
By 1866, estimates put the number of Fenian recruits at 80,000-but informers alerted the British to an impending rebellion, and Devoy was exposed, convicted of treason and sentenced to 15 years’ labor on the Isle of Portland in England.Īfter serving nearly five years in prison, Devoy was exiled to America, became a journalist for the New York Herald and soon became active with c lan na gael, the secret society of Fenians in the United States.ĭevoy was in New York City in 1874 when he received a letter from an inmate named James Wilson. Devoy, who was born in County Kildare in 1842, had been recruiting thousands of Irish-born soldiers who were serving in British regiments in Ireland, where the Fenians hoped to turn the British army against itself. The tale began with a letter sent in 1874 to John Devoy, a former senior leader with the Irish Republican Brotherhood, known as the Fenians. Their mythic escape resonated around the world and emboldened the Irish Republican Brotherhood for decades in its struggle for independence from the British Empire. By the time the Fremantle Six sailed into New York Harbor in August, 1876, more than a year had passed since the plot had been put into action. The slightest slip-up, they knew, could be catastrophic for all involved. To succeed, the plan required precision timing, a months-long con and more than a little luck of the Irish. It was driven by two men-a guilt-ridden Irish Catholic nationalist, who’d been convicted and jailed for treason in England before being exiled to America, and a Yankee whaling captain-a Protestant from New Bedford, Massachusetts-with no attachment to the former’s cause, but a firm belief that it was “the right thing to do.” Along with a third man-an Irish secret agent posing as an American millionaire-they devised a plan to sail halfway around the world to Fremantle, Australia, with a heavily armed crew to rescue a half-dozen condemned Irishmen from one of the most remote and impregnable prison fortresses ever built. The plot they hatched was as audacious as it was impossible-a 19th-century raid as elaborate and preposterous as any Ocean’s Eleven script. Parent's mother (inf) crossword clue report this adDisclaimerĪll intellectual property rights in and to Crosswords are owned by The Crossword's Publisher.The Irish Fenian prisoners known as the Fremantle Six.Elvis Costello's "Everyday I Write the _" crossword clue."She loves me, she loves me not" flower crossword clue.Education acronym for four fields of study crossword clue."The King and I" actor Brynner crossword clue.Place to meet for drinks while traveling (2 wds.) crossword clue.Acid-washed jeans fabric crossword clue.Negro League icon Paige who started an MLB game at age 59 crossword clue._ Thompson Canadian rower who has competed in 8 Olympic Games crossword clue.Part of a basketball hoop crossword clue.65-Across justifiers, in a saying crossword clue.What crowds and lions do crossword clue.Disney film starring The Rock crossword clue.It wasn't built in a day crossword clue.Tricky thing to get caught in crossword clue.Kind of butter in lotions crossword clue.It's sometimes called a napkin crossword clue.Author of "An Inconvenient Truth" crossword clue.
