Liam Murphy's Posts - The Wild Geese2024-03-28T12:54:41ZLiam Murphyhttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/LiamMurphyhttps://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/68529109?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1https://thewildgeese.irish/profiles/blog/feed?user=1tg0u0yoolygd&xn_auth=noEaster Week 1916: Seachtain na Cáscatag:thewildgeese.irish,2016-04-06:6442157:BlogPost:1885512016-04-06T21:00:00.000ZLiam Murphyhttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/LiamMurphy
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84716734?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84716734?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="300"></img></a> <strong><span class="font-size-5">E</span>aster is the principal feast day of the Christian religion, and, like the Jewish feast of Passover</strong> – which immediately preceded the first Easter, it is rooted in an actual event. Like Passover, it represents a passage from darkness to light, from death to life. The Crucifixion of our Lord and his subsequent Resurrection are…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84716734?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="300" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84716734?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="300" class="align-left"/></a><strong><span class="font-size-5">E</span>aster is the principal feast day of the Christian religion, and, like the Jewish feast of Passover</strong> – which immediately preceded the first Easter, it is rooted in an actual event. Like Passover, it represents a passage from darkness to light, from death to life. The Crucifixion of our Lord and his subsequent Resurrection are events both of physical and of spiritual significance.</p>
<p>Just as the Old Testament foretold the coming of the Messiah, so there was, for centuries, a messianic tradition in Irish literature, looking forward to the rebirth of the Irish nation in a bright new day of Freedom. Perhaps the best example of this is found in the prophetic play, “The Singer,” by Pádraic Pearse, in which the sacrifice of but 15 men redeems the nation.</p>
<p>Analogous to the sacrifice of Christ on Calvary, even more so than the Christ-like sacrifice of Robert Emmet, the 1916 Easter Rising provided the blood sacrifice, which resulted in the resurrection of the national consciousness of Gaelic Ireland, and set the country on the road to freedom. Just as the work of Christ on earth remains unfinished, so too does the bright dream of the men and women of 1916 remain unfulfilled. England’s first overseas colony remains her last, both in fact and, sadly, among too many, in spirit as well.</p>
<p>On Easter Monday, 24th April 1916 -- like those who stood and fought in defense of American Liberty on the 19th of April in 1775, leading to the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia on the 4th of July 1776 -- brave Irish men and women, with the support of Ireland’s “exiled children in America,” took up arms to rid Ireland of its cruel English invader. The Irish War for Independence, which followed, gave hope and encouragement to other victims -- the beginning of the end of that particular “evil empire” had its commencement on that fateful Easter Monday morning in 1916.</p>
<p>Those who went out on that Easter Monday in 1916, the Irish Volunteers, the Irish Citizen Army, the Irish National Foresters, the Hibernian Rifles and the ladies of Cumann na mBan, without regard to their own personal safety, went into the gap of danger, made the sacrifice, set the example.</p>
<p>For the poet William Butler Yeats, Easter 1916 transformed Ireland from a place where “motley was worn,” ... “all changed, changed utterly, a terrible beauty is born.”<a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84716750?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="400" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84716750?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="400" class="align-right" style="padding: 10px;"/></a></p>
<p><span class="font-size-1"><strong>(Right: A group of Irish Volunteers in the GPO - 1916.)</strong></span></p>
<p>Just as the way to properly respect the sacrifice on Calvary is not merely to read about the historical Jesus, but to live a Christian life, as both preached and exemplified by Christ himself, in order that we might be saved, so too is the proper way to honor those who rose up during Easter week 1916 to follow their example, each according to his or her own unique talents and abilities (for Irish America, within the constitutional liberties of the United States), in order that we, in the end, might be found faithful to the Fenian Faith that motivated them.</p>
<p>The supporters of the connection with England have worked well in secret, and in the open. In classic imperial form they seek to divide and rule, cultivating differences in fear of Theobald Wolfe Tone’s aim of replacing divisive labels with the separate, common title of Irishman. Bribes, offices and so-called honors are part of their stock in trade. Yet, just as in every generation there have been those foolish enough to accept these counterfeit compromises, so too is there a continuity of Irish resistance to alien domination, which has always regarded English pretension to sovereignty over any part of Ireland as ab initio, and fundamentally, illegitimate, as the “fruit of the poison tree.”</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84716953?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84716953?profile=original" width="297" class="align-left" style="padding: 10px;"/></a>As Pearse said regarding those who collaborate with English rule, "theirs may be ... a safer gospel, but it is not the Gospel of Tone." At the grave of the Fenian, Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa, Lá Lughnasa 1915, in Glasnevin, Dublin, Pearse also insisted that we must stand together “in brotherly union for the achievement of the freedom of Ireland. And we know only one definition of freedom: It is Tone’s definition, it is Mitchel’s definition, it is Rossa’s definition. Let no man blaspheme the cause that the dead generations of Ireland served by giving it any other name and definition than their name and their definition.”</p>
<p><span class="font-size-1"><strong>(Left: Pádraic Pearse at the funeral of Rossa.)</strong></span></p>
