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The Immortal Irishman: Thomas Meager and the Invention of Irish America
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite History & Biography (2016)National Book Award winner Timothy Egan delivers a story of one of the most famous Irish Americans of all time. A dashing young orator during the Great Hunger of the 1840s, Thomas Francis Meagher led a failed uprising against British rule, for which he was banished to a Tasmanian prison colony for life. But two years later he was “back from the dead” and in New York, instantly the most famous Irishman in America. Meagher’s rebirth included his leading the newly formed Irish Brigade in many of the fiercest battles of the Civil War. Afterward, he tried to build a new Ireland in the wild west of Montana—a quixotic adventure that ended in the great mystery of his disappearance, which Egan resolves convincingly at last.
389 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 2016
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January 5, 2018
A biography that reads like an adventure novel. The saga of Thomas Meagher starts with his end, a disappearance of a nearly penniless acting governor off of a riverboat at night in Fort Benton, Montana, in 1867. Was it an accident from a drunken stumble or murder from enemies he complained to the captain about (“Johnny, they threaten my life in that town.”). Egan’s summary bits on the life of a man I’d never heard of hooks me to become eager for the story to rectify that ignorance. A man who gained fame as a voice of rebellion at the time of the potato famine in the 1840s, leading to his conviction for sedition and banished to the penal colony of Tasmania. He makes an implausible escape and ends up in New York City, where he gains notoriety for political journalism and public speaking and marries a daughter of a prominent Protestant industrialist. When the Civil War comes he becomes the captain and chief recruiter of the Irish Brigade . Through valor and leadership in early battles, he soon becomes a general.
From this beginning, I was hungry to know more about how an aristocratic son could get radicalized by the famine to risk so much in hopeless action against the British Empire. How he was not executed. What he experienced in Tasmania. How he escaped and made his way to America. How he adapted to New York City society. How he could inspire so many Irish immigrants to fight in the war. How the extreme losses of his troops and criminal stupidity of his commanders discouraged him. How the terrible draft riots in New York and Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation turned the tide of the Irish majority against the Union cause and undermined his leadership with them. How he turned to emigration to the West after the war and ended up without intending it to become governor of Montana Territory. Why he made enemies there with a powerful vigilante group enough to justify his likely murder.
Born into a wealthy family in Waterford, Ireland, Meagher (pronounced “Mar”) got a classical education at a private school there and then at the respected Catholic school Stonyhurst College in Lancashire, England. He excelled in public speaking, debate, and dramatic acting. As he began to drift into studying law, the potato blight came as an obvious threat to the lives of millions of poor Irish who depended on the crop. They had no vote or voice in Parliament. The British politicians did little in the way of relief and did nothing to divert any of the ongoing bounteous exports of grain and other crops that made the British landowners and merchants rich. People caught stealing food were often sent into effective slave labor in the British colonies in the West Indies or penal colonies in Australia and Tasmania. This outrage was just one tipping point in the centuries of British oppression of Ireland, which Egan deftly slips into his narrative (e.g. attempted bans of Gaelic, the Catholic religion, cultural practices, and Cromwell’s rampage of slaughter in the 17th century). Meagher’s contribution to the outcry in radical newspapers and rousing public speeches on behalf of Irish home rule was not enough to get him jailed, given deference to his background, but many of his friends were arrested. His presence at a famous jailbreak attempt ended that reprieve, and permanent exile for a judgment was deemed best instead of execution to avoid making him a martyr. Before the jury of Protestants and packed courtroom, he got out some brave stirring words that inspired others long after:
“…I am here to speak the truth whatever it may cost. I am here to regret nothing I have ever done, to retract nothing I have already said. I am here to crave with no lying lip the life I consecrate to the liberty of my country. …To lift this island up, to make her a benefactor to humanity instead of being the meanest beggar in the world, to restore her to her native powers and ancient constitution—this has been my ambition, and this ambition has been my crime. Judged by the law of England, I know this crime entails the penalty of death , but the history of Ireland explains this crime, and justifies it. Judged by history, I am no criminal.”
As he did in prison, he kept the spirits up among his fellow conspirators on the miserable three month journey to the far side of the world with joking, recitations of poetry, and games. They were not subject to the cruelty and deprivation of the usual prisoner ships or even the extreme crowding and rampant disease faced by the hundreds of thousands of voluntary emigrants aboard private ships. Still, the exile to a harsh and alien land more than 20,000 miles from home was quite a mental punishment. On Tasmania, he was allowed to settle a particular province he could never leave and was forbidden to be outside at night. He built a cabin on a remote lake and used his imagination to see it as a special spot from his youth in Ireland. Only at a place on the boundary between districts could he meet and cavort with his friends from back home. He married a quiet daughter of a settler and tried to sustain an identity by writing. But his despair led him to wangle an opportunity to escape. That made for some exciting reading.
The New York section was fascinating in all its Dickensian details. Although he was welcomed as a hero and put to work for an Irish newspaper, the fate of the vast population of his fellow immigrants living in squalor as an underclass broke his heart. Of the nearly 850,000 Irish who came through Ellis Island in the late 1840s, about 200,000 settled into New York, representing about a fourth of the population. While many found their way into legitimate occupations and businesses, many took to the life of crime (think of the movie “Gangs of New York”). And criminals quickly corrupted the politicians, judges, and the police, and the political machine known as Tammany Hall was born. Rather than settle into work for a law firm, Meagher couldn’t resist putting his pen and voice to fighting injustice. The biggest threat he worked against was the growing power of the Know-Nothing Party, which had a bent against immigrants that outdid even today’s populist antagonism (after progrom-style attacks on foreigners in Philadelphia, they “knew nothing” when queried by police) . Lincoln characterized them in a letter to a friend:
As a nation, we began by declaring that ‘all men are created equal’. …We now practically read it ‘all men are created equal except Negroes.’ When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read ‘allmen are created equal except Negroes,and foreigners, and Catholics.’ “
When the Civil War came, Meagher was quick to join forces with others to form the Irish Brigade of volunteers to defend the capital. He had much success with the recruiting argument that the Irish could earn the respect of their new country by helping suppress a rebellion that depended critically on alliance with their enemy, the British government and its industry driven by cheap cotton grown by slave labor. In the back of his mind, he also felt that development of military skills would eventually pay off in freeing Ireland from Crown control. Though the first battles of Bull Run and Manassas ended up a defeat for the Union, the Irish Brigade demonstrated courage and discipline and earned the respect of General Sherman despite his clear prejudices against the Irish. Soon the commanders were throwing the Irish Brigade into the toughest frays, leading to much loss of life. McClellan, the Commander of the Army of the Potoac, failed to take advantage when Meagher’s forces got within striking distance of the Confederate capital, Richmond . Lincoln’s replacement for this popular but over-cautious commander, Burnside, was even more disastrous for Meagher’s men. At the battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia, midway between Washington and Richmond, Burnside ordered them to take a well-defended Rebel position behind a stone wall on a hill known as Marye’s Heights. After 14 fruitless charges up the hill, 3,000 of his men were mowed down. At battle’s end, the Union suffered 13,000 dead and wounded to 5,000 for the Confederacy. Meagher never got over the criminal waste of his men, a source of despair mitigated little by Lincoln swiftly firing Burnside.
After a period of more battles under Hooker (Chancellorsville and the “Wilderness”), Meagher resigned his commission. Back in New York, all his dreams about leading Irish immigrants to a higher status were irrevocably destroyed by the infamous riot that broke out when Lincoln instituted a draft. The provision that people with $300 could buy their way out of the draft or hire a replacement for service was the straw that broke the camel’s back for the underclass dominated by the Irish. In the riots anything or anyone of authority or wealth was a target, and the growing population of blacks were also attacked as a threat to their jobs. Through four days of rampage, much of Manhattan was burned and perhaps 500 were killed directly or indirectly. The next step that breached Meagher’s alliance with the majority of his fellow Irish was the Emancipation Proclamation. With that executive order, the war became a one of abolition of slavery. England, which had outlawed the business of slavery long before, was forced into a neutral position. The masses of poor Irish could not align themselves to sympathize for a class of people a rung below them in social stature. Meagher in contrast finally got sold on the solidarity of the oppressed Irish and blacks, harking back to the conclusions reached by Frederick Douglass during his long tour of Ireland in 1845.
Despite the strong tie of his second wife to New York (his first from his Tasmanian stay had died in childbirth in Ireland), Meagher was driven to seek a new life out west. On his way to Montana, a friend in power arranged for him without his knowledge to assume the post of Secretary to the territorial government . When he arrived, the Governor abruptly left him in charge. The concept of establishing a New Ireland as a haven for the urban Irish inspired him, as did the beautiful remote valley of the provisional capital of Virginia City. Unfortunately, some lawless vigilantes had long been in control by terror and murder. Egan makes strong arguments that his untimely death in his mid-40s was a murder.
This book was a pleasure to read due to the way Egan marshals the story of personalities and events with vividness while providing excellent context of the major elements of history of the Irish people in Ireland, Tasmania, New York, and the Civil War. The same writing skills evident here must apply to his National Book Award for his history of Dust Bowl America during the Great Depression, “The Worst Hard Times”.
From this beginning, I was hungry to know more about how an aristocratic son could get radicalized by the famine to risk so much in hopeless action against the British Empire. How he was not executed. What he experienced in Tasmania. How he escaped and made his way to America. How he adapted to New York City society. How he could inspire so many Irish immigrants to fight in the war. How the extreme losses of his troops and criminal stupidity of his commanders discouraged him. How the terrible draft riots in New York and Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation turned the tide of the Irish majority against the Union cause and undermined his leadership with them. How he turned to emigration to the West after the war and ended up without intending it to become governor of Montana Territory. Why he made enemies there with a powerful vigilante group enough to justify his likely murder.
Born into a wealthy family in Waterford, Ireland, Meagher (pronounced “Mar”) got a classical education at a private school there and then at the respected Catholic school Stonyhurst College in Lancashire, England. He excelled in public speaking, debate, and dramatic acting. As he began to drift into studying law, the potato blight came as an obvious threat to the lives of millions of poor Irish who depended on the crop. They had no vote or voice in Parliament. The British politicians did little in the way of relief and did nothing to divert any of the ongoing bounteous exports of grain and other crops that made the British landowners and merchants rich. People caught stealing food were often sent into effective slave labor in the British colonies in the West Indies or penal colonies in Australia and Tasmania. This outrage was just one tipping point in the centuries of British oppression of Ireland, which Egan deftly slips into his narrative (e.g. attempted bans of Gaelic, the Catholic religion, cultural practices, and Cromwell’s rampage of slaughter in the 17th century). Meagher’s contribution to the outcry in radical newspapers and rousing public speeches on behalf of Irish home rule was not enough to get him jailed, given deference to his background, but many of his friends were arrested. His presence at a famous jailbreak attempt ended that reprieve, and permanent exile for a judgment was deemed best instead of execution to avoid making him a martyr. Before the jury of Protestants and packed courtroom, he got out some brave stirring words that inspired others long after:
“…I am here to speak the truth whatever it may cost. I am here to regret nothing I have ever done, to retract nothing I have already said. I am here to crave with no lying lip the life I consecrate to the liberty of my country. …To lift this island up, to make her a benefactor to humanity instead of being the meanest beggar in the world, to restore her to her native powers and ancient constitution—this has been my ambition, and this ambition has been my crime. Judged by the law of England, I know this crime entails the penalty of death , but the history of Ireland explains this crime, and justifies it. Judged by history, I am no criminal.”
