2026-02-25

On 17 April 150 years ago, an American whaler anchored off Western Australia. It was captained by a US citizen, George Anthony, and it had an ulterior reason to be at that point on the other side of the world from where it had sailed from New Bedford, Massachusetts. Unbeknownst to most of the crew, in fact, it was on a mission other than whaling. Its story began with a smuggled letter to Fenian and Irish Republican Brotherhood, IRB, leader John Devoy from six prisoners of war incarcerated in Fremantle prison outside of Perth, Western Australia. The six were Thomas Darragh from Broomhall in County Wicklow, Michael Harrington from Macroom in County Cork, James Wilson, whose real name, in fact, was McNally, from Newry, Robert Cranston from Stewartstown in County Tyrone, Thomas Hassett from Doneraile in County Cork and Martin Hogan from County Limerick. That letter set in motion a devious, cunning and audacious plan to rescue the six military Fenians. Military Fenians were Irish men who had been in the British Army and who enlisted and took the Fenian oath. From them, the British sought vengeance. While others in the 1867 rising were pardoned, these men were being made an example of to stop other Irish men in the British Army from joining republican forces. Considering it was150 years ago, it was against all the odds that the whaler got to the pre-appointed place on Easter Monday, 17 April. The key part of the expedition cost over €1 million in today's money. The men were picked up from the road gang they were involved in by a backup team of sympathisers and IRB men who had travelled to Australia to act upon this plan. They included John Breslin from Drogheda, Thomas Desmond from Cobh, Thomas Brennan from Dublin, John King from Tallaght and Denis Duggan from Dublin. They brought the six men to Rockingham, and they rowed out to sea to make good their escape. Even though they got on board the Catalpa, a standoff of four hours ensued when a police boat pursued them and told them to pull to. They refused, and showed they were flying the Stars and Stripes. They managed to escape and spent the next four months travelling back to New York, where they were met on 19 August 1876 to wild celebrations. I think this event is worth celebrating. It is being celebrated in Rockingham itself by the Irish there. It should be celebrated in the United States and celebrated here in the museum, etc. I have been involved in events in the decade of centenaries, and going back to the 1798 centenary events, in which the then Minister, Seamus Brennan, was centrally involved. We then had the Famine commemorations, Robert Emmet's bicentenary and the 1916 and decade of centenaries events. This is important. It is strange there is not a commemorative programme by the Government thus far. I think this would fit perfectly into it. It is not just national, but local in all those towns I mentioned and also international, involving Australia and America. It is something our Irish diaspora looks at to try to ensure we celebrate their role in Ireland's freedom.

I thank Deputy Ó Snodaigh. I am very pleased I have temporary responsibility for the issue of commemorations in the Department of culture. I agree with the Deputy that it is important that we should celebrate the great rescue by the Catalpa and how it carried out the rescue of the six military Fenians. The 150th anniversary of that important event is approaching in April this year and I commend the Deputy for raising this issue in the House this morning. Obviously, the State gets involved in many official commemorations. Aside from that, it is important that we recognise as a community and as elected representatives in this House that we also have a responsibility and an ability to celebrate great historical events. The Department, in which I am not the Minister, has done a very good job of respectfully commemorating important events that happened 100, 150 and 200 years ago. It is important we continue in respect of that. The Deputy will be aware that a commemorations advisory committee was established in May 2025 under the chairmanship of Bryan Dobson, the distinguished former broadcaster. It includes individuals from across the board in academia and politics. I am informed, and pleased to say, that the anniversary of the Catalpa rescue has been brought to their attention. I am asked to say that the committee agreed that a State commemoration to mark the event would not be possible at this stage because of the proximity of the anniversary, which, as I said, takes place two months from now. It is beneficial that the committee is aware of the event and that the Deputy has raised it. Obviously, John Devoy played an essential part in the Catalpa rescue. In my capacity as the Minister for justice, individuals have come to me in respect of the rescue by the Catalpa of the Fenians out in Perth. It is an important issue that we are discussing here today. I had the privilege many years ago to be in Fremantle Prison in Perth. It is a long way away and a lonely place to be if you are an Irish person, particularly back in the middle of the 19th century. It was a fantastic rescue. It is an essential part of the history of the Irish struggle for independence and it is important that we remember it. The Deputy will be aware that when it comes to official State commemorations, not every individual event can become an official State commemoration. This does not mean that we do not celebrate other important events and discuss them in the House. As I said, we have commemorated very many significant events professionally and, I think, sensibly here. When we look at what is ahead of us, a number of other important significant events are going to occur in the next number of years. Last year we celebrated the 250th anniversary of the birth of Daniel O'Connell and it was done very well. Some outstanding documentaries were made in respect of it. Ruán Magan made an outstanding documentary in respect of Daniel O'Connell's life. The important thing is that we are not just looking to the past but that we are educating Irish people and, indeed, the world about the great story of the Irish struggle for independence. It is a magnificent struggle that we should seek to promote to the world. When we think of other important events, there will be a significant celebration in respect of Catholic emancipation. This was an issue that deserves to be recognised. It liberated the overwhelming majority of Irish people from discrimination and unfair treatment. I hear what Deputy Ó Snodaigh has said and I welcome that he raised this issue today. The Department, of which I am not a Minister, does not have official plans to commemorate the Catalpa but we can certainly celebrate it.