<p>Just as Holy Week should be a week of prayer and of holy reflection for all Christians resulting in a renewal of our Baptismal vows, so too should Easter Week be a period of reflection on the promise of the bright dream of Easter Week 1916, and of rededication to advancing the cause of Irish freedom. In conclusion, let us reflect once more on the following excerpt from the Luan Cásca 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic:</p>
<p>“We place the cause of the Irish Republic under the protection of the Most High God Whose blessing we invoke upon our arms, and we pray that no one who serves that cause will dishonor it by cowardice, inhumanity, or rapine. In this supreme hour the Irish nation must, by its valour and discipline and by the readiness of its children to sacrifice themselves for the common good, prove itself worthy of the august destiny to which it is called.”</p>
<p>† Mac Dara, do scrí</p>Saint Patrick's Breastplate (Also Known as The Deer's Cry)tag:thewildgeese.irish,2016-03-17:6442157:BlogPost:1863232016-03-17T14:30:00.000ZLiam Murphyhttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/LiamMurphy
<p><strong><span class="font-size-5"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/31743494?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" target="_self"><img class="align-full" height="552" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/31743494?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="737"></img></a></span></strong></p>
<p><span class="font-size-1">Photo of window at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, courtesy of <a href="http://thewildgeese.irish/profile/GeorgeRDoyle" target="_self">George R. Doyle</a>, 2014</span></p>
<p><strong><span class="font-size-5">I</span> bind to myself today</strong></p>
<p>The…</p>
<p><strong><span class="font-size-5"><a width="737" height="552" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/31743494?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" target="_self"><img width="737" height="552" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/31743494?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" class="align-full"/></a></span></strong></p>
<p><span class="font-size-1">Photo of window at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, courtesy of <a href="http://thewildgeese.irish/profile/GeorgeRDoyle" target="_self">George R. Doyle</a>, 2014</span></p>
<p><strong><span class="font-size-5">I</span> bind to myself today</strong></p>
<p>The strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity:</p>
<p>I believe the Trinity in the Unity</p>
<p>The Creator of the Universe.</p>
<p>I bind to myself today</p>
<p>The virtue of the Incarnation of Christ with His Baptism,</p>
<p>The virtue of His crucifixion with His burial,</p>
<p>The virtue of His Resurrection with His Ascension,</p>
<p>The virtue of His coming on the Judgement Day.</p>
<p>I bind to myself today</p>
<p>The virtue of the love of seraphim,</p>
<p>In the obedience of angels,</p>
<p>In the hope of resurrection unto reward,</p>
<p>In prayers of Patriarchs,</p>
<p>In predictions of Prophets,</p>
<p>In preaching of Apostles,</p>
<p>In faith of Confessors,</p>
<p>In purity of holy Virgins,</p>
<p>In deeds of righteous men.</p>
<p>I bind to myself today</p>
<p>The power of Heaven,</p>
<p>The light of the sun,</p>
<p>The brightness of the moon,</p>
<p>The splendour of fire,</p>
<p>The flashing of lightning,</p>
<p>The swiftness of wind,</p>
<p>The depth of sea,</p>
<p>The stability of earth,</p>
<p>The compactness of rocks.</p>
<p>I bind to myself today</p>
<p>God's Power to guide me,</p>
<p>God's Might to uphold me,</p>
<p>God's Wisdom to teach me,</p>
<p>God's Eye to watch over me,</p>
<p>God's Ear to hear me,</p>
<p>God's Word to give me speech,</p>
<p>God's Hand to guide me,</p>
<p>God's Way to lie before me,</p>
<p>God's Shield to shelter me,</p>
<p>God's Host to secure me,</p>
<p>Against the snares of demons,</p>
<p>Against the seductions of vices,</p>
<p>Against the lusts of nature,</p>
<p>Against everyone who meditates injury to me,</p>
<p>Whether far or near,</p>
<p>Whether few or with many.</p>
<p>I invoke today all these virtues</p>
<p>Against every hostile merciless power</p>
<p>Which may assail my body and my soul,</p>
<p>Against the incantations of false prophets,</p>
<p>Against the black laws of heathenism,</p>
<p>Against the false laws of heresy,</p>
<p>Against the deceits of idolatry,</p>
<p>Against the spells of women, and smiths, and druids,</p>
<p>Against every knowledge that binds the soul of man.</p>
<p>Christ, protect me today</p>
<p>Against every poison, against burning,</p>
<p>Against drowning, against death-wound,</p>
<p>That I may receive abundant reward.</p>
<p>Christ with me, Christ before me,</p>
<p>Christ behind me, Christ within me,</p>
<p>Christ beneath me, Christ above me,</p>
<p>Christ at my right, Christ at my left,</p>
<p>Christ in the fort,</p>
<p>Christ in the chariot seat,</p>
<p>Christ in the poop [deck],</p>
<p>Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,</p>
<p>Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,</p>
<p>Christ in every eye that sees me,</p>
<p>Christ in every ear that hears me.</p>
<p>I bind to myself today</p>
<p>The strong virtue of an invocation of the Trinity,</p>
<p>I believe the Trinity in the Unity</p>
<p>The Creator of the Universe.</p>
<p>(Literal translation from old Irish text)</p>
<p><em>Source:<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick%27s_Breastplate" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a></em></p>Charlie Laverty – Soldier, Scholar, and Foe of British Rule in Irelandtag:thewildgeese.irish,2016-03-01:6442157:BlogPost:1846342016-03-01T16:30:00.000ZLiam Murphyhttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/LiamMurphy
<p dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84716606?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84716606?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="680"></img></a></p>
<p><strong><span class="font-size-5">O</span>ur personal friend and the friend of all who love Irish history</strong> and culture, Charles “Chuck” Laverty, passed away in October at age 84. </p>
<p><em>Above, Chuck Laverty, taken in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Laverty Family Archives</em></p>
<p>The O’Lavertys of Tyrone were known for…</p>