As he did in prison, he kept the spirits up among his fellow conspirators on the miserable three month journey to the far side of the world with joking, recitations of poetry, and games. They were not subject to the cruelty and deprivation of the usual prisoner ships or even the extreme crowding and rampant disease faced by the hundreds of thousands of voluntary emigrants aboard private ships. Still, the exile to a harsh and alien land more than 20,000 miles from home was quite a mental punishment. On Tasmania, he was allowed to settle a particular province he could never leave and was forbidden to be outside at night. He built a cabin on a remote lake and used his imagination to see it as a special spot from his youth in Ireland. Only at a place on the boundary between districts could he meet and cavort with his friends from back home. He married a quiet daughter of a settler and tried to sustain an identity by writing. But his despair led him to wangle an opportunity to escape. That made for some exciting reading.
The New York section was fascinating in all its Dickensian details. Although he was welcomed as a hero and put to work for an Irish newspaper, the fate of the vast population of his fellow immigrants living in squalor as an underclass broke his heart. Of the nearly 850,000 Irish who came through Ellis Island in the late 1840s, about 200,000 settled into New York, representing about a fourth of the population. While many found their way into legitimate occupations and businesses, many took to the life of crime (think of the movie “Gangs of New York”). And criminals quickly corrupted the politicians, judges, and the police, and the political machine known as Tammany Hall was born. Rather than settle into work for a law firm, Meagher couldn’t resist putting his pen and voice to fighting injustice. The biggest threat he worked against was the growing power of the Know-Nothing Party, which had a bent against immigrants that outdid even today’s populist antagonism (after progrom-style attacks on foreigners in Philadelphia, they “knew nothing” when queried by police) . Lincoln characterized them in a letter to a friend:
As a nation, we began by declaring that ‘all men are created equal’. …We now practically read it ‘all men are created equal except Negroes.’ When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read ‘allmen are created equal except Negroes,and foreigners, and Catholics.’ “
When the Civil War came, Meagher was quick to join forces with others to form the Irish Brigade of volunteers to defend the capital. He had much success with the recruiting argument that the Irish could earn the respect of their new country by helping suppress a rebellion that depended critically on alliance with their enemy, the British government and its industry driven by cheap cotton grown by slave labor. In the back of his mind, he also felt that development of military skills would eventually pay off in freeing Ireland from Crown control. Though the first battles of Bull Run and Manassas ended up a defeat for the Union, the Irish Brigade demonstrated courage and discipline and earned the respect of General Sherman despite his clear prejudices against the Irish. Soon the commanders were throwing the Irish Brigade into the toughest frays, leading to much loss of life. McClellan, the Commander of the Army of the Potoac, failed to take advantage when Meagher’s forces got within striking distance of the Confederate capital, Richmond . Lincoln’s replacement for this popular but over-cautious commander, Burnside, was even more disastrous for Meagher’s men. At the battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia, midway between Washington and Richmond, Burnside ordered them to take a well-defended Rebel position behind a stone wall on a hill known as Marye’s Heights. After 14 fruitless charges up the hill, 3,000 of his men were mowed down. At battle’s end, the Union suffered 13,000 dead and wounded to 5,000 for the Confederacy. Meagher never got over the criminal waste of his men, a source of despair mitigated little by Lincoln swiftly firing Burnside.
After a period of more battles under Hooker (Chancellorsville and the “Wilderness”), Meagher resigned his commission. Back in New York, all his dreams about leading Irish immigrants to a higher status were irrevocably destroyed by the infamous riot that broke out when Lincoln instituted a draft. The provision that people with $300 could buy their way out of the draft or hire a replacement for service was the straw that broke the camel’s back for the underclass dominated by the Irish. In the riots anything or anyone of authority or wealth was a target, and the growing population of blacks were also attacked as a threat to their jobs. Through four days of rampage, much of Manhattan was burned and perhaps 500 were killed directly or indirectly. The next step that breached Meagher’s alliance with the majority of his fellow Irish was the Emancipation Proclamation. With that executive order, the war became a one of abolition of slavery. England, which had outlawed the business of slavery long before, was forced into a neutral position. The masses of poor Irish could not align themselves to sympathize for a class of people a rung below them in social stature. Meagher in contrast finally got sold on the solidarity of the oppressed Irish and blacks, harking back to the conclusions reached by Frederick Douglass during his long tour of Ireland in 1845.
Despite the strong tie of his second wife to New York (his first from his Tasmanian stay had died in childbirth in Ireland), Meagher was driven to seek a new life out west. On his way to Montana, a friend in power arranged for him without his knowledge to assume the post of Secretary to the territorial government . When he arrived, the Governor abruptly left him in charge. The concept of establishing a New Ireland as a haven for the urban Irish inspired him, as did the beautiful remote valley of the provisional capital of Virginia City. Unfortunately, some lawless vigilantes had long been in control by terror and murder. Egan makes strong arguments that his untimely death in his mid-40s was a murder.
This book was a pleasure to read due to the way Egan marshals the story of personalities and events with vividness while providing excellent context of the major elements of history of the Irish people in Ireland, Tasmania, New York, and the Civil War. The same writing skills evident here must apply to his National Book Award for his history of Dust Bowl America during the Great Depression, “The Worst Hard Times”.
March 13, 2018
”The water is wide I can not get o'er,
And neither have I wings to fly,
Give me a boat that will carry two,
And both shall row my love and I
“O love is handsome and love is fine,
And love's a jewel when it's first new,
But love grows old then waxes gold,
And fades away like morning dew,
“Must I go bound while you go free
Must I love a land who doesn’t love me
Must I be born with so little art
As to love a land who broke my heart
“The water is wide I can not get o'er,
And neither have I wings to fly,
Give me a boat that will carry two,
And both shall row my love and I”
“The Water is Wide” – Eva Cassidy, James Taylor, Bob Dylan and too many others to name…
I’ve changed the lyrics in the third verse, which I’ve never heard used in any variation of this song - exchanging the word “man” for “land.” If you read this story, the story of a man who fought for his country, only to be forbidden from her shores the remainder of his life, it makes sense to change this word.
”Most call him General Meagher, and some can even pronounce it—a single syllable,
Mar, an honorable surname from County Tipperary, Descendant of tribal chieftains at that. More than once, this General Meagher had stormed into a blizzard of musketry to slay the defenders of slavery. He led the Irish Brigade, the storied castoffs who fought for the Union under a green flag of a harp and a sunburst. Knocked senseless and left for dead in one battle, in another he was left holding a best friend while the soldier’s heart gave out. This was the price to be accepted as an American.”
”Always the exile.”
”For the better part of seven centuries, to be Irish in Ireland was to live in a land not your own. You called a lake next to your family home by one name, and the occupiers gave it another. You knew a town had been built by the hands of your ancestors, the quarry of origin for the stones pressed into those streets, and you were forbidden from inhabiting it. You could not enter a court of law as anything but a criminal or a snitch. You could not worship your God, in a church open to the public, without risking prison or public flogging. You could not attend school, at any level, even at home. And if your parents sent you out of the country to be educated, you could not return. You could not marry, conduct trade or go into business with a Christian Protestant. You could not have a foster child. If orphaned, you were forced into a home full of people who rejected your faith. You could not play your favorite sports—hurling was specifically prohibited. You could not own land in more than 80 percent of your country; the bogs, barrens and highlands were your haunts. You could not own a horse worth more than £5 sterling. If you married an Englishman, you would lose everything upon his death. You could not speak your language outside your home. You would not think in Irish, so the logic went, if you were not allowed to speak in Irish.
”Your ancient verses were forbidden from being uttered in select company. Your songs could not be sung, your music not played, your Celtic crosses not displayed. You could be thrown in prison for expressions of your folklore or native art. One law made it a felony for ‘a piper, story-teller, babler, or rimer’ to be in the company of an Englishman.”
The list goes on. Punishments were barbarous, removal of fingernails if you were caught playing the harp. Anything that brought comfort, a sense of nationalism, too close to being ‘Irish’ were banned. Bards and harpers were “to be exterminated.” Irish dress, hairstyle, Irish sport. Laws were enacted to ensure the proper way to mount a horse. Ride a horse without a proper English saddle and go to jail, to stay until such time as they paid a fine “according to the King’s pleasure.”
Born on the 3rd of August in 1823, in Waterford, Ireland, Thomas Francis Meagher was born into a family who had money, but as he grew older, everywhere he looked, Meagher saw oppression. As the conditions in Ireland worsened, especially for those who had worked the land which gradually turned to rot, the Prime Minister declared the Irish ”prone to high drama” with a “tendency to exaggeration and inaccuracy” and ignored their cries for help, for food.
”And here was the tragedy: there was plenty of food in Ireland while the people starved.”
Eventually, as a voice of the rebellion that followed, Meagher was arrested on sedition, banished from his home and sent to Tasmania.
Eventually, he managed to escape the penal colony and ended up in New York City. He begins speaking publicly, writing as a journalist, and marries a Protestant woman, the daughter of means.
And then the Civil War begins, and being the man who conceived of the idea of the Irish flag, as we know it, it seems only natural that he should become the leader and captain of the Irish Brigade. Eventually he rises through the ranks.
There’s more, so much more. It’s all so incredibly engaging, even though it seems to hard for me to believe. Years ago, one of my friends on goodreads, Will Byrnes, convinced me to read Timothy Egan’s “The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl” through his review. I was amazed how compelling a story this was. All of his life is incredibly fascinating, from surviving the Great Hunger in Ireland, to being shuttled off to live in Tasmania, banished from Ireland, to how he manages to escape his imprisonment in Tasmania and eventually to America. From there, his life is filled with more adventure, more action. More life, more love.
”His life is the story of Ireland.”
What a marvelous look into the life of a man who lived what he believed – that all men are created equal.
Highly recommended
January 7, 2016
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me this ebook in return for an honest review. I enjoyed reading it and give it 4 out 5 stars. The author does an excellent job of telling the story of Thomas Francis Meagher, a man sentenced to be hanged for treason by the British because he advocated independence for Ireland. He was pardoned by Queen Victoria, after intense pressure from around the world, including the USA.
The author spends a couple of chapters setting up the background of Meagher's Ireland. The restrictions that the British put upon the Irish people were all encompassing--Outlawing harps, putting a bounty on harpists, prohibiting intermarriage between English and Irish, prohibiting Irish from serving on juries, voting, holding any office---some of these laws went back to 1367.
During the great famine from 1846 to 1850, Britain had more soldiers in Ireland than India.
Meagher was sent to Australia instead of being hanged. After several years in Australia, Meagher managed to escape to the USA. He raised a brigade of Irish soldiers for the Union during the Civil war. He was one of the finest generals in the Union army. He ended his life as Acting Governor of the Montana territory. The circumstances of his death are suspicious.
