Irish Rebel: John Devoy and America's Fight for Ireland's Freedom [Hardcover]

Terry Golway (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1998

"Irish Rebel" profiles Irishman John Devoy, who came to the United States in exile in 1871, where he pursued a life of activism that garnered tremendous financial and moral support within the U.S. for the undying cause in his homeland. "It reads like a novel. . . . You won't be able to put it down".--Frank McCourt of photos TV tie-ins with Disney & PBS to air in March .

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

New York Observer columnist Golway follows the stirring life of John Devoy, a convicted Fenian deported in 1871 to America, where he enjoyed a long, dedicated life as a journalist, publisher, political leader, and gun runner for Irish independence.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

The first full-length study of the Irish Samuel Adams--a master propagandist and organizational dervish who transformed the cause of his native land's freedom from poets' pipe dream to political reality. Jailed in 1866 for participating in the Fenian revolutionary brotherhood, Devoy (18421928) was released in 1871 and exiled for the remaining years of his sentence. Disembarking in New York, he used America as an effective beachhead from which to assault British misrule. For the next 50 years, Devoy influenced nearly every major aspect of Anglo-Irish and Irish-American relations through his work as an editor for the New York Herald, publisher of the Gaelic American, and leader of Clan na Gael, an Irish-American group that supplied the rebels with money and ammunition. In the late 1870s, he allied with Michael Davitt in championing land reform and with Charles Stewart Parnell in pushing for home rule. Golway, a New York Observer staffer and coauthor of The Irish in America (not reviewed), is as adept at detailing Devoy's daring as he is at explaining the background of Irish politics and Devoy's turf battles (Devoy could direct sharp, occasionally unfair invective at rebels like Eamon de Valera if he detected backsliding or harebrained schemes). Remarkably, 50 years after he first clipped the British lion's tail, he secretly contacted Germany during WW I, defying American neutrality, in an effort to secure arms for another uprising-- thus setting in motion the events that lead to the Easter Rebellion, the catalyst for Ireland's successful revolt against John Bull. In summing up Devoy's last difficult years--the loss of hearing and sight, a bittersweet reunion with the fiance he never married, and grudging acceptance of an Irish Free State that did not yet achieve full independence--Golway poignantly evokes the cost of the rebel's single-minded commitment as ``Irish America's conscience, defense, and . . . chief organizer.'' A riveting biography of one of the key figures in forging the American connection to Irish republicanism. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 371 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1st edition (March 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312181183
• ISBN-13: 978-0312181185
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,683,822 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Valuable intro to Irish America's support for Irish rebels, May 15, 1999

By 

John L Murphy "Fionnchú" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Irish Rebel: John Devoy and America's Fight for Ireland's Freedom (Hardcover)

I wanted to take the opportunity to write after finishing the book this past week; it's a good start for anybody curious about the roots of the support--in money, arms, rhetoric, and/or direct assistance--that Irish Americans have long given for Irish freedom. Often, the zeal of the "exiled children in America", as we're referred to in the Irish Proclamation of Independence from 1916, has surpassed that of those Irish we've left behind back home. Golway's book gives you some of the reasons why this disparity may have emerged--the force of the Famine, deportation of many Fenians, the Civil War's effect in giving unwitting assistance to many Americans who returned to agitate in Ireland and abroad, and the economic success gained by a few Irish emigrants and even more the sacrifices of a few dollars of many many more Irish who did the grunt-work which fueled the fortunes of those few, no doubt. Today, many of these emigrants' descendants are criticized as "plastic Paddies" who know little about Ireland beyond a few ballads and sentimental slogans. Both their critics and their supporters among the Irish Americans themselves should study this book, which uses Devoy's long career as a basis for a complicated study of how factionalism, quarrels, and a somewhat clumsy mixture of idealism and pragmatism all combined to effect change back in Ireland. And it should also instruct those who still support the Irish struggle today--it shows the pettiness and begrudgery that has often plagued U.S. efforts at grassroots aid. Although at times in the later sections, I lost track of who was outwitting who in all of the internecine backstabbing among the various claimants of The Cause, this is not to discredit Golway's skill. He had an intricate story to narrate, and he keeps it fresh and even witty, without pandering to his readers. His own experience as a journalist, a career shared by Devoy, undoubtably enriches much of the ambiance behind this sometimes reticent figure, too. I often wonder how a biographer, faced with a subject who's written his or her autobiography already, can calculate a new angle from which to view the person. Golway manages to integrate Devoy's own words sparingly, and by filling in much of the context which Devoy would have kept mum about (or not known of), the author presents a surprisingly relevant case study of the dangers and the seductions of trying to achieve an ideal in a messy world of spies, politicians, revolutionaries, businessmen, and everyday folks. In a time when many Irish and non-Irish alike are taking a renewed and justified pride in this island's heritage, this book introduces you to the American contribution to the Irish situation. (I also was impressed by the author's taking the time to comment on his work in response to a superficial criticism posted; his graceful manner of answering his hasty critic shows real class.)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fenian's Rainbow, November 18, 2001

By 

John J. Ross (Chestnut Hill, MA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Irish Rebel: John Devoy and America's Fight for Ireland's Freedom (Hardcover)

Golway tells the tale of John Devoy, greatest of the American Fenians, and a pivotal, if hitherto neglected, figure in the history of Irish nationalism. Devoy was an longlived agitator, fundraiser, journalist, convicted Irish revolutionary and American refugee who bankrolled Parnell, Patrick Pearse and Michael Collins, butted heads with the Ulster Presbyterian Woodrow Wilson and the egomaniacal Eamon de Valera, and sacrificed his personal happiness in the process. Golway's prose is sharp and terse, with a propulsive narrative drive. A fine work of history.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Soldier's Song for a Proud Fenian Man, February 15, 2008

By 

Borowy26 "Hank" (Chicago) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Irish Rebel: John Devoy and America's Fight for Ireland's Freedom (Paperback)

My first introduction to John Devoy came as a student. I was studying the response of Irish-American newspapers to the outbreak of World War One and Devoy was a highly influential editorialist whose opinions were frequently reprinted in various Irish journals throughout the USA. He was a determined opponent of Woodrow Wilson's policy to intervene in the European conflict on behalf of the Allied Powers, generally, and in alliance with Great Britain specifically. When public opinion turned against Imperial Germany, Devoy argued in favor of neutrality.

Devoy was a tireless agitator and advocate for the cause of Irish independence. He was imprisoned as rebel and his sentence was commuted on the condition that he agree to live out the remainder of his days in exile. He had been arrested for his participation in the Irish Republican Brotherhood after British agents infilitrated the group as a means to disrupt the Fenian plan to invade British North America (Canada). It was thought that staging such an attack would provoke a war between the United States and Great Britain that would in turn serve to liberate Ireland. While Devoy was languishing in prison, Fenian troops were able to cross the border and enter the Province of Ontario from the State of New York. A brief skirmish followed and the invaders were quickly beaten and forced to withdraw.

Following his release and exile, Devoy committed the remainder of his life to promoting "The Cause." He attended meetings, wrote editorials, raised funds and organized membership campaigns over and over again. He traveled throughout the United States and worked alongside or quarreled with almost every important Irishman of note during his lifetime.

Terry Golway has done a commendable job of honoring the memory of an undeservedly forgotten Irish patriot who performed most of his labors in relative anonymity on a distant foreign shore.