<p dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84716606?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="680" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84716606?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="680" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p><strong><span class="font-size-5">O</span>ur personal friend and the friend of all who love Irish history</strong> and culture, Charles “Chuck” Laverty, passed away in October at age 84. </p>
<p><em>Above, Chuck Laverty, taken in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Laverty Family Archives</em></p>
<p>The O’Lavertys of Tyrone were known for producing great leaders and historians. The <em>Chief</em> <em>of</em> <em>the</em> <em>Name</em> was Lord of Aileach (the most important ancient fortification in the Province of Ulster), and described by the Four Masters as Tanist of Tyrone -- among the notable O’Laverty historians (previous to Charlie) was Monsignor James O’Laverty (1828-1906).</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84716597?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="200" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84716597?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="200" class="align-left"/></a>Charlie Laverty (Cathal Ó Laithbhearthaigh, <em>as</em> <em>Gaedhilge</em> – in the Irish) was a true patriot, both to the land of his birth and ancestry, and to his adopted 'Land of the Free' and 'Home of the Brave' (which description, written by Francis Scott Key in 1814, inspired by the defense of Fort McHenry during America’s Second War for Independence from England, was also personified by the American life of Charlie Laverty – United States Army paratrooper, later retiring as (Green Beret) Sergeant Major of the 11th Special Forces Group. (A Special Forces Group is on the organizational level of an Infantry Regiment, commanded by a full colonel.)</p>
<p><em>Left, a contemporary photo of Chuck, circa 2007.</em></p>
<p>As a warrior, Charlie also had a great sense of history, which began around a <em>thinteán</em> <em>féin</em> – his own fireside, in The Moy, in County Tyrone, in the province of Ulster in (still occupied) Ireland. His father, a raiser of horses, had been a Sinn Féin magistrate during 'The Troubles,” which followed the Irish Declaration of Independence 21st January 1919 (consequent to the all-Ireland election victory by the abstentionist Sinn Féin in the 14th December (“Khaki”) 1918 general election). That is to say, he was an officer of the government of the Irish Republic, previously proclaimed in Dublin on Easter Monday, 24th April 1916. <a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84716629?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84716629?profile=original" width="192" class="align-right"/></a></p>
<p>Charlie inherited both his father’s Irish republican creed and his way with horses. He would later recall his walks to, and through, the site of the Battle of Benburb. [Between 1641 and 1649, for the first time since the Norman conquest, and before 1922, Ireland was recognized by the international community as an independent nation.] Even though the Cromwellian reconquest of 1649/50 made short work of Catholic Ireland's revolution, it nevertheless ranks as one of the most successful revolts of early modern history. </p>
<p>The brightest star in the Gaelic firmament was Eoghan Ruadh O’Neill (Owen Roe), (right) and, on the road toward that sovereign Irish republic he sought to achieve, his crowning achievement was the victory at Benburb, 5th June 1646. As historian Bruce Catton said of American Civil War battlefields, at Benburb, Charlie sensed he was standing on 'Hallowed Ground.'</p>
<p>As Charlie embraced the Land of the Free – where he discovered that he was truly free, free even to be Irish, he not only expressed his gratitude through volunteering for an arduous (and adventurous) military service, but carried his sense of history, and of justice with him. The greatest single personal injustice, in Charlie’s mind (among myriad injustices under English rule in Ireland), came with the erection of a monument, by local authorities in The Moy, dedicated to those local men who had lost their lives during the Second World War (1939-1945).</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84716920?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="275" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84716827?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="275" class="align-left" style="padding: 10px;"/></a>His older brother, Hugh, a merchant mariner, had been killed in action in the British merchant navy, on the Murmansk Run – that older brother’s name had been intentionally left off the monument, because he was a Catholic.</p>
<p>“War-battered dogs are we, Fighters in every clime;</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Fillers of trench and grave, Mockers bemocked by time.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>War-dogs hungry and gray, Gnawing a naked bone,</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Fighters in every clime – Every cause but our own.”</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span> </span> <span>-- Emily Lawless</span></p>
<p>Charlie’s sense of history led him to the study of <em>The</em> <em>Wild</em> <em>Geese</em>, Irishmen who sought military service in the armies, and navies, of England’s enemies, or potential enemies, in the hope of acquiring military skills, and perhaps of striking a blow for Irish Freedom. </p>
<p><em>Pictured, Chuck with an unidentified pal on a pitch in Ireland, likely at The Moy, where Chuck spent his childhood.</em></p>
<p>While he felt a special attraction to those many Irishmen, on both sides, in the American Civil War, who, often as members of the Fenian (Irish Republican) Brotherhood (which would later bring you the 1916 Easter Rising), followed The Wild Geese tradition, while fighting in defense of their new, American homes – Charlie’s attention focused on the 69th Regiment of New York, particularly “The Fighting 69th” in the Irish Brigade in the (Union) Army of the Potomac. [An Gorta Mór, the “Famine” period of mid-19th century Ireland had the same psychological significance for the Irish as the Nazi era would later have for the Jews of the 20th century. The 69th Regiment of New York came into being (1849 / 1851 / 1858) for the purpose of providing military training to Irish exiles to prepare for the future liberation of their homeland. Charlie was a contributing member of the Irish Famine / Genocide Committee.] </p>