Thomas Meagher's heritage lives on today. The Irish flag that he designed is now the Republic of Ireland flag. His brigade's rallying cry "Garry Owen" is still used by a successor US Army unit. He lived a life of integrity and honor.
The author has done a great deal of research, but there are no individual footnotes. There are about 40 pages of notes on sources by chapter(this ebook did not have page numbers).
The author spends a couple of chapters setting up the background of Meagher's Ireland. The restrictions that the British put upon the Irish people were all encompassing--Outlawing harps, putting a bounty on harpists, prohibiting intermarriage between English and Irish, prohibiting Irish from serving on juries, voting, holding any office---some of these laws went back to 1367.
During the great famine from 1846 to 1850, Britain had more soldiers in Ireland than India.
Meagher was sent to Australia instead of being hanged. After several years in Australia, Meagher managed to escape to the USA. He raised a brigade of Irish soldiers for the Union during the Civil war. He was one of the finest generals in the Union army. He ended his life as Acting Governor of the Montana territory. The circumstances of his death are suspicious.
Thomas Meagher's heritage lives on today. The Irish flag that he designed is now the Republic of Ireland flag. His brigade's rallying cry "Garry Owen" is still used by a successor US Army unit. He lived a life of integrity and honor.
The author has done a great deal of research, but there are no individual footnotes. There are about 40 pages of notes on sources by chapter(this ebook did not have page numbers).
April 3, 2016
Biography is an exceptional art form especially when a unique life story is represented. In the case of Thomas Francis Meagher, author Timothy Egan, a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter for the New York Times has unearthed a somewhat obscure, but remarkable historical figure, who impacted the course of Irish history in a remarkable way. Meagher, a man who like a cat seemed to have had nine lives left Ireland in 1848 after being arrested and tried for treason by the British government. He was imprisoned in a remote area of Australia where he escaped in 1852 and landed in New York City where he stood against the anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic Know Nothing Party and later led an Irish brigade against the south during the Civil War. If that was not enough for one lifetime, he concluded his astonishing career as the territorial governor of Montana.
Egan’s THE IMMORTAL IRISHMAN: THE IRISH REVOLUTIONARY WHO BECAME AN AMERICAN HERO presents a wonderful narrative about a man who seems to be everywhere. Though Meagher had reached hero status among the Irish people, he seemed to encounter enemies everywhere he turned. The British saw him as a fugitive, politicians in the United States viewed him as an abolitionist, vigilantes in Montana felt he was a traitor. Meagher was a man who escaped death repeatedly. He escaped the English gallows, Tasmanian sharks missed their opportunity as he swam away from Australia, and survived the Battle of Bull Run. But in 1867 when he was trying to organize a democratic government in the Montana territory, was his fall from a Mississippi steam boat an accident, or did his luck finally run out when he may have been pushed.
Egan has created a somewhat literary approach to his subject as he constantly weaves his and other Irish poets and their work throughout his story. The author tells a tale encompassing the plight of the Irish throughout their enslavement by the British culminating in the Great Famine of the 1840s. At a time when the potato blight led to the starvation and immigration of millions of Irish poor, the British government exported the Irish crops that could have fed their people overseas for profit. The lassaiz-faire trade policy was a death knell for the Irish people that even brought certain British officials to admit they were engaged in genocide. The overt ethnic cleansing of the Irish people led men like Thomas Francis Meagher to stand up against this holocaust and organize a revolt against the London government. The slow limiting of civil rights through penal laws and the presence of the British navy and soldiers made it impossible for the “Young Ireland” movement for Irish independence to have any chance for success.
Meagher himself did not come from a poor family. His father was a Member of Parliament, he himself attended Stonyhurst where the “tried to squeeze the Irish out of him,” and grew up in a mansion in Waterford. Meagher quickly gained a reputation as a debater and his reputation as an orator preceded him everywhere. Egan reviews the other 19th century historical figures who worked for Irish independence as the potato famine spread. The author does a wonderful job providing the reader a feel for the disastrous blight that ravaged Ireland and the English government’s complicity in its catastrophic results. For London, the blight presented an opportunity to populate Canada and Australia which were in dire need of cheap labor, and at the same time solve their Irish problem. As Egan discusses Meagher’s situation he weaves in the story of the founding and development of Australia, and with the presence of the Irish down under Australia’s independence was eventually achieved!
Once he arrived in New York City, Meagher was greeted as a hero and his popularity presented Egan with the opportunity to develop the history of that city, where one in four people were Irish. To make a living Meagher went on a series of speaking tours and argued that he did not oppose slavery because it was the law of the land, what he opposed was breaking up the union. After Fort Sumter and secession, Meagher changed his mind, as he realized that the plight of southern slaves and Irish peasants were one and the same. Meagher’s irresistible story continues as he went against the majority opinion of his own people to fight against slavery as he helped lead an Irish brigade against the Confederate at Bull Run, that later in the war brought the union general, William Tecumseh Sherman, who hated Meagher, to heap praise on the Irish for their bravery in battle.
In times of peace, Meagher could not maintain his level of popularity and his life went into decline. During his life Meagher witnessed much too much of the underside of history. Eventually the price to be paid was a later life where he was plagued by alcoholism, financial issues, and loneliness. He ended his career as the Secretary of the Montana Territory and tried to bring law and order to a very unruly area. It was because of this governmental service that Meagher died, not by falling off a riverboat while drunk, but as Egan argues, was captured by Montana vigilantes and thrown off the ship’s deck to his death. As Egan tells his story we see an imperfect protagonist, but one who never backed away from a fight and never turned away from his core principles. THE IMMORTAL IRISHMAN is an exceptional work of history, even though at times Egan’s prose can be become somewhat flowery, a need for more specific citations, and a few minor historical errors. But overall, the work of Timothy Egan is exceptional, as he turns a sound historical work into something that reads like a well thought out novel.
Egan’s THE IMMORTAL IRISHMAN: THE IRISH REVOLUTIONARY WHO BECAME AN AMERICAN HERO presents a wonderful narrative about a man who seems to be everywhere. Though Meagher had reached hero status among the Irish people, he seemed to encounter enemies everywhere he turned. The British saw him as a fugitive, politicians in the United States viewed him as an abolitionist, vigilantes in Montana felt he was a traitor. Meagher was a man who escaped death repeatedly. He escaped the English gallows, Tasmanian sharks missed their opportunity as he swam away from Australia, and survived the Battle of Bull Run. But in 1867 when he was trying to organize a democratic government in the Montana territory, was his fall from a Mississippi steam boat an accident, or did his luck finally run out when he may have been pushed.
Egan has created a somewhat literary approach to his subject as he constantly weaves his and other Irish poets and their work throughout his story. The author tells a tale encompassing the plight of the Irish throughout their enslavement by the British culminating in the Great Famine of the 1840s. At a time when the potato blight led to the starvation and immigration of millions of Irish poor, the British government exported the Irish crops that could have fed their people overseas for profit. The lassaiz-faire trade policy was a death knell for the Irish people that even brought certain British officials to admit they were engaged in genocide. The overt ethnic cleansing of the Irish people led men like Thomas Francis Meagher to stand up against this holocaust and organize a revolt against the London government. The slow limiting of civil rights through penal laws and the presence of the British navy and soldiers made it impossible for the “Young Ireland” movement for Irish independence to have any chance for success.
Meagher himself did not come from a poor family. His father was a Member of Parliament, he himself attended Stonyhurst where the “tried to squeeze the Irish out of him,” and grew up in a mansion in Waterford. Meagher quickly gained a reputation as a debater and his reputation as an orator preceded him everywhere. Egan reviews the other 19th century historical figures who worked for Irish independence as the potato famine spread. The author does a wonderful job providing the reader a feel for the disastrous blight that ravaged Ireland and the English government’s complicity in its catastrophic results. For London, the blight presented an opportunity to populate Canada and Australia which were in dire need of cheap labor, and at the same time solve their Irish problem. As Egan discusses Meagher’s situation he weaves in the story of the founding and development of Australia, and with the presence of the Irish down under Australia’s independence was eventually achieved!
Once he arrived in New York City, Meagher was greeted as a hero and his popularity presented Egan with the opportunity to develop the history of that city, where one in four people were Irish. To make a living Meagher went on a series of speaking tours and argued that he did not oppose slavery because it was the law of the land, what he opposed was breaking up the union. After Fort Sumter and secession, Meagher changed his mind, as he realized that the plight of southern slaves and Irish peasants were one and the same. Meagher’s irresistible story continues as he went against the majority opinion of his own people to fight against slavery as he helped lead an Irish brigade against the Confederate at Bull Run, that later in the war brought the union general, William Tecumseh Sherman, who hated Meagher, to heap praise on the Irish for their bravery in battle.
In times of peace, Meagher could not maintain his level of popularity and his life went into decline. During his life Meagher witnessed much too much of the underside of history. Eventually the price to be paid was a later life where he was plagued by alcoholism, financial issues, and loneliness. He ended his career as the Secretary of the Montana Territory and tried to bring law and order to a very unruly area. It was because of this governmental service that Meagher died, not by falling off a riverboat while drunk, but as Egan argues, was captured by Montana vigilantes and thrown off the ship’s deck to his death. As Egan tells his story we see an imperfect protagonist, but one who never backed away from a fight and never turned away from his core principles. THE IMMORTAL IRISHMAN is an exceptional work of history, even though at times Egan’s prose can be become somewhat flowery, a need for more specific citations, and a few minor historical errors. But overall, the work of Timothy Egan is exceptional, as he turns a sound historical work into something that reads like a well thought out novel.
January 13, 2019
UPDATE: I think I was too harsh ... I did enjoy the Tasmanian section ... changed to 3***
There are some excellent scenes in this book; some are quite moving. These are all scenes where Thomas Meagher is the central character. He is interesting and charismatic.
However, way too much of the book reports the history of Meagher's times, rather than his involvement and impact on that history. Too much on the Irish famine, too much on the American Civil War.
My feeling (perhaps because I write historical novels) is that a historical novel based on Meagher's life could have been a much better read. He was a writer, and a public speaker. There must be a ton of material in those writings and speeches that never made it into The Immortal Irishman, plus what could be imagined from that rich base.
There are some excellent scenes in this book; some are quite moving. These are all scenes where Thomas Meagher is the central character. He is interesting and charismatic.
However, way too much of the book reports the history of Meagher's times, rather than his involvement and impact on that history. Too much on the Irish famine, too much on the American Civil War.
My feeling (perhaps because I write historical novels) is that a historical novel based on Meagher's life could have been a much better read. He was a writer, and a public speaker. There must be a ton of material in those writings and speeches that never made it into The Immortal Irishman, plus what could be imagined from that rich base.
March 4, 2017
The story of Thomas Francis Meagher is nothing less than astonishing. He was the son of a wealthy Waterford merchant who was a member of British Parliament. A hero and popular orator in Ireland, Meagher was the originator of the Irish tricolor which became the Irish flag. He was exiled to Australia for his role in Young Ireland in the risings around 1848, escaping a death sentence. Because Meagher lived in America later, we know that somehow he escaped from Tasmania.
