Drogheda, Ireland.
Works
- Songs from the Southern Seas (1873) — a collection of poems
- Songs, Legends and Ballads (1878) — a collection of poems
- MoondyneMoondyneMoondyne is an 1879 novel by John Boyle O'Reilly, which was made into a film of the same name in 1913. It is very loosely based on the life of the Western Australian convict escapee and bushranger Moondyne Joe.-Background:...
(1879) — a novel based on his experiences as a convict in Western Australia- An annotated edition of this work is available here through University College Cork's Corpus of Electronic Texts (CELT).
- The Statues in the Block (1881) — a collection of poems
- In Bohemia (1886) — a collection of poems
- The Ethics of Boxing and Manly Sport (1888) — a treatise on health and physical exercise, later republished as Athletics and Manly Sport
In popular culture
- O'Reilly is said to have been US President John F. KennedyJohn F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
's favorite poet. - The song "Van Diemen's Land" on U2'sU2U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
Rattle and HumRattle and HumRattle and Hum is the sixth studio album by rock band U2 and companion rockumentary directed by Phil Joanou, both released in 1988. The film and the album feature live recordings, covers, and new songs...
(1988) album refers to and is dedicated to O'Reilly. - The county ClareCounty Clare-History:There was a Neolithic civilisation in the Clare area — the name of the peoples is unknown, but the Prehistoric peoples left evidence behind in the form of ancient dolmen; single-chamber megalithic tombs, usually consisting of three or more upright stones...
folk singer Sean Tyrrell has set a number of O'Reilly's poems to music. A trilogy was included on his 1994 album, Cry of a Dreamer. - The musician and local historian Brendan Woods wrote The Catalpa, a play about the 1876 escape from Fremantle Prison. It premiered on 15 November 2006 to a sell-out audience at FremantleFremantle, Western AustraliaFremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...
Town Hall and ran until 25 November. The play was based on the diaries of Denis CashmanDenis CashmanDenis B. Cashman was a Fenian who was transported to Western Australia as a political prisoner and wrote of his experiences in a diary .- Early life :Cashman was enlisted as a Fenian in 1858 aged just 16...
, with the poetry of John Boyle O'Reilly set to music and dance, supported by a five-part musical ensembleMusical ensembleA musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
. - Woods released a CD entitled: John Boyle O'Reilly & The Fenian Escape from Fremantle Gaol (2006).