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Andres Otero- ENGL 89, John O'leary Biography the Story of John Andres Otero- ENGL 89, John O’Leary Biography The story of John O’Leary is one of rebellion. O’Leary spent his entire life intellectually on his own; disowning the British rule in Ireland for all of his life, yet finding himself criticizing his own Irish revolution movement at times for its radical and violent tendencies. In his later days he would become a prominent figure in various pro-Irish groups and serve as a mentor to various revolutionaries and Irish Republicans, most notably famous poet William B. Yeats, whose work would come to influence the Irish freedom movement to come that would ultimately topple British rule in the twenty-six southern Irish counties. O’Leary was born on the 23rd of July 1830 in Tipperary town to John and Margaret O’Leary. Raised a Catholic, he would go on to attend a Protestant grammar school in his younger years and came to reject his Catholic faith for most of his adult life, all the way to his final days. After going on to study at Carlow College, O’Leary first came into contact with the Irish revolution movement through James Stephens, a notable Irish Republican, in 1847, and then sub sequentially through Thomas Davis, a leader in the Young Irelanders, both of whom influenced his views towards the British and their rule over the Irish people. He planned on studying law at Trinity College in Dublin, but “when he realized that barristers had to swear allegiance to the British crown before they could practice”, he chose to leave his dreams of practicing law, freeing himself up for the revolution movement (McMahon). He would start off as a member of the Young Islanders, a pro-Irish independence movement led by fellow Irish nationalist Thomas Francis Meagher. He would also come under the tutelage of John Mitchel, a notable radical known for his affinity for spontaneous revolt. In the aftermath of the unsuccessful 1848 Tipperary Revolt however, O’Leary abandoned Mitchel’s ideas on rebellion, and among other Young Ireland rebels, carefully planned and executed “an unsuccessful plan to free convicted Young Ireland leader” William Smith O’Brien, which only led to their arrest (Maume). Upon being freed from detainment, O’Leary opted to pursue medicine rather than continuing the fight for Irish independence; from 1850 to 1857, he would bounce around from city to city, spending most of his time either working at Dublin’s Meath Hospital, studying in London or studying in Paris. Most of this time practicing medicine was spent socializing, however. While studying in Paris, for instance, O’Leary “formed a lifelong friendship with the painter James McNeill Whistler, mingled with the Irish exile community, acquired fluency in French, and became convinced of the merits of constitutional monarchy”, differing from most of the Irish Republicans of the time that were fiercely against the idea of a constitutional monarchy (Maume). When O’Leary returned to Ireland, James Stephens recruited him to join him on a campaign to the United States to rally support for the newly formed Irish Republican Brotherhood among Irish immigrants and raise funds for the new movement. During this time, O’Leary would enter the world of journalism, writing for the Phoenix in New York. In 1863, Stephens would call O’Leary back to Ireland, and O’Leary would make his greatest contribution to the revolution movement yet. For two years, O’Leary would serve as the editor of the Irish People, the leading pro-Irish independence news publication. However, the newspaper “was suppressed after ninety-five issues on 16 September 1865” and O'Leary “was convicted in December of treason-felony by a special commission and sentenced to twenty years' penal servitude” (O’Day). He would serve “[nine] years of a 20-year sentence, agreeing to exile for the reminder of the sentence” in Paris, where until 1885, he would begin writing letters to voice his opinions (McMahon). While his writings would go against British rule O’Leary would begin to express the criticisms of his own movement here, “opposing the ‘skirmishing fund’ to promote terrorist acts in Great Britain, rejecting the ‘new departure’ between the militant wing of the Home Rule Party and the Fenians, and also criticizing the land war” which had “caused a drop in his rental income” of his land in Tipperary, which ultimately caused him to lose a substantial amount of money (O’Day). He would spend the rest of his days after exile in Dublin, promoting the pro-Irish revolution along with Irish culture and literature. During this time, O’Leary “was a founder of the Contemporary Club (1885/6), became a patron of the Gaelic Athletic Association (1886), helped form the Pan-Celtic literary group (1888), regularly visited the Southwark Literary Club, and accepted the presidency of the National Literary Society of Ireland”, along with forming the Young Ireland League in 1895 (O’Day). Through his participation with the Contemporary Club, O’Leary would come to know and influence many budding Irish poets, primarily Katharine Tynan, Maud Gonne, and William B. Yeats. O’Leary was partially responsible for Yeats’ rise to fame by helping him get his first collection of poems published. He also “publicly supported [Irish Parliamentary Party Leader Charles Stewart] Parnell's leadership” in the party split of 1890-1891 (O’Day). He would fall ill in 1901, finally passing away on the 16th of March 1907, but not before being “reconciled to the [Catholic] church, around Christmas 1906” shortly before his death (Wikipedia). Respected by many throughout his time as a revolutionary, many would admire him “for his intellect, integrity, and loyalty” (O’Day) when it came to the Irish revolution, and though despite his support for Irish freedom, O’Leary “refused to take the IRB oath on the grounds that it was either unnecessary or superfluous” (Maume). His ideas on the Irish revolution can be found in Recollections of Fenians and Fenianism, writings that would go on to inspire a new generation of Irish nationalists that would not let O’Leary die in vain, and gain independence for the Irish people from British rule. Works Consulted “John O'Leary (Fenian).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Aug. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_O'Leary_(Fenian). Maume, Patrick. “O'Leary, John.” Dictionary of Irish Biography - Cambridge University Press, dib.cambridge.org/viewReadPage.do?articleId=a6861&searchClicked=clicked&quickadvse arch=yes. McMahon, Sean, and Jo O'Donoghue. “O'Leary, John (1830-1907) | Brewer's Dictionary of Irish Phrase and Fable - Credo Reference.” Home - Credo Reference, Credo Reference, 2009, search.credoreference.com/content/entry/orionirishpf/o_leary_john_1830_1907/0. O'Day, Alan. “O'Leary, John (1830–1907), Irish Nationalist and Journalist | Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 12 Jan. 2018, www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb- 9780198614128-e-35302?rskey=oNG92E&result=1. .
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