Meagher ended up in New York and was there when the American Civil War broke out. He not only joined the Union cause, but recruited hundreds of Irish men to join the Irish Brigade.
http://www.history.com/topics/america...
Egan describes the battles in excruciating detail. I had no idea that the area east of Fredericksburg, and along the Rappahannock River was the scene of one of the deadliest Civil War battles. I have spent time in that area but was completely unaware of what had gone on there. http://www.history.com/topics/america...
This is due to the fact I am a New Englander, though I now live (in exile) in Maryland. Here Irish fought Irish as both the Union and Confederate armies were full of Irish immigrants. The Irish became known for their ferocity in battle.
This is a book I would like to have a physical copy of. It is filled with historical details and provides an integrated portrayal of the fight for Irish freedom, Irish immigration to America, the Irish role in the Civil War, and Irish in the far west. Meagher eventually made his way to Montana, where there is statue of him in front of the state capitol building in Helena. http://milescity.com/forums/posts/vie...
Highly recommended for those interested in American and Irish history and everything in between.
Meagher ended up in New York and was there when the American Civil War broke out. He not only joined the Union cause, but recruited hundreds of Irish men to join the Irish Brigade.
http://www.history.com/topics/america...
Egan describes the battles in excruciating detail. I had no idea that the area east of Fredericksburg, and along the Rappahannock River was the scene of one of the deadliest Civil War battles. I have spent time in that area but was completely unaware of what had gone on there. http://www.history.com/topics/america...
This is due to the fact I am a New Englander, though I now live (in exile) in Maryland. Here Irish fought Irish as both the Union and Confederate armies were full of Irish immigrants. The Irish became known for their ferocity in battle.
This is a book I would like to have a physical copy of. It is filled with historical details and provides an integrated portrayal of the fight for Irish freedom, Irish immigration to America, the Irish role in the Civil War, and Irish in the far west. Meagher eventually made his way to Montana, where there is statue of him in front of the state capitol building in Helena. http://milescity.com/forums/posts/vie...
Highly recommended for those interested in American and Irish history and everything in between.
March 18, 2017
An amazing character who conquered adversity on 3 continents while remaining true to his beliefs. Have seen the HUGE statue if him in Helena, Montana at the state capitol where he was Governor and the statue is a fitting tribute to a true hero.
September 12, 2016
What a highly readable biography of a fascinating man! Thomas Francis Meagher, born to wealth and a comfortable future, cast it aside, choosing instead an active role in the quest for Irish Independence. A fiery, skilled orator, Meagher’s words and actions during the Great Famine ultimately led to arrest and imprisonment. The ensuing result was banishment to a Tasmanian prison colony, a fate which befell untold numbers of his countrymen during that tragic era. However, that was just the beginning of what lay in store for this colorful individual, as he went on to become a general in the American Civil War, and eventually to play an important role in settling the American West. I listened, spellbound, to the audio book! The skilled narrator’s brogue added a compelling quality to the already gripping account! Now I’m eager to return to Ireland someday and visit the spots which mark Thomas Meagher’s extraordinary life!
December 29, 2024
I’ve read several books on the character of Ireland and several tragic books on the Troubles…this book on Thomas Meagher manages to encapsulate not just a remarkable life: wealthy youth, lover of poetry, pamphleteer, revolutionary, imprisoned and sentenced to death, exiled to penal colony, escape, America, orator, civil war general, hero, governor of Montana, ?murder victim?…
…but does an indirect job of distilling both the nature of the Irish, Ireland, and Irish Americans…mournfully joyous, dolefully vigorous…
…but does an indirect job of distilling both the nature of the Irish, Ireland, and Irish Americans…mournfully joyous, dolefully vigorous…
January 3, 2018
The Immortal Irishmen was the surprise book of the year for me. Honestly, I selected this book because my Audible credits were accumulating. I read the name Meagher and I thought this might be a good opportunity to learn a little bit more about the commanding officer of the Irish Brigade and the Civil War in general. Boy, did I ever underestimate this book. Not only did I learn how to correctly pronounce Thomas Francis Meagher’s last name(pronounced Mar), I also learned that he was one of the greater heroes of the 19th century. Author, Timothy Eagan, sets the scene for being Irish and living under British rule as well as William Manchester sets the scene for living in Victorian England in his brilliant Winston Churchill trilogy, The Last Lion. Narrator, Gerald Doyle adds a nice touch by reciting this story with a bit of an Irish brogue which I found very tolerable and appropriate.
The reader will learn about British oppression in Ireland since the days preceding Oliver Cromwell up to the Irish Potato Famine. I was left wondering how Ireland could be one the world’s largest exporters of grain and beef while at the same time half of the inhabitants of the island were starving to death due to the potato blight.
I was on the edge of my seat learning about Ireland’s brave young hero as he plotted to overthrow British rule in order to feed Ireland. He was captured along with several co-conspirators, and in 1847, Meagher was sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered for treason. The death sentence was commuted for political reasons by Queen Victoria. Instead, he was exiled to the United Kingdom’s last penal colony, Van Diemens’s land (modern day Tasmania), to live out his days. Meagher defies all odds once again and makes a daring escape to the United States.
So many times I got chills up and down my spine when Meagher demonstrated that his moral compass was more accurate than his contemporaries. Meagher proved this over and over again. First, when the Civil War broke out Irishmen were hesitant to fight for the Union because they were told that freed blacks may one day compete for their jobs. Meagher, who was no abolitionist at the time, recruited Irishmen to fight for Union and the flag that took them in. He also had an ulterior motive of training an army of Irishmen who would one day help liberate Ireland of British rule.
Meagher proved himself a brave leader in battle from Bull Run to Fredericksburg. The Irish Brigade fought in every major battle of the Army of the Potomac and sustained what Eagan described as the 3rd highest casualties of any brigade in the Civil War. Meagher resigned his command shortly after the massed frontal assault that the Irish Brigade was ordered to make against an entrenched enemy behind a stone wall at Fredericksburg. Meagher was disgusted by the stupid command that led to so many casualties and the near destruction of the brigade. He sought a furlough for his war torn Irish Brigade. Not being able to obtain this well-deserved rest was the last straw and Meagher resigned.
Meanwhile, there were draft riots by the Irish in New York City. The war was going badly and the Irish of New York City wanted no more part of it. The Union had to send six regiments to quell these riots and over 500 people were killed in the process! Most Irish leaders made excuses for the rioting Irish immigrants but not Thomas Francis Meagher. There was no excuse for this mayhem and Meagher would not condone or try to explain this away. It was about this time that Meagher had appeared to side with the abolitionists.
Egan explained that at the time of the outbreak of the war, abolitionists were a small minority in the population. Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of 1862 was a political master stroke. The British had sided with the confederacy because the number one industry in England was textiles and 90% of the cotton consumed by that industry was supplied by the Confederacy. Lincoln’s proclamation caused a huge political problem for Great Britain whose populace were not going to allow their country to support a Confederacy and an industry born off the backs of slaves.
After the war, Meagher accepted the assignment as acting Governor of Montana. He drowned under mysterious circumstances. It is presumed that a member of a vigilante mob may have pushed him overboard but we will never know for sure. What we do know is that Thomas Meagher always stood for what he thought was right and justice even in the face of great odds and almost certain peril. This time the luck of the Irish wasn’t enough to save him.
Rest in peace Thomas Francis Meagher. The world needs more men like you. You were a true hero in every way. This book helped me to realize this.
The reader will learn about British oppression in Ireland since the days preceding Oliver Cromwell up to the Irish Potato Famine. I was left wondering how Ireland could be one the world’s largest exporters of grain and beef while at the same time half of the inhabitants of the island were starving to death due to the potato blight.
I was on the edge of my seat learning about Ireland’s brave young hero as he plotted to overthrow British rule in order to feed Ireland. He was captured along with several co-conspirators, and in 1847, Meagher was sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered for treason. The death sentence was commuted for political reasons by Queen Victoria. Instead, he was exiled to the United Kingdom’s last penal colony, Van Diemens’s land (modern day Tasmania), to live out his days. Meagher defies all odds once again and makes a daring escape to the United States.
So many times I got chills up and down my spine when Meagher demonstrated that his moral compass was more accurate than his contemporaries. Meagher proved this over and over again. First, when the Civil War broke out Irishmen were hesitant to fight for the Union because they were told that freed blacks may one day compete for their jobs. Meagher, who was no abolitionist at the time, recruited Irishmen to fight for Union and the flag that took them in. He also had an ulterior motive of training an army of Irishmen who would one day help liberate Ireland of British rule.
Meagher proved himself a brave leader in battle from Bull Run to Fredericksburg. The Irish Brigade fought in every major battle of the Army of the Potomac and sustained what Eagan described as the 3rd highest casualties of any brigade in the Civil War. Meagher resigned his command shortly after the massed frontal assault that the Irish Brigade was ordered to make against an entrenched enemy behind a stone wall at Fredericksburg. Meagher was disgusted by the stupid command that led to so many casualties and the near destruction of the brigade. He sought a furlough for his war torn Irish Brigade. Not being able to obtain this well-deserved rest was the last straw and Meagher resigned.
Meanwhile, there were draft riots by the Irish in New York City. The war was going badly and the Irish of New York City wanted no more part of it. The Union had to send six regiments to quell these riots and over 500 people were killed in the process! Most Irish leaders made excuses for the rioting Irish immigrants but not Thomas Francis Meagher. There was no excuse for this mayhem and Meagher would not condone or try to explain this away. It was about this time that Meagher had appeared to side with the abolitionists.
Egan explained that at the time of the outbreak of the war, abolitionists were a small minority in the population. Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of 1862 was a political master stroke. The British had sided with the confederacy because the number one industry in England was textiles and 90% of the cotton consumed by that industry was supplied by the Confederacy. Lincoln’s proclamation caused a huge political problem for Great Britain whose populace were not going to allow their country to support a Confederacy and an industry born off the backs of slaves.
After the war, Meagher accepted the assignment as acting Governor of Montana. He drowned under mysterious circumstances. It is presumed that a member of a vigilante mob may have pushed him overboard but we will never know for sure. What we do know is that Thomas Meagher always stood for what he thought was right and justice even in the face of great odds and almost certain peril. This time the luck of the Irish wasn’t enough to save him.
Rest in peace Thomas Francis Meagher. The world needs more men like you. You were a true hero in every way. This book helped me to realize this.
January 11, 2018
I generally enjoy books about the life of a person who was well-known in his time, but has faded into history. This is one such book. Thomas Meagher (1823-1867) was an Irish Revolutionary, a prisoner, an escapee, an orator, a General in the American Civil War, and Acting Governor of the Montana Territory. Talk about an interesting life! It’s astounding to think that one person could have done so much in his relatively short life of 43 years.
This book reads like an adventure story, with Egan bringing history to life in an entertaining way. Not only do we find out what Meagher did during his eventful life, but also key elements of his character, making it easy to infer why he made certain choices. The author presents his theory, grounded in eye witness accounts, as to what happened to Thomas Meagher at the end of his life. Too much time has passed to know for sure, but he makes an interesting case. Recommended to history buffs. Contains grisly descriptions of what happened to soldiers during the Civil War and to victims of lawlessness in the Montana Territory.