<p>Recognizing that when it comes to keeping the tradition alive, of maintaining the centuries-old continuity of the idea of Ireland’s right to be “Free from the centre to the sea,” the pen can be sometimes mightier than the sword, and can become a force multiplier of the efforts of earlier generations of <em>Wild</em> <em>Geese</em>, Charlie Laverty joined with Gerry Regan, Liam Murphy, Steve O’Neill, Jack Conway, Joe Gannon, and others in 1990 to form the Irish Brigade Association (IBA). The formation meeting of the IBA was held in old Fort Schuyler (constructed in the 1840s, as part of a ring of forts to defend the port of New York from attack by the “Evil Empire” of most of the 19th century – memories of the English occupation of New York City during America’s First War for Independence (1776 – 1783), were still running strong in “The Island at the Center of the World,” as so dubbed by historian Russell Shorto, as well as in Brooklyn, site of the British prison ship Jersey, where over 13,000 American patriots (POWs) perished in the course of the war, as well as site of the largest military action of that conflict (where a large number of Irishmen fought on the right side – including Edward Hand, who, as Charlie pointed out, was the uncle of John Mitchel, whose vitriolic pen caused his transportation to Van Dieman’s Land - before the 1848 Rising).</p>
<p>The particular historical attraction of Fort Schuyler is that it was the site for the initial organization and training of Meagher’s Irish Brigade in 1861, in the aftermath of the First Battle of Bull Run / Manassas. The 69th and 88th New York Volunteer Infantry regiments got their start there. Their own, and the genesis of their Irish Brigade, are remembered in the State University of New York Maritime Museum, which now makes its home in the very same fort, which now also serves as the headquarters of the college.<a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84716845?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="400" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84716845?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="400" class="align-right" style="padding: 10px;"/></a></p>
<p>Active from the start, Charlie served as the editor and printer of The Irish Volunteer, the newsletter of the Irish Brigade Association, a publication of such quality that at least one public library maintained a reference file of The Irish Volunteer – a tribute to Charlie Laverty’s handiwork.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In 1992, a group of American Civil War living historians (aka “reenactors” – many of whom you saw portraying the (Irish) 69th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, at the “High Water Mark of the Confederacy” in the movie “Gettysburg”) -- traveled to Dublin to participate in that city’s Saint Patrick’s Day Parade, portraying Irish soldiers of the “Army of the Free” from the American Civil War.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span class="font-size-1"><strong>(Right: The IBA reenactor group in a pre-parade photo in Dublin. Charlie with the sword in the front, flanked by, left to right, Joe Gannon and Gerry Regan, both bearing the national colors.)</strong></span></p>
<p>On that occasion, Charlie Laverty was persuaded to overcome his scruples about returning to a partitioned Ireland, in order that he might portray, on horseback Irish-American cavalry general and hero Phil Sheridan, a Fenian, and, on behalf of “Little Phil,” take the salutes of all attending the parade. [As U.S. Marine Corps officer evaluations used to note, Charlie Laverty sat a horse very well.] Charlie later observed that a pilgrimage to the GPO, to Arbour Hill, and especially to Kilmainham Gaol, can have the same psychological effect as the renewing of one’s baptismal vows.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>The reenactors, and especially Charlie astride an Irish steed, were very well received. Many of those same reenactors continue to march in the New York Saint Patrick’s Day Parade, as “A” Company of “The Fighting 69</span><span>th</span><span>” of the Irish Brigade -- the military escort for General Thomas Francis Meagher, whose image appears on the front of the County Waterford Association banner. </span></p>
<p>Historian Charlie Laverty was also active with the prestigeous New York Irish History Roundtable, serving for a while as its president. Among those with whom he worked closely were Professor (and author) Marion Casey of New York University’s Glucksman Ireland House, and attorney Frank Durkan of O’Dwyer & Bernstein fame.</p>
<p>In addition to his writing, public speaking (including a history vignette on “Radio Free Éireann,” popular radio show of Cumann na Saoirse Náisiúnta (National Irish Freedom Committee) on WBAI 99.5 FM, in New York City) and publishing efforts, Charlie Laverty was the most industrious and indefatigable of historical researchers – generally concerning Ireland’s Wild Geese, wherever he found them -- around the globe </p>
<p dir="ltr"><span> “In far foreign fields, from Dunkirk to Belgrade, </span>lie the soldiers and chiefs of the Irish Brigade." --Thomas Davis</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Cathal Ó Laithbhearthaigh -- </span>Ar dheis láimh Dé go raibh a anam uasal </p>
<p dir="ltr">(May his noble soul be at the right hand of God.)</p>Commodore John Barry Day, 13th Septembertag:thewildgeese.irish,2014-09-12:6442157:BlogPost:1177532014-09-12T19:00:00.000ZLiam Murphyhttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/LiamMurphy
<p align="center" style="text-align: left;"><b><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84707576?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84707576?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"></img></a> <span class="font-size-7" style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;">C</span>ommodore John Barry</b> (1745-1803) a native of County Wexford, Ireland was a Continental Navy hero of the American War for Independence. Barry’s many victories at sea during the Revolution were important to the morale of the Patriots as well as to the…</p>