It is important, even though there will not be a State commemoration, that the State should get involved. We should try to encourage State institutions to mark the event. The National Museum has a flag. The Minister knows of Joe Clarke who fought in 1916 at Mount Street which is in the Minister's constituency. I have a picture of that flag being handed over and he is in it, as is my father. It was in 1972. Frank MacGabhann contacted me and when I looked up the picture I remembered it from when we were kids. There are connections there and, while this is personal to me, these connections go around the world. We need to recognise the events that shaped Ireland and the role that our diaspora had in shaping this nation. It is important that the message goes out that we respect it. Whether it is a small event or a big event in embassies in the United States and Australia to mark this event, whether it is a publication or a republication of material that was sent before, whether it is a pull-out in one of the newspapers, there are ways the State can get involved without having a full State commemoration. It is important that such an initiative happens. Books have been published, one of the most recent of which is The Voyage of the Catalpa by Peter Stevens. We can also go to books by Joseph Clarke and others; there is a whole load of them. Let us try to encourage people to read them, and maybe try to encourage some of the film companies to look at them as scripts. We have seen adventures from every other piece of work, most of which are fictional, but this is a true-life story that could be very easily captured. It would send out the message that we remember the audacious plans of Irish republicans around the world, our exiled nation if we want, who helped shape the nation. It is important when we get the opportunity to do so that we mark those occasions, and whether it is a full State commemoration or the State supporting some local commemorations it should happen.

I agree with Deputy Ó Snodaigh. The rescue by the Catalpa is a fantastic story. Irrespective of the prejudices Deputy Ó Snodaigh and I have, and that other people have, for preferring certain commemorations over others, it is objectively a fascinating story that deserves to be reported and promoted. In a way, it is a bit like the story of the Invincibles in the aftermath of the Phoenix Park killings and what happened there. Deputy Ó Snodaigh emphasised, as I did, that the State does not have to be the one driving every commemoration. For instance, as the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach, Deputy O'Connor, is well aware, last evening I attended an event in the Rotunda to start the celebrations for the centenary of Fianna Fáil. The State is not involved in this; it is not on the list of events that the State has decided to commemorate, although it could very well be but it is not. Simply because the State has not decided to assume responsibility for it does not mean that individuals who are interested or individuals who are involved cannot seek to celebrate events that are particularly special and-or important to them. Deputy Ó Snodaigh has obviously done this in respect of the Catalpa and I commend him for it. Even just having this debate here this morning is important, as we are promoting the narrative about the remarkable rescue. I have no doubt Deputy Ó Snodaigh will continue to highlight this. I am very pleased to say that Bryan Dobson and his committee are aware of it. I am sure there are other mechanisms, aside from official State commemorations, whereby support can be provided to local groups who want to commemorate important historical events. To close on an important point, obviously we all come to commemoration with our political biases and our political interests involved. It is also essential that we recognise we have to be inclusive about commemorating events. This country has been very inclusive, as we commemorated the Ulster Covenant, which was not an issue a lot of people in the House would have thought they would have been supportive of. It is important that we commemorate events that may not suit our political agenda. I thank Deputy Ó Snodaigh for raising this important question.