This book reads like an adventure story, with Egan bringing history to life in an entertaining way. Not only do we find out what Meagher did during his eventful life, but also key elements of his character, making it easy to infer why he made certain choices. The author presents his theory, grounded in eye witness accounts, as to what happened to Thomas Meagher at the end of his life. Too much time has passed to know for sure, but he makes an interesting case. Recommended to history buffs. Contains grisly descriptions of what happened to soldiers during the Civil War and to victims of lawlessness in the Montana Territory.
April 27, 2023
Thomas Francis Meagher (pronounced "mahr") was an Irish revolutionary in the mid-1800's when the potato famine hit Ireland especially hard. Coming from a wealthy family and the son of a father who served in Parliament, Meagher attended private schools in England and was raised to be a gentleman. Instead, he joined those seeking a revolution and used his persuasive speaking talents in favor of freedom from Britain. His own revolution, however, ended not with a bang but a whimper when he was banished to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania).
But the story of Thomas Meagher doesn't end there. He eventually escaped and made his way to the United States, where he again used his voice to rally the Irish and call for reforms of the way Britain treated the Irish. When the American Civil War began, Meagher served as a general for the Union. Eventually, he ended up as the territorial governor of Montana.
This sounded like it ought to be a compelling story; instead, I felt anything but compelled to keep reading. I finally gave up with about 100 pages to go. Egan's storytelling is done in an almost too-familiar style where he frequently interjects into the narrative with observations that seem meant to guide the reader's feelings and judgement. I also found the narrative to be a little uneven. He paints a vivid picture of the suffering and starvation of the Irish poor who are portrayed as weak and wholly incapable in the face of the invincible British (who are portrayed as especially unfeeling and ruthless). This is perhaps understandable to some degree, given the subject matter, but it doesn't feel like a balanced story.
Egan does a good job of illustrating the differing viewpoints of the Irish in America when it comes to the Negroes and slavery. Some identified with the plight of the downtrodden and powerless, while others saw potentially freed slaves as labor competition. But the flattest character for me was Meagher himself. He's shown in the rosiest of lights, adhering to the code of a gentleman even when he escapes after giving his word not to, and all his efforts on behalf of his countrymen. One fleeting suggestion appeared that the revolutionaries were the "sexually liberated crowd" (pg 31 in the advance copy), yet this aspect is not developed and instead Meagher is shown as a chaste exile in Tasmania.
I forced myself to keep reading but I just didn't find it interesting enough. I also didn't like Egan's The Big Burn (wish I'd realized it was the same author before I picked this one), so maybe I just don't like his style. (I received an advance copy from Amazon Vine.)
But the story of Thomas Meagher doesn't end there. He eventually escaped and made his way to the United States, where he again used his voice to rally the Irish and call for reforms of the way Britain treated the Irish. When the American Civil War began, Meagher served as a general for the Union. Eventually, he ended up as the territorial governor of Montana.
This sounded like it ought to be a compelling story; instead, I felt anything but compelled to keep reading. I finally gave up with about 100 pages to go. Egan's storytelling is done in an almost too-familiar style where he frequently interjects into the narrative with observations that seem meant to guide the reader's feelings and judgement. I also found the narrative to be a little uneven. He paints a vivid picture of the suffering and starvation of the Irish poor who are portrayed as weak and wholly incapable in the face of the invincible British (who are portrayed as especially unfeeling and ruthless). This is perhaps understandable to some degree, given the subject matter, but it doesn't feel like a balanced story.
Egan does a good job of illustrating the differing viewpoints of the Irish in America when it comes to the Negroes and slavery. Some identified with the plight of the downtrodden and powerless, while others saw potentially freed slaves as labor competition. But the flattest character for me was Meagher himself. He's shown in the rosiest of lights, adhering to the code of a gentleman even when he escapes after giving his word not to, and all his efforts on behalf of his countrymen. One fleeting suggestion appeared that the revolutionaries were the "sexually liberated crowd" (pg 31 in the advance copy), yet this aspect is not developed and instead Meagher is shown as a chaste exile in Tasmania.
I forced myself to keep reading but I just didn't find it interesting enough. I also didn't like Egan's The Big Burn (wish I'd realized it was the same author before I picked this one), so maybe I just don't like his style. (I received an advance copy from Amazon Vine.)
July 23, 2022
Thomas Francis Meagher was an Irish revolutionary who as a young man spoke out against Britain during the Great Hunger of the 1840s. This led to his arrest and his banishment to a Tasmanian prison colony. He miraculously escaped from the island and ended up in New York. He became an activist there too and ended up leading an Irish Union brigade during the Civil War. I consider myself fairly well-read but I don’t remember ever reading about Meagher before. Egan is one of my favorite nonfiction writers and he really delivers a gem with this one. Thoroughly engaging from beginning to end.
January 13, 2019
Such an interesting and informative book. I thought I knew something about Ireland and the Civil War but this book was a revelation. I saw the author on BookTV being interviewed and knew I had to get this book.
Thomas Francis Meagher (pronounced Mar) is man too few Americans know about it and should know about: aristocrat, orator, revolutionary, warrior, soldier, and governor of Montana. He lived only 41 years but those years had more living than many octogenarians experience. He lived a rich life as an Irish aristocrat and was banished to Tasmania after the 1848 uprising against the British. He was an orator and writer with a huge following in Ireland and a clear and present danger to the Crown. Sentenced to death, he and others were rescued from the hangman's noose only to be exiled forever from Ireland. He escaped from Tasmania to the United States where he achieved some fame prior to the Civil War. He never forgot what the British did to the Irish during the famine and spent his whole life trying to return to Ireland and get justice for his people.
Indeed the famine was created by the English as they refused to allow food in Ireland to go to the Irish. Food was exported during the famine years from Ireland as the British refused to interfere with the invisible hand of the free market. Aid to the Irish was viewed with disdain by the British authorities and when little bits of it were provided it was not free. Most everyone has heard and knows of the famine but few know that the British made a bad situation worse and used it as a form of population control.
I'd heard of the Irish Brigade of the Union Army during the Civil War but not its commander-Meagher. He was in the thick of the fighting and instrumental in the recruiting of thousands of Irish into its ranks. Bull Run, Fair Oaks, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville- Meagher was there and witnessed the destruction and deaths of so many friends. These heavy losses turned the Irish back in the cities against him. Egan paints a picture of a man who made his own decisions and did what he thought was right. He supported Lincoln, a Republican when most of the Irish were Democrats.
Like President Garfield, he was a man with much left to contribute to this country and left us far too early. His last days dealing with a right wing vigilante group in Montana were tough. If you think the current headlines are bad you need to go back in time with Meagher when things were really bad to appreciate how far we've come as a nation.
Thomas Francis Meagher (pronounced Mar) is man too few Americans know about it and should know about: aristocrat, orator, revolutionary, warrior, soldier, and governor of Montana. He lived only 41 years but those years had more living than many octogenarians experience. He lived a rich life as an Irish aristocrat and was banished to Tasmania after the 1848 uprising against the British. He was an orator and writer with a huge following in Ireland and a clear and present danger to the Crown. Sentenced to death, he and others were rescued from the hangman's noose only to be exiled forever from Ireland. He escaped from Tasmania to the United States where he achieved some fame prior to the Civil War. He never forgot what the British did to the Irish during the famine and spent his whole life trying to return to Ireland and get justice for his people.
Indeed the famine was created by the English as they refused to allow food in Ireland to go to the Irish. Food was exported during the famine years from Ireland as the British refused to interfere with the invisible hand of the free market. Aid to the Irish was viewed with disdain by the British authorities and when little bits of it were provided it was not free. Most everyone has heard and knows of the famine but few know that the British made a bad situation worse and used it as a form of population control.
I'd heard of the Irish Brigade of the Union Army during the Civil War but not its commander-Meagher. He was in the thick of the fighting and instrumental in the recruiting of thousands of Irish into its ranks. Bull Run, Fair Oaks, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville- Meagher was there and witnessed the destruction and deaths of so many friends. These heavy losses turned the Irish back in the cities against him. Egan paints a picture of a man who made his own decisions and did what he thought was right. He supported Lincoln, a Republican when most of the Irish were Democrats.
Like President Garfield, he was a man with much left to contribute to this country and left us far too early. His last days dealing with a right wing vigilante group in Montana were tough. If you think the current headlines are bad you need to go back in time with Meagher when things were really bad to appreciate how far we've come as a nation.
March 14, 2016
If you ever need to investigate man's inhumanity towards man you need only read an Irish history book. The troubles, as my mother refers to the struggle for Irish sovereignty in typically Irish understatement, were appalling to say the least. As the natives in the country were starving in a genocide that could have been prevented, it was the poets and the orators whose words stood strong, and Thomas Meagher was among the brightest lights in the darkest time.
July 6, 2016
Immortal may be a bad term as he was killed by vigilantes at the end, but Thomas Meagher was certainly extraordinary. From Irish nationalist to prisoner in an Australian penal colony, then to America where he served as general in the Union army, Meagher's story is remarkable. Ultimately he would end up the governor of Montana when it was still a territory and true to form, he battled injustice there and it would cost him his life.
In effect, Meagher's life is the story of Ireland itself, and at times when it discusses British cruelty, particularly during the Potato Famine, it is a gut-wrenching saga. Prepare yourself for vivid anguish-laden descriptions of starvation in Ireland, combat casualties in the Civil War, and gruesome scenes of frontier justice.
Meagher was a brilliant public speaker, courageous soldier held in high regard by President Lincoln, and revered by many who were committed to the cause of a free Irish state. A riveting biography told with skill and facility and worth the 5 star rating.
In effect, Meagher's life is the story of Ireland itself, and at times when it discusses British cruelty, particularly during the Potato Famine, it is a gut-wrenching saga. Prepare yourself for vivid anguish-laden descriptions of starvation in Ireland, combat casualties in the Civil War, and gruesome scenes of frontier justice.
Meagher was a brilliant public speaker, courageous soldier held in high regard by President Lincoln, and revered by many who were committed to the cause of a free Irish state. A riveting biography told with skill and facility and worth the 5 star rating.
April 22, 2017
Based on what I learned in this book, Meagher should be a hero. I have walked/driven past the statue in Helena more times than I can count and aside from thinking it was a rather handsome statue, never thought too much of it. I must admit that most of my knowledge of Meagher came from my class on Montana and the West, the professor who taught it, K. Ross Toole, and his books which claimed that Meagher fell overboard drunk and drowned in Fort Benton. Not to badmouth the dead but shame on you Ross!
Although some of Egan's history was a bit iffy, generally, the book was quite good. However, there were a few things that I took exception to. In writing about the CW, which dominated the book, the author continually referred to the Confederacy as a nation or a republic. Since secession from any country is disallowed, this is a major error. There was a reason they were called rebels. It was a rebellion! I accept Lincolns contention that states could not secede. Moreover, no country recognized the Confederacy, therefore, it was not a country! BTW, this wasn't just Lincoln's belief, Madison believed the same thing and since he was "the father of the constitution", I will take his word.