<p align="center" style="text-align: left;"><b><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84707576?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84707576?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a><span class="font-size-7" style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;">C</span>ommodore John Barry</b> (1745-1803) a native of County Wexford, Ireland was a Continental Navy hero of the American War for Independence. Barry’s many victories at sea during the Revolution were important to the morale of the Patriots as well as to the successful prosecution of the War. When the First Congress, acting under the new Constitution of the United States, authorized the raising and construction of the United States Navy <b>President George Washington</b> turned to Barry to build and lead the nation’s new US Navy, the successor to the Continental Navy. On 22 February 1797, President Washington conferred upon Barry, with the advice and consent of the Senate, the rank of <b>Captain</b> with <b>“Commission No. 1,” United States Navy</b>, effective 7 June 1794. Barry supervised the construction of his own flagship, the USS UNITED STATES. As commander of the first United States naval squadron under the Constitution, which included the USS CONSTITUTION (“Old Ironsides”), Barry was a Commodore with the right to fly a broad pennant, which made him a flag officer. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">******</p>
<p> </p>
<p align="center"><b><span class="font-size-3">Commodore John Barry</span><br/></b><em>By Gilbert Stuart (1801)</em></p>
<p><b>John Barry</b> served as the senior officer of the United States Navy, with the title of “<b>Commodore</b>” (in official correspondence) under Presidents George Washington, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. The ships built by Barry, and the captains selected, as well as the officers trained, by him, constituted the United States Navy that performed outstanding service in the “Quasi-War” with France, in battles with the Barbary Pirates and in the War of 1812. Significantly, and by joint resolution of Congress, pursuant to <b>Public Law 109-142</b> (signed by President George W. Bush on 22 December 2005), John Barry was formally recognized, in the Public Law of the United States, as the <b>first flag officer of the United States Navy</b>.</p>
<p>In 1777, commanding the Continental Brig LEXINGTON, <b>John Barry</b> was the first to raise “The Stars and Stripes” in home waters. In battle, Barry was both effective and humane. He gave us our first victory on the high seas. Commanding the Continental Frigate ALLIANCE, Barry captured two British warships after being severely wounded in a ferocious sea battle (28 May 1781). </p>
<p align="center"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84707627?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84707627?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-1"><em>The “Betsy Ross” design, based on an Act of Congress (14 June, 1777)</em></span><br/><span class="font-size-1"><em>13 Stars and 13 Stripes</em></span></p>
<p align="center" style="text-align: left;"> </p>
<p align="center" style="text-align: left;"><b>Commodore John Barry</b> was one of six foreign-born heroes of the American War for Independence chosen to be represented in the museum in the base of the Statue of Liberty (Lafayette, France; John Paul Jones, Scotland; von Steuben, Germany; Kościuszko, Poland; General Stephen Moylan, Ireland; Commodore John Barry, Ireland). John Barry was an original member of the Society of the Cincinnati. The <b><i>Commodore John Barry Memorial</i></b>, just inside the “Barry Gate,” was dedicated at the <b>United States Naval Academy,</b> Annapolis, Maryland, 10 May 2014.</p>
<p align="center" style="text-align: left;">The initial <b>New York Council, Navy League of the United States</b> <i>Commodore John Barry Book Award for American Maritime Literature</i> was awarded to <b>Tim McGrath</b> for <b><i>John Barry: An American Hero in the Age of Sail</i></b> (2010) on 10 June 2014, fittingly at Fraunces Tavern ® in New York City, where Washington bade farewell to his officers in 1783. The dinner was preceded by a reception, sponsored by the <b>Naval Historical Foundation</b> and by the <b>National Maritime Historical Society</b>, in the “Flag Gallery” of the <b><i>Fraunces Tavern Museum</i></b>. [See also: William Bell Clark. <b><i>Gallant John Barry: 1745-1803, The Story of a Naval Hero of Two Wars</i></b> (1938); Rear Admiral Joseph F. Callo. <b><i>John Paul Jones: America’s First Sea Warrior</i></b> (2006); George C. Daughan. <b><i>If By Sea: The Forging of the American Navy – From the American Revolution to the War of 1812</i></b> (2008).] </p>
<p><b>Tim McGrath</b> also has articles on John Barry in <b><i>Naval History</i></b> (U.S. Naval Institute, <a href="http://www.usni.org">www.usni.org</a>), "I Passed by Philadelphia with Two Boats," June 2009 Volume 23, Number 3; and, “Two Captains at Breakfast,” August 2013 Volume 27, Number 4 (John Barry and John Paul Jones were both personal, and professional, friends). In a most interesting way, Tim McGrath has captured <b>Commodore John Barry</b>, former American Merchant Captain, in the context of his times, and in his contributions to the achievement and defense of the Independence of the United States. </p>
<p>John Barry died on 13 September 1803; he is buried in Saint Mary’s churchyard in his adopted home of Philadelphia. <b>Commodore John Barry Day</b> is a legal holiday in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and an official observance of the State of New York.<b><br/></b></p>
<p> </p>Crucial Victory on Lake Champlain – '9/11' 1814tag:thewildgeese.irish,2014-09-11:6442157:BlogPost:1176332014-09-11T16:00:00.000ZLiam Murphyhttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/LiamMurphy
<div class="Section1"><p align="center"><span class="font-size-3"><b><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84707356?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84707356?profile=original" width="750"></img></a> America’s</b> <b>Second War for Independence (1812 – 1815)</b></span></p>
<p><b><span class="font-size-7" style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;">T</span>he War of 1812</b><b>, also known as America’s Second War for Independence, was a contest to see if a free, republican form of government could…</b></p>
</div>
<div class="Section1"><p align="center"><span class="font-size-3"><b><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84707356?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84707356?profile=original" width="750" class="align-full"/></a>America’s</b> <b>Second War for Independence (1812 – 1815)</b></span></p>
