O'REILLY, JOHN BOYLE.
Born in Dowth Castle, County Meath, Ireland, June 28, 1844; died
in Hull, Massachusetts, August 10, 1890. The career of John Boyle
O'Reilly was more romantic than fiction and had in it all the
essentials of drama. His early youth in Ireland was closely bound
up with the fortunes of that country. He entered journalism at
Drogheda, a town near his birthplace, and threw the influence
of his fiery pen into the cause of Irish revolt. The Fenian Society
sent him to England as an agent, but he was speedily arrested
and condemned to death, a sentence which was at the last moment
commuted to penal servitude in Australia. After enduring this
for a year he escaped in a boat and was picked up by an American
whaling vessel and finally landed at Philadelphia. This was in
1869 when O'Reilly was but twenty-five years old. From this time
to his death, which occurred in the prime of his powers, he was
a great force in the movement for justice to Ireland and through
the "Boston Pilot," which he edited for many years,
he championed not only all liberal movements for his native,
but also for his adopted country. He was greatly beloved for
his winning personality and his fervid Irish temperament, and
at his death a statue by Daniel Chester French was erected to
him in Boston. |
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