The other exception I took to Egan's book was his statement that McClellan was the superior intellect between himself and Lincoln. Really? Where is the evidence of that? Could it have been that he was so smart he was afraid to engage his troops in battle? Or maybe it was his sarcastic belittling of the president that proved his genius? Now many people may think this is a minor point but in my view, if he was going to assert something like this, he should be willing to defend it.
The strength of this book, in my view, came at the end. Throughout most of the rest of the book, Egan seemed to write from the perspective of trying too hard to make the reader view his subject in a favorable light. He seems to engage his hero worship so much that it affected his characterization of Meagher. When he did less of that and stuck to the facts more, Meagher became more likable. Talking about his record as acting governor demonstrated Meagher's strength of character and courage and I wish Egan had spent more time on that period of his subject's life.
Although some of Egan's history was a bit iffy, generally, the book was quite good. However, there were a few things that I took exception to. In writing about the CW, which dominated the book, the author continually referred to the Confederacy as a nation or a republic. Since secession from any country is disallowed, this is a major error. There was a reason they were called rebels. It was a rebellion! I accept Lincolns contention that states could not secede. Moreover, no country recognized the Confederacy, therefore, it was not a country! BTW, this wasn't just Lincoln's belief, Madison believed the same thing and since he was "the father of the constitution", I will take his word.
The other exception I took to Egan's book was his statement that McClellan was the superior intellect between himself and Lincoln. Really? Where is the evidence of that? Could it have been that he was so smart he was afraid to engage his troops in battle? Or maybe it was his sarcastic belittling of the president that proved his genius? Now many people may think this is a minor point but in my view, if he was going to assert something like this, he should be willing to defend it.
The strength of this book, in my view, came at the end. Throughout most of the rest of the book, Egan seemed to write from the perspective of trying too hard to make the reader view his subject in a favorable light. He seems to engage his hero worship so much that it affected his characterization of Meagher. When he did less of that and stuck to the facts more, Meagher became more likable. Talking about his record as acting governor demonstrated Meagher's strength of character and courage and I wish Egan had spent more time on that period of his subject's life.
April 6, 2016
[ARC courtesy Amazon Vine program]
Timothy Egan’s passion for his twin subjects – the suffering of the Irish and the life of Thomas Meagher – is evident throughout “The Immortal Irishman.” This is a comprehensive examination of the life of a man who squeezed more than a full life’s worth of activity into less than a half-century.
Meagher was born Irish Catholic in 1823 to a well-to-do family, studied in England, helped lead a segment of the Irish Rebellion of 1848, was convicted of sedition and exiled to Tasmania, escaped to the United States, and served in the Union Army, rising to the rank of brigadier general by war’s end. Each of these stages – and the transitions between them – should provide ample grist for a compelling narrative.
Unfortunately, though, for most of the book there’s a sense of distance from the subject even when Egan is in the midst of providing copious detail about a segment of Meagher’s life, whether it’s his finding his voice as a writer, speaker and rebel or how he coped with exile.
Egan holds himself and his readers at a remove from Meagher, and tries to satiate us with detail and “telling,” rather than plumbing deeper and “showing.” I absolutely understand and respect that Egan holds Meagher and his heritage in high regard. However, that sort of reverence too easily skews hagiographic and actually makes it more difficult for a writer to convey the whats and the whys of a life one respects and wants to share with others.
In this case, sadly, we are left with an overly detailed telling of a the brief life of a man – a telling that is drained of the verve and vigor Meagher almost certainly had in order to have strung together such an improbable life.
Timothy Egan’s passion for his twin subjects – the suffering of the Irish and the life of Thomas Meagher – is evident throughout “The Immortal Irishman.” This is a comprehensive examination of the life of a man who squeezed more than a full life’s worth of activity into less than a half-century.
Meagher was born Irish Catholic in 1823 to a well-to-do family, studied in England, helped lead a segment of the Irish Rebellion of 1848, was convicted of sedition and exiled to Tasmania, escaped to the United States, and served in the Union Army, rising to the rank of brigadier general by war’s end. Each of these stages – and the transitions between them – should provide ample grist for a compelling narrative.
Unfortunately, though, for most of the book there’s a sense of distance from the subject even when Egan is in the midst of providing copious detail about a segment of Meagher’s life, whether it’s his finding his voice as a writer, speaker and rebel or how he coped with exile.
Egan holds himself and his readers at a remove from Meagher, and tries to satiate us with detail and “telling,” rather than plumbing deeper and “showing.” I absolutely understand and respect that Egan holds Meagher and his heritage in high regard. However, that sort of reverence too easily skews hagiographic and actually makes it more difficult for a writer to convey the whats and the whys of a life one respects and wants to share with others.
In this case, sadly, we are left with an overly detailed telling of a the brief life of a man – a telling that is drained of the verve and vigor Meagher almost certainly had in order to have strung together such an improbable life.
July 26, 2020
Splendid Book
This is truly an outstanding story about an Irish and also an American hero. Properly referenced and amazingly detailed!
A winner
This is truly an outstanding story about an Irish and also an American hero. Properly referenced and amazingly detailed!
A winner
January 31, 2016
I must preface this review by saying that I received a review copy of this book from NetGalley.
The Immortal Irishman, by Timothy Egan aspires to be a biography of Thomas Francis Meagher, the noted Irish revolutionary and commander of the Irish Brigade during the American Civil War. Egan is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and recipient of a National Book Award for a volume on the Dust Bowl. Unfortunately, The Immortal Irishman does not live up to this distinguished résumé. It is, in short, a highly readable hagiography. Meagher, the Young Irelander Rebellion, and the Civil War are all ripe fields for historical study, but Egan misses his mark in many ways.
The book opens in promising fashion, with the questionable death of its subject. It’s not an unusual device to employ, as it brings the reading into the story on a personal level. We are then treated to a very incomplete survey of Anglo-Irish relations. Ignoring an escalating cycle of violence, reciprocated from both sides, Egan casts the Irish as merely standing in their fields, staring at the sun, while the English defiled them. Given the wealth of recent scholarship on brutality in war (particularly Wayne Lee’s Barbarians and Brothers, which discusses Anglo-Irish warfare and its “frightfulness"), this is an unacceptable narrative. In seeking to create the Irish as passive victims, woolly baa-lambs to the English wolves, Egan robs them of their historical dignity and agency. Similarly, Egan is so eager to make the 1848 rebellion into a romantic lost cause that it takes on the flavor of Southern mythology written after the Civil War.
Once Ireland is left behind, the narrative becomes less obtuse. We are briefly treated to a description of Tasmanian exile, and then the entrance into New York. In Egan’s coverage of the Civil War years, some important points are missed—for instance, the reason why the regiments of the Irish Brigade were not kept up to strength (few states encouraged enlistment in existing regiments, instead preferring to fill new regiments with new patronage opportunities, a situation not exclusive to the Irish Brigade)—however Egan is fairly good at reading the racial situation in the antebellum North, though he could have benefited from an academic discussion such as from The Wages of Whiteness, which specifically discusses the changing racial status of the Irish, relative to Anglo-Saxons and African Americans. The biggest fault in this period is Egan’s use of anachronistic descriptions, such as using “medical trenches” as a thing which commonly existed in 1862.
The last section of the book details Meagher’s time as a territorial government official in Montana Territory, which leads into a discussion of possible explanations for his death. Egan indulges in conspiratorial speculation, but mostly keeps within the bounds of his sources.
Throughout the volume, Meagher is only presented in the best of terms, his opponents only in the worst. This beacon of goodness and fortitude can little wrong in Egan’s eyes. Not only that, but there is a serious lack of analysis of the man himself. Biography is more than simply a list of dates and accomplishments, but an intimate look at the life and personality. And that allows the opportunity to dig deeply into the soul of one’s subject, Egan almost completely ignores that Meagher was a human being with complexities which can be unfolded by the biographer.
The book is very readable, though. Timothy Egan is clearly a skilled writer. It moves quickly when it needs to, provides context when necessary, and has the occasional interesting digression. However, if a reader wishes to learn about Meagher or his times, this is at best a work of tertiary importance. It does not even provide a route to greater research, as its citations are completely insufficient. The Immortal Irishman is something read for fun, and taken with a grain of salt.
The Immortal Irishman, by Timothy Egan aspires to be a biography of Thomas Francis Meagher, the noted Irish revolutionary and commander of the Irish Brigade during the American Civil War. Egan is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and recipient of a National Book Award for a volume on the Dust Bowl. Unfortunately, The Immortal Irishman does not live up to this distinguished résumé. It is, in short, a highly readable hagiography. Meagher, the Young Irelander Rebellion, and the Civil War are all ripe fields for historical study, but Egan misses his mark in many ways.
The book opens in promising fashion, with the questionable death of its subject. It’s not an unusual device to employ, as it brings the reading into the story on a personal level. We are then treated to a very incomplete survey of Anglo-Irish relations. Ignoring an escalating cycle of violence, reciprocated from both sides, Egan casts the Irish as merely standing in their fields, staring at the sun, while the English defiled them. Given the wealth of recent scholarship on brutality in war (particularly Wayne Lee’s Barbarians and Brothers, which discusses Anglo-Irish warfare and its “frightfulness"), this is an unacceptable narrative. In seeking to create the Irish as passive victims, woolly baa-lambs to the English wolves, Egan robs them of their historical dignity and agency. Similarly, Egan is so eager to make the 1848 rebellion into a romantic lost cause that it takes on the flavor of Southern mythology written after the Civil War.
Once Ireland is left behind, the narrative becomes less obtuse. We are briefly treated to a description of Tasmanian exile, and then the entrance into New York. In Egan’s coverage of the Civil War years, some important points are missed—for instance, the reason why the regiments of the Irish Brigade were not kept up to strength (few states encouraged enlistment in existing regiments, instead preferring to fill new regiments with new patronage opportunities, a situation not exclusive to the Irish Brigade)—however Egan is fairly good at reading the racial situation in the antebellum North, though he could have benefited from an academic discussion such as from The Wages of Whiteness, which specifically discusses the changing racial status of the Irish, relative to Anglo-Saxons and African Americans. The biggest fault in this period is Egan’s use of anachronistic descriptions, such as using “medical trenches” as a thing which commonly existed in 1862.
The last section of the book details Meagher’s time as a territorial government official in Montana Territory, which leads into a discussion of possible explanations for his death. Egan indulges in conspiratorial speculation, but mostly keeps within the bounds of his sources.
Throughout the volume, Meagher is only presented in the best of terms, his opponents only in the worst. This beacon of goodness and fortitude can little wrong in Egan’s eyes. Not only that, but there is a serious lack of analysis of the man himself. Biography is more than simply a list of dates and accomplishments, but an intimate look at the life and personality. And that allows the opportunity to dig deeply into the soul of one’s subject, Egan almost completely ignores that Meagher was a human being with complexities which can be unfolded by the biographer.