<p><b><span class="font-size-7" style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;">T</span>he War of 1812</b><b>, also known as America’s Second War for Independence, was a contest to see if a free, republican form of government could survive</b>. The Irish in America again rallied to the colors – the rapid fortification, by the Irish, of the Battery in New York City being but one example. Thomas Addis Emmet raised the Irish Republican Greens, which participated with the US Army for the duration of the war, including in the 1813 invasion of Canada. [See: <u>Washington’s Irish</u> by Derek Warfield.]</p>
<p>England does not recognize expatriation, i.e., that someone born in the United Kingdom could ever renounce being a “British subject” and acquire American (or any other) citizenship. This resulted in the <b>impressment of American merchant seamen</b> into the Royal Navy, one of the causes of the war. During the course of the war it also gave rise to an English threat to hang any captured Irish-born members of the American forces. American General Winfield Scott countered by promising to hang two English prisoners of war for every Irishman hanged. No one was hanged.</p>
<p>In essence, <b>England’s war aims</b> in North America during 1812-1815, were similar to those of 1775-1783, but with a strategy based on lessons learned from the former conflict. After the defeat of Napoleon in 1814, the Duke of Wellington sent sixteen of his best veteran infantry regiments, plus cavalry and artillery, to North America to attempt the <b>partitioning of the United States</b> by driving down the Champlain and Hudson Valleys, as intended by “Gentleman Johnny” Burgoyne in 1777, to cut off New England from the rest of the country. [Ironically, the same route followed by the airliner hijacked over Vermont, and then flown right down the Champlain and Hudson valleys to the World Trade Center in New York City on “9/11”, 11<sup>th</sup> September 2001.]</p>
<p>Wellington, however, recognized that any invasion force could be properly supported only with control of the waterways, beginning with <b>Lake Champlain</b>; otherwise, an army marching inland without such support was in great danger of being itself cutoff, defeated and captured, as happened at Saratoga during America’s first War for Independence.</p>
<p>The land forces, which were committed to this invasion, were more than twice the size of the invasion force, which would later meet “Old Hickory,” Andrew Jackson, at the Battle of New Orleans, 8<sup>th</sup> January 1815. In order to control the waterways for the great invasion, the “Crown” forces in Canada were building a fleet of vessels armed with 24-pounder guns (which could fire over a mile) at the north end of Lake Champlain. Less than a hundred miles to the south, on the <b>Otter Creek</b>, downstream from Middlebury - near Vergennes, Vermont (a little north of Crown Point), the Americans were building their own squadron of vessels (armed mostly with carronades with a range of only some 500 yards, but firing heavier shot) to defend the Lake from invasion.</p>
<p>The Americans determined to maintain control of the Lake through construction of the ship SARATOGA, the brig EAGLE, the schooner TICONDEROGA, the sloop PREBLE and ten galleys. In command of this activity was an officer described by <u>The Harper Encyclopedia of Military Biography</u> (Edison, NJ: Castle Books, 1995) as an “aggressive, thorough and dedicated naval commander,” <b>Thomas Macdonough</b>. </p>
<blockquote><p>“The Almighty has been pleased to grant us a signal Victory...” - Thomas Macdonough</p>
</blockquote>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-3"><strong>Commodore Thomas Macdonough</strong></span><br/> <span class="font-size-3"><strong>Victor on Lake Champlain, 11 September 1814</strong></span></p>
<p>Macdonough was born in New Castle County, Delaware, 31<sup>st</sup> December 1783. His father was a physician, who had served as a major in Washington’s Continental Army. His grandfather, James MacDonough, emigrated from Kildare to Delaware about 1730; he was the father of Thomas, an officer in the Delaware Regiment during the first American War for Independence [this regiment was commanded by Colonel John Haslet from Derry (grand uncle of John Mitchel)]. Major Thomas McDonough very effectively led his battalion in the Battle of Brooklyn (aka “Long Island”), 27<sup>th</sup> August 1776, where he was so severely wounded that he was forced to leave the service; he was later named a Colonel of Delaware militia, 1781-2. One of his sons, also named Thomas, would be the <b>Commodore of the United States naval squadron on Lake Champlain in 1813/1814</b>.</p>
<p>In 1798, after the death, on active naval service, of his older brother, Thomas Macdonough also joined the United States Navy of Commodore John Barry. He would see action in the Quasi-War with France (1798-1800) and in the Tripolitan War (1801-1805). One of the bones of contention between the United States and the British Empire during the great conflict between England and France was the impressment of American seamen into the Royal Navy; England never recognized that anyone born a British subject could become an American citizen, immune from English law, nor could England tolerate the American doctrine of Freedom of the Seas. A young Lieutenant Thomas Macdonough had distinguished himself by recovering a seized neutral American merchant seaman from under the guns of a Royal Navy frigate in Gibraltar.</p>
<p>Both as a strategic diversion, and as part of an attempt to control the Chesapeake, British forces attacked and burned Washington, and, on 11<sup>th</sup> September 1814, were moving on Baltimore, where Francis Scott Key would write of seeing the <b>“Star Spangled Banner”</b> through the dawn’s early light after Fort McHenry survived a major bombardment and rocket attack. Similar operations were underway in the west near Lakes Erie and Ontario, and in raids along the Atlantic seaboard. But the main attack was focused on up-state New York and the Champlain Valley. Colonel David Fitz-Enz points out that there were no other regular US Army troops between the garrison at Plattsburg (which had been depleted to send troops to face the threat in the west) and Baltimore. </p>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-3"><strong>The “Star Spangled Banner”</strong></span><br/> <span class="font-size-3"><strong>1795 – 1818: 15 Stars and 15 Stripes</strong></span></p>