The book is very readable, though. Timothy Egan is clearly a skilled writer. It moves quickly when it needs to, provides context when necessary, and has the occasional interesting digression. However, if a reader wishes to learn about Meagher or his times, this is at best a work of tertiary importance. It does not even provide a route to greater research, as its citations are completely insufficient. The Immortal Irishman is something read for fun, and taken with a grain of salt.
December 30, 2018
A full and evocative biography of “a man never far from history’s front edge.” Thomas Francis Meagher’s short, rabble-rousing life was filled with an almost mythic volume of political and revolutionary vigor. He was a man of many lives: the poet who led the Young Ireland revolution for a free Irish state; the political prisoner who watched his gallows getting built outside his cell window; the exile who was imprisoned on Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) and managed to escape from one of the most remote parts of earth; the Union general who led one of the most essential brigades of the American Civil War, composed entirely of Irish immigrants; the acting governor of the Montana territory seeking to create a New Ireland in the Far West for the millions of Irish Catholics driven from home by genocidal starvation at the hands of the English. Each of these stories is enough for its own biography and its own man. That a single person should have lived and led through all of these troubled times and places, and to have done it in only 40 years, is absolutely astonishing.
Thomas Francis Meagher was an Irish Odysseus who “lapped the globe on a wave of immortality,” but never made it home to the Emerald Isle he dreamed and wrote of tirelessly. I never heard of him before reading this book, but it is sincerely one of the most remarkable lives I have ever learned about. And he is complicated — he is not an unambiguous hero, and his serious failings are addressed plainly by Egan. In addition to gaining an appreciation of Meagher’s life, I also learned a great deal about the subjugation of the Irish and the Irish diaspora, of which I am a now-assimilated part. This read was a revealing race through many histories following along a man with a Forest Gump-like tendency to show up everywhere in the history of his time. Would enthusiastically recommend to anyone in search of an engrossing biography that teaches you about people, places, Times, events, and political struggles beyond the subject themself.
Thomas Francis Meagher was an Irish Odysseus who “lapped the globe on a wave of immortality,” but never made it home to the Emerald Isle he dreamed and wrote of tirelessly. I never heard of him before reading this book, but it is sincerely one of the most remarkable lives I have ever learned about. And he is complicated — he is not an unambiguous hero, and his serious failings are addressed plainly by Egan. In addition to gaining an appreciation of Meagher’s life, I also learned a great deal about the subjugation of the Irish and the Irish diaspora, of which I am a now-assimilated part. This read was a revealing race through many histories following along a man with a Forest Gump-like tendency to show up everywhere in the history of his time. Would enthusiastically recommend to anyone in search of an engrossing biography that teaches you about people, places, Times, events, and political struggles beyond the subject themself.
August 3, 2017
I've read and listened to many good books this year, but this has to be one of my favorites. I heard an interview on Public Radio with Timothy Egan, the author, who did an incredible amount of research as he worked on this book. I was intrigued by the interview and luckily I remembered the name of the book and saw the audiobook at my library. I liked it so much that I will probably buy and read the book as well so I can savor Egan's words. The audiobook is read by Gerard Doyle who is definitely Irish which added to my enjoyment. Thomas Meagher, the subject of the book, was an incredible Irish revolutionary, soldier in the Civil War (he led the Irish Brigade), writer, orator, and he would have made an excellent politician in the Wild West days before Montana became a state if not for his untimely death. He inspired all those who met him except for those who hated him (and there were a few - note "untimely death"). Just a few things I learned that I knew little about - why the Irish hated the English so much (well-deserved hatred), the use of Tasmania as a penal colony for the British when Australia just wasn't harsh enough, the role of the Irish Brigade in some of the hardest battles of the Civil War and how strongly the vigilantes dealt with justice in Montana's early days. Thomas Meagher's story will definitely stay with me!
November 16, 2017
Fascinating. I had no idea who Marr* was before I read this book, and I learned so much. The Irish accent on the audible version was delightful. I had to speed-listen to the chapters about the famine because I was bawling my eyes out at work... and I actually almost quit it at one point because it was depressing me. But I hung on through the grim part, and once Marr fled captivity in Tasmania I was totally hooked.
*Note - leaving the original spelling I put in my review, because I totally thought that's who I read a book about, based on the audio. But then I just was reading other reviews and realized it's actually Thomas Francis Meagher, not Marr. Ha! Audiobook problems. :)
*Note - leaving the original spelling I put in my review, because I totally thought that's who I read a book about, based on the audio. But then I just was reading other reviews and realized it's actually Thomas Francis Meagher, not Marr. Ha! Audiobook problems. :)
July 17, 2018
An extraordinary book of a man that truly never gave up on his dream to free the populous of Ireland who had lived in chains for far to many years. This book puts again into perspective that one person can make a difference in history.
July 11, 2017
This whole story fills in so many blanks in my mind about Irish history.
April 6, 2017
In prose of unusual grace, Timothy Egan tells the tale of The Immortal Irishman: The Irish Revolutionary Who Became an American Hero. His subject is Thomas Francis Meagher (pronounced “Mar”). At the age of forty-three, he vanished mysteriously, a victim of drowning in the Missouri River in Montana (probably at the hands of a political rival). Somehow, before that tragic end, Meagher managed to distinguish himself as a leader of the revolutionary Young Irelanders in the rebellion of 1848, be convicted and sentenced to death by hanging, serve two years as a convict exiled to Tasmania before escaping, found and run a newspaper in New York City, travel the U.S. as a highly paid orator, marry the beautiful daughter of one of New York’s richest men, lead the heroic Irish Brigade in the Union Army in the Civil War, and serve as Governor of the Montana Territory. The phrase “larger than life” could have been first written to describe him. Both as biography, and as a case study of Irish immigration in America, The Immortal Irishman is a saga no lover of history could possibly ignore. He was, as Egan describes him, “the greatest Irish American of his day.”
How England turned Ireland into a nation of rebels
It’s impossible to understand the story of Thomas Francis Meagher without some knowledge of the almost unimaginably cruel treatment he and his countrymen had suffered at the hands of the English for 800 years. (No sooner had the Normans conquered England than William the Conqueror’s son, Henry, invaded Ireland.) From the start, the Irish resisted being colonized. For several centuries, large swaths of Irish land remained free of English domination. But as England rose to global prominence and became the sole global superpower of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, English armed forces made short shrift of Irish resistance. The cruelty of English rule is difficult for us to fathom today, and it rose to a crescendo in the 1840s when the potato crop failed for several years in succession. The English Parliament, in thrall to the doctrine of laissez faire, steadfastly refused to send famine relief, year after year, as the bodies piled up. In fact, the Irish countryside was dominated by vast farms owned by absentee English landlords and produced voluminous crops of corn, wheat, and barley, all of it shipped to feed England or be sold at export as the Irish faded away from hunger. Between deaths from famine and emigration, the Irish population shrank during the last years of the 1840s by approximately one-quarter, from eight million to six. There had been emigration from the island for many years, but the Great Famine accelerated a steady stream into a flood. This was the legacy of English rule that led Meager and hundreds of other courageous Irishmen to rise up in revolt so many times over the centuries.
The “Black Irish” were yesterday’s Muslim immigrants
Americans are notorious around the world for our ignorance of history. In today’s turbulent political context, it would be wise to look backwards to the immigrant experience in centuries past. It’s a cliche, of course, that we’re all immigrants — even the “Native” Americans who moved to the New World from Asia more than 12,000 years ago. However, in modern history, the country’s population has grown markedly in four broad waves of immigration: in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as the slave trade brought millions of Africans to suffer in servitude, principally in the South; in the mid-nineteenth century, with an influx of Irish fleeing the potato famine and German-speaking Central Europeans fleeing the revolutionary upheavals of 1848; in the closing years of the nineteenth century and the early decades of the twentieth, notably with Jews escaping the pogroms of Eastern Europe and Italians fleeing poverty in Southern Italy; and, in recent decades, Mexicans, Central Americans, and both Eastern and Southern Asians. (The Muslims who figure so prominently in today’s political debates represent a mere trickle compared to all these other populations.) Throughout these intense and overlapping waves of immigrants ethnic and racial conflict has been common — but, outside of slavery, none has ever been more intense than that surrounding the millions of Irish who emigrated to America in the final decades of the nineteenth century.
During most of that century, the Irish were viewed much as intolerant Americans view Muslim immigrants today, with contempt and abject fear. The “Black Irish,” as they were known, were regarded as the dregs of society, worthy only of the most menial labor. In the mid-nineteenth century, a virulently anti-Catholic and anti-Irish political movement named The Native American Party but styled as the “Know Nothings” gained millions of adherents. As Egan reports, “In 1854, the Know-Nothings took all eleven congressional seats in Massachusetts, swept the Bay State legislature, captured nearly half of New York’s delegation and won six governorships. . . By the end of 1855, the Know-Nothings were the second-largest political party in the nation . . .” Fortunately, the movement faded as Civil War, with its larger preoccupations, intruded.
Irish immigrants responded to the racism and discrimination with racist action of their own, treating African-Americans much as they themselves were being treated. On many occasions, race riots broke out, their ranks almost invariably swelled by poor Irishmen. Hundreds of Blacks died at their hands.
Thomas Francis Meagher escaped from the prison colony of Tasmania and made his way to the United States in 1852. His arrival was greeted with delirium by Irish communities across the country who revered him as a hero of the Revolt of 1848. Immigrant though he was, however, Meagher, though then poor, was no typical immigrant. He had been raised in luxury in the ancient town of Waterford by one of the richest men in Ireland and educated (against his will) in England. He was said to speak five languages and possess an unmatched memory for poetry, which he could quote on command in front of huge audiences. Though he regarded himself as an inept writer, Meagher was one of the most brilliant orators of his day, at a time when oratory was the highest form of entertainment. After a short time, he made a good living giving speeches.
Meager at war
Meager was agnostic on the question of slavery that roiled America during his first decade in the country. But when the Civil War broke out, he soon rallied to the Union. He gained fame as the brilliant recruiter who persuaded thousands of Irishmen to enlist. Not long afterward, Meagher, only second-in-command at first, gained a commission first as a captain and eventually as a brigadier general as he led his troops into the thick of some of the bloodiest battles in that bloodiest of wars. The troops Meager commanded came to be known as the Irish Brigade. On several occasions, they saved the day when the Union’s defeat appeared imminent. Even Robert E. Lee spoke of their fighting spirit. The brigade became famous through newspaper reports of their courage. Sadly, the flip side of that courage was the casualty count, which was the second-highest of any unit in the Union Army. Meager had started with 3,000 men. He mustered out with 250.
Biographies are written about exceptional people. Thomas Francis Meager was an obvious choice — and Timothy Egan has done him justice in a book that is beautifully written and a compelling read.
About the author
Timothy Egan won the National Book Award for an earlier book, The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl. As a reporter for the New York Times, he also contributed to a series of articles on race in America that won a Pulitzer Prize. The Immortal Irishman is his eighth nonfiction book.
How England turned Ireland into a nation of rebels
It’s impossible to understand the story of Thomas Francis Meagher without some knowledge of the almost unimaginably cruel treatment he and his countrymen had suffered at the hands of the English for 800 years. (No sooner had the Normans conquered England than William the Conqueror’s son, Henry, invaded Ireland.) From the start, the Irish resisted being colonized. For several centuries, large swaths of Irish land remained free of English domination. But as England rose to global prominence and became the sole global superpower of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, English armed forces made short shrift of Irish resistance. The cruelty of English rule is difficult for us to fathom today, and it rose to a crescendo in the 1840s when the potato crop failed for several years in succession. The English Parliament, in thrall to the doctrine of laissez faire, steadfastly refused to send famine relief, year after year, as the bodies piled up. In fact, the Irish countryside was dominated by vast farms owned by absentee English landlords and produced voluminous crops of corn, wheat, and barley, all of it shipped to feed England or be sold at export as the Irish faded away from hunger. Between deaths from famine and emigration, the Irish population shrank during the last years of the 1840s by approximately one-quarter, from eight million to six. There had been emigration from the island for many years, but the Great Famine accelerated a steady stream into a flood. This was the legacy of English rule that led Meager and hundreds of other courageous Irishmen to rise up in revolt so many times over the centuries.
The “Black Irish” were yesterday’s Muslim immigrants
Americans are notorious around the world for our ignorance of history. In today’s turbulent political context, it would be wise to look backwards to the immigrant experience in centuries past. It’s a cliche, of course, that we’re all immigrants — even the “Native” Americans who moved to the New World from Asia more than 12,000 years ago. However, in modern history, the country’s population has grown markedly in four broad waves of immigration: in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as the slave trade brought millions of Africans to suffer in servitude, principally in the South; in the mid-nineteenth century, with an influx of Irish fleeing the potato famine and German-speaking Central Europeans fleeing the revolutionary upheavals of 1848; in the closing years of the nineteenth century and the early decades of the twentieth, notably with Jews escaping the pogroms of Eastern Europe and Italians fleeing poverty in Southern Italy; and, in recent decades, Mexicans, Central Americans, and both Eastern and Southern Asians. (The Muslims who figure so prominently in today’s political debates represent a mere trickle compared to all these other populations.) Throughout these intense and overlapping waves of immigrants ethnic and racial conflict has been common — but, outside of slavery, none has ever been more intense than that surrounding the millions of Irish who emigrated to America in the final decades of the nineteenth century.
During most of that century, the Irish were viewed much as intolerant Americans view Muslim immigrants today, with contempt and abject fear. The “Black Irish,” as they were known, were regarded as the dregs of society, worthy only of the most menial labor. In the mid-nineteenth century, a virulently anti-Catholic and anti-Irish political movement named The Native American Party but styled as the “Know Nothings” gained millions of adherents. As Egan reports, “In 1854, the Know-Nothings took all eleven congressional seats in Massachusetts, swept the Bay State legislature, captured nearly half of New York’s delegation and won six governorships. . . By the end of 1855, the Know-Nothings were the second-largest political party in the nation . . .” Fortunately, the movement faded as Civil War, with its larger preoccupations, intruded.
Irish immigrants responded to the racism and discrimination with racist action of their own, treating African-Americans much as they themselves were being treated. On many occasions, race riots broke out, their ranks almost invariably swelled by poor Irishmen. Hundreds of Blacks died at their hands.
Thomas Francis Meagher escaped from the prison colony of Tasmania and made his way to the United States in 1852. His arrival was greeted with delirium by Irish communities across the country who revered him as a hero of the Revolt of 1848. Immigrant though he was, however, Meagher, though then poor, was no typical immigrant. He had been raised in luxury in the ancient town of Waterford by one of the richest men in Ireland and educated (against his will) in England. He was said to speak five languages and possess an unmatched memory for poetry, which he could quote on command in front of huge audiences. Though he regarded himself as an inept writer, Meagher was one of the most brilliant orators of his day, at a time when oratory was the highest form of entertainment. After a short time, he made a good living giving speeches.
Meager at war
Meager was agnostic on the question of slavery that roiled America during his first decade in the country. But when the Civil War broke out, he soon rallied to the Union. He gained fame as the brilliant recruiter who persuaded thousands of Irishmen to enlist. Not long afterward, Meagher, only second-in-command at first, gained a commission first as a captain and eventually as a brigadier general as he led his troops into the thick of some of the bloodiest battles in that bloodiest of wars. The troops Meager commanded came to be known as the Irish Brigade. On several occasions, they saved the day when the Union’s defeat appeared imminent. Even Robert E. Lee spoke of their fighting spirit. The brigade became famous through newspaper reports of their courage. Sadly, the flip side of that courage was the casualty count, which was the second-highest of any unit in the Union Army. Meager had started with 3,000 men. He mustered out with 250.
Biographies are written about exceptional people. Thomas Francis Meager was an obvious choice — and Timothy Egan has done him justice in a book that is beautifully written and a compelling read.
About the author
Timothy Egan won the National Book Award for an earlier book, The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl. As a reporter for the New York Times, he also contributed to a series of articles on race in America that won a Pulitzer Prize. The Immortal Irishman is his eighth nonfiction book.
January 16, 2025
Author Timothy Egan is becoming one of my favorites! His description of Civi War Union General Meagher covers not only the man but also the times and events that influenced him.
Leading the renowned Irish Brigade from the opening battle at the 1st Bull Run up to the surprising Union loss at Chancellorsville, the Irish Brigade suffered over 50% casualties fighting at both Bull Runs, he Peninsula Campaign, Malvern Hill, Fredericksburg, Antietam, and finally Chancellorsville all bloody and all, except Antietam, were Union Army failures.
Egan takes the reader through the depression felt by Meagher as he had recruited and advocated for Irishmen to join the union cause not only just to support their adopted nation but also to prepare Irishman soldiers to return to free the homeland Ireland.
There are a plethora of historians who have written US Civil War books and Egan’s contribution is another, However where he shines is his descriptions of the New York Riots when the US began to draft men for military service.
Egan’s review of the history of Ireland and its relationship with England and the uprisings are well written and unsurpassed. Likewise, his descriptions of he Irish exodus from the motherland to New York and the milieu in which they lived is excellent.
Meagher’s “unsuccessful” Odyssey (he never returned home) begins with his youth and education, his banishment to Australia, his escape tp America, his rise to a General, his rime as Governor of Montana, and finally the mystery of his death
As in his previous books, Egan grabs on to a “dustbin “event or person of history, does his research, and shares his findings with his readers. I recommend any of his books- especially this one1
Leading the renowned Irish Brigade from the opening battle at the 1st Bull Run up to the surprising Union loss at Chancellorsville, the Irish Brigade suffered over 50% casualties fighting at both Bull Runs, he Peninsula Campaign, Malvern Hill, Fredericksburg, Antietam, and finally Chancellorsville all bloody and all, except Antietam, were Union Army failures.
Egan takes the reader through the depression felt by Meagher as he had recruited and advocated for Irishmen to join the union cause not only just to support their adopted nation but also to prepare Irishman soldiers to return to free the homeland Ireland.
There are a plethora of historians who have written US Civil War books and Egan’s contribution is another, However where he shines is his descriptions of the New York Riots when the US began to draft men for military service.
Egan’s review of the history of Ireland and its relationship with England and the uprisings are well written and unsurpassed. Likewise, his descriptions of he Irish exodus from the motherland to New York and the milieu in which they lived is excellent.
Meagher’s “unsuccessful” Odyssey (he never returned home) begins with his youth and education, his banishment to Australia, his escape tp America, his rise to a General, his rime as Governor of Montana, and finally the mystery of his death
As in his previous books, Egan grabs on to a “dustbin “event or person of history, does his research, and shares his findings with his readers. I recommend any of his books- especially this one1
January 31, 2023
This telling of the story of Thomas Francis Meagher provides insights into both Ireland and America in the nineteenth century. Meagher was from an elite Catholic Irish background and was a revolutionary in 1840s Ireland. I am very interested in race and Irish America and the nugget of this book for me (and a moment that conveys its very able addressing of Meagher’s Irish and American contexts together) was that the Irish immigrant recruits in the Union Army were not necessarily wholly on board with abolitionism, since it turns out that in his Union Army role once in America, Meagher hardly ever brought up Lincoln or slavery when organizing his fellow Irishmen. There is huge irony that freedom for Ireland did not always translate to an uncomplicated support of freedom for others among the Irish in America. Meagher’s old comrade in revolution in Ireland (also considered in the book), the pro-slavery John Mitchel, comes to mind here too.
May 20, 2016
To start at the end, I found the final paragraph of the biography extremely moving. Even though I had never heard of Meagher before Egan's book, I gained from the reading a sense of what an immigrant goes through in reclaiming his or her life in a new land. Meagher cheated death several times: First by having his execution commuted, later in escaping Van Dieman's Island and living on a deserted island, later arriving in San Francisco in order to fight for the Union at Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, et. al., becoming friends with a lonely President named Lincoln, seeing his friends die around him, then to Montana....
But Meagher never caved. In fact, his vigor rekindled after each setback enough that in his 43 years of living, he lived several lifetimes. (I know that statement is glib, but it still needs to be stated.) Implicit in Egan's biography resides the dread oppression of the immoral state acting through corrupt individuals. It's a testament to Meagher that he persevered to his final gasp.
Egan's prose is lively and engaging. This is my fifth Egan reading and I wasn't disappointed.
But Meagher never caved. In fact, his vigor rekindled after each setback enough that in his 43 years of living, he lived several lifetimes. (I know that statement is glib, but it still needs to be stated.) Implicit in Egan's biography resides the dread oppression of the immoral state acting through corrupt individuals. It's a testament to Meagher that he persevered to his final gasp.
Egan's prose is lively and engaging. This is my fifth Egan reading and I wasn't disappointed.
April 9, 2017
My aunt loved this, but I had a hard time getting through it. Thomas Francis Meagher (the immortal Irishman) lived an unbelievable life, and died mysteriously. He rose to fame as an orator before being exiled to Australia as a political prisoner. But amazingly, he was able to escape to America...just in time to take part in the Civil War.
Reading about the Civil War is emotionally difficult for me, yet this is where Timothy Egan's writing truly shines. He details General McClellan's consistent failures to mobilize, the deplorable conditions the soldiers camped in, the families they left behind...and the horrifying truth that many soldiers were buried alive.
This is, in many ways, a beautiful paen to the Irish and what they sacrificed for America; it's a heartbreaking exposition of their constant struggle against the English; it's a reminder that they still have not achieved the independence and unity they suffered so greatly for.
I'm not sure why I didn't find this engaging, perhaps it read too much like a textbook. It moved slowly for me, but the story was an important one and was worth finishing.
Reading about the Civil War is emotionally difficult for me, yet this is where Timothy Egan's writing truly shines. He details General McClellan's consistent failures to mobilize, the deplorable conditions the soldiers camped in, the families they left behind...and the horrifying truth that many soldiers were buried alive.
This is, in many ways, a beautiful paen to the Irish and what they sacrificed for America; it's a heartbreaking exposition of their constant struggle against the English; it's a reminder that they still have not achieved the independence and unity they suffered so greatly for.
I'm not sure why I didn't find this engaging, perhaps it read too much like a textbook. It moved slowly for me, but the story was an important one and was worth finishing.
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