<p>A major event both in the history of the United States of America, and in the European wars of the late 18<sup>th</sup> and early 19<sup>th</sup> centuries, was the simultaneous battles of <b>Plattsburg and Lake Champlain</b>. On the <b>11<sup>th</sup> of September 1814</b>, outnumbered and outgunned American land and naval forces fought the invaders to a standstill. At the crucial point of the battle, the Commodore of the American naval forces on Lake Champlain, Thomas Macdonough, carried out a brilliant manoeuvre, rotating his ships using kedge anchors and spring lines to expose the enemy to fire from fresh batteries. This sudden fire superiority devastated the Royal Navy ships (winds, unanticipated by the English commander, but known to Macdonough, had placed them within range of the American carronades), resulting in their complete defeat. <b>Macdonough’s conduct of the battle was a model of tactical preparation and execution</b>. Having lost the naval component of their joint invasion plan, the British land forces withdrew to Canada, ending the threat to the Hudson and Champlain valleys, and the threat to partition the United States.</p>
<p>The Duke of Wellington, involved in the planning, had determined that the English invasion force would not repeat “Gentleman Johnny” Burgoyne’s error of marching south without waterborne communications and logistical support. That expedition had come to a disastrous end, with the English defeat and surrender at Saratoga, 17<sup>th</sup> October 1777 – which convinced the French to enter the American War for Independence, as an ally, recognizing the United States as a sovereign country. This northern invasion of the United States was by a force of veterans, fresh from victory in Europe, approximately twice the size of the force which would be so decisively defeated and turned back by General Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans, 8<sup>th</sup> January 1815 (after the Treaty of Ghent, ending the war, had been signed, but before it had been ratified). David Curtis Skaggs (<u>Naval History</u>, Oct 2013) cites Samuel Eliot Morison as concurring with Alfred Thayer Mahan, <b>Macdonough’s victory</b> “merits the epithet <b>‘decisive’</b>.”</p>
<p>While the significance of this battle on <b>Lake Champlain</b> is often eclipsed by the spectacular defense of Fort McHenry and Baltimore, enhanced in the popular memory by the poetry of Francis Scott Key, which would later become the national anthem, the fact is that <b>the enemy’s major effort was committed to the Champlain Valley campaign</b>.</p>
<p><b>The deciding battle of the war was on Lake Champlain on 11<sup>th</sup> September 1814</b> <b>(“9/11”).</b> This was the judgment of Winston Churchill in his <u>A History of the English Speaking Peoples</u>, who stated that the defeat at Plattsburg crippled the British advance and was the most decisive engagement of the war [cited by Colonel David G. Fitz-Enz, US Army (Ret.). <u>The Final Invasion: Plattsburg, The War of 1812’s Most Decisive Battle</u> (Lanham, MD: Cooper Square Press, 2001)]. </p>
<p>The victor was Master Commandant, Commodore Thomas Macdonough of the US Navy, one of the more notable of “Preble’s Boys” from the war with the Barbary Pirates, grandson of James MacDonough, an Irish immigrant from Kildare (in Ireland’s eastern Province of Leinster – the finest of horse country), and son of one of Washington’s officers (Major Thomas McDonough of the Delaware Regiment). [The spelling of the name actually changed with each of the first three generations of this particular branch of the Mac Donnachadha in North America.] The flagship of the American squadron was, appropriately, named SARATOGA.</p>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-3"><strong>“The Almighty has been pleased to grant us a signal victory…”<br/></strong></span> <span class="font-size-1"><em>(Commodore Thomas Macdonough, U.S. SHIP SARATOGA, off Platsburg, Sept. 11th, 1814, to Secretary of the Navy)</em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-3"><strong> </strong></span><b>Macdonough’s victory, though dearly gained after a hard fight, was brilliant and complete. </b> Having been denied control of the waterways, the English could not continue their invasion.</p>
<p>Historian David Fitz-Enz, in <i>“11 September 1814”</i> (<u>Military Illustrated</u>, Number 172), contends that, due to the American victory at Plattsburg/Lake Champlain, and the failure of the strategic diversionary attempt to capture Baltimore, the English negotiators were unable to acquire any land south of the existing Canadian border, or to gain control of the Great Lakes, and so sued for the <i>status quo ante</i> of 1812. Consequently the Peace of Ghent was signed on 24<sup>th</sup> December 1814. See: <u>Thomas McDonough: Master of Command in the Early U.S. Navy</u> (Library of Naval Biography) by David Curtis Skaggs (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2003); see also: Rear Admiral Joseph F. Callo, <i>“1812 Victory at Sea,”</i> <u>Military History</u>, March 2011, and “How the Battles of Lake Erie and Lake Champlain Influenced the American Narrative,” <u>The Hudson River Valley Review</u>, Autumn 2012; George C. Daughan. <u>1812: The Navy’s War</u> (New York: Basic Books, 2011); David Curtis Skaggs, “More Important Than Perry’s Victory,” <u>Naval History</u>, October 2013; Rodney Macdonough. <u>Life of Commodore Thomas Macdonough</u>. (Boston, 1909); Charles Geoffrey Muller. <u>Hero of Two Seas: The Story of Midshipman Thomas Macdonough</u> (McKay, 1968); Former Secretary of the Navy John Lehman. <u>On Seas of Glory</u> (New York: The Free Press, 2001); Michael J. O’Brien. <u>A Hidden Phase of American History: “Ireland’s Part in America’s Struggle for Liberty”</u>. (New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1920).</p>
<p><b>Thomas Macdonough</b> <b>(1783 – 1825)</b> was rewarded with promotion to full captain, and, subsequently, with the command of the USS OHIO, a ship-of-the-line. Always the sailor, Captain Thomas Macdonough later insisted on returning to a more active sea duty; his last command was “<b><i>Old Ironsides</i></b>,” the USS CONSTITUTION, on Mediterranean patrol. Accompanied by his son, Thomas Macdonough died passing Gibraltar on 10<sup>th</sup> November 1825. After a state funeral in New York, he was buried in his late wife’s family plot in the Riverside Cemetery in Middletown, Connecticut. <b>†</b></p>
<p>“<i>Macdonough in this battle [Lake Champlain] won a higher fame than any other [naval] commander of the war, British or American. He had a decidedly superior force to contend against, the officers and men of the two sides being about on a par in every respect; and it was solely owing to his foresight and resource that we won the victory. He forced the British to engage at a disadvantage by his excellent choice of position; and he prepared beforehand for every possible contingency. His personal prowess had already been shown at the cost of the rovers of Tripoli, and in this action he helped fight the guns as ably as the best sailor. His skill, seamanship, quick eye, readiness of resource, and indomitable pluck, are beyond all praise.”</i>–<b>Theodore Roosevelt</b>, 1882, in his first book, <b><u>The Naval War of 1812</u></b> (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1889).</p>
<p>Four US Navy warships have been named <b>USS MACDONOUGH</b> for Commodore Thomas Macdonough, plus one World War II Liberty Ship:</p>
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" class="font-size-2">* <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Macdonough_(DD-9)">USS <i>Macdonough</i> (DD-9)</a>, an early destroyer, launched in 1900 (World War I) 1919</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" class="font-size-2">* <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Macdonough_(DD-331)">USS <i>Macdonough</i> (DD-331)</a>, a <i>Clemson</i>-class destroyer, 1920 - 1930</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" class="font-size-2">* <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Macdonough_(DD-351)">USS <i>Macdonough</i> (DD-351)</a>, a <i>Farragut</i>-class destroyer, 1934 (World War II) 1945</span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" class="font-size-2">* <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Macdonough_(DDG-39)">USS <i>Macdonough</i> (DLG-8 / DDG-39)</a>, was a <i>Farragut</i>-class guided missile frigate (destroyer leader), launched in 1959 and served until 1992 </span><br/> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" class="font-size-2">* <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=SS_Thomas_Macdonough&action=edit&redlink=1">SS <i>Thomas Macdonough</i></a>, a World War II Liberty ship</span><br/>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center" style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-1"><em>by Derek Warfield,with Liam Murphy (Heritage Editor, The Wild Geese.com) and David Fitz-Enz</em></span></p>
</div>Commodore John Barry Book Award for American Maritime Literaturetag:thewildgeese.irish,2014-04-02:6442157:BlogPost:862972014-04-02T21:00:00.000ZLiam Murphyhttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/LiamMurphy
<p><strong><span class="font-size-7" style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84704970?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84704970?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="400"></img></a> A</span>n annual Commodore John Barry Book Award</strong> is established by the New York Council, Navy League of the Unites States for the purpose of recognizing significant contributions to American maritime literature and to encourage excellence in authorship. Such maritime literature should be…</p>
<p><strong><span class="font-size-7" style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84704970?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="400" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84704970?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="400" class="align-left"/></a>A</span>n annual Commodore John Barry Book Award</strong> is established by the New York Council, Navy League of the Unites States for the purpose of recognizing significant contributions to American maritime literature and to encourage excellence in authorship. Such maritime literature should be devoted to books pertaining to the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Merchant Marine.</p>
<p>The inspiration for this Award is the life and service of Commodore John Barry (1745-1803), a native of County Wexford, Ireland, and a Continental Navy hero of the American War for Independence. Barry's many victories at sea during the Revolution were important to the morale of the patriots, as well as to the successful prosecution of the war. When the first Congress, acting under the new Constitution of the United States, authorized the raising and construction of the United States Navy, President George Washington turned to Barry to build and lead the nation's new navy, the successor to the Continental Navy. On February 22, 1797, President Washington conferred upon Barry, with the advice and consent of the Senate, the rank of Captain with Commission Number 1, United States Navy, effective June 7, 1794. Barry supervised the construction of his own flagship, the USS United States. As commander of the first United States naval squadron under the Constitution, which included the USS Constitution (later to be nicknamed "Old Ironsides"), Barry was a commodore with the right to fly a broad pennant which made him a flag officer.</p>
<p>Barry continued serving as the senior officer of the United States navy, with the title of "Commodore" (in official correspondence) under Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. The ships built by Barry, and the captains selected, as well as the officers trained by him, constituted the United States Navy that performed outstanding service in the Quasi-War with France, in battles with the Barbary Pirates, and in the War of 1812.</p>
<p>Significantly and by joint resolution, the Congress pursuant to Public Law 109-142, signed by President George W. Bush on December 22, 2001, John Barry was formally recognized as the first flag officer of the United States Navy.</p>
<p>The Committee shall consist of a Chairman and four members appointed by the President. Said Committee shall select a book designated for the Award, specify the nature of the Award, and arrange for its presentation to the author(s) at an appropriate ceremony. <strong>-- <a href="http://nynavyleague.org/index.php" target="_blank">Navy League New York Council</a></strong></p>
<p></p>