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THE PATRIOT – THOMAS MEAGHER

INTRODUCTION

The convict-built Richmond Bridge in Tasmania is the oldest stone-arch bridge still in Australia. The foundation stone was laid in December, 1823 and construction continued using convict labour until its completion in 1825.  For ten years it had the longest span of any bridge in Australia.

Just up the road from the bridge, across the Coal River is the St John’s Church – the oldest Catholic Church in Australia.  When this church was built in 1836, it was customary for parishioners who passed away to be buried in what were considered the sacred church grounds.

As you walk near the entrance of the church, you may casually pass by this little grave of Henry Emmet O’Meagher, the only son of Thomas Francis and Catherine O’Meagher. Nearby is an inscription about his father, Thomas. It’s a story of heartbreak, struggle and mystery. 

You see, Thomas O’Meagher, son of the Lord Mayor of the city of Waterford, Ireland, was a prominent leader in the Young Ireland Movement of the 1840’s. He was an outspoken and idealistic young political activist, and was condemned to death in 1848 for his part in an insurrection, aimed at restoring the national independence of Ireland. 

Due to a massive public outcry in defence of the young men, O’Meagher’s sentence was commuted to transportation for life. And so, in 1849, he was shipped as a convict or a prisoner of the British penal system, to the opposite end of the world, to the island of Tasmania.

Join me on the unbelievable journey of Thomas O’Meagher as he seeks justice and a new life. It’s indeed a tale of patriotism and rebellion, of love and loss, of escape and redemption, of war and tragedy. You won’t want to miss it!

REVOLUTIONARY

Beginning in February, 1848, Europe was rocked by a series of revolutionary movements, beginning in Sicily and spreading to France, Germany, Italy, Ireland and the Austrian Empire. They ended in failure and repression and were followed by widespread disillusionment.

One such movement gained a foothold among the working-class people in Ireland during the great famine of 1845-1849. During the famine over a million people died, and a million more left Ireland to settle in other countries.

As part of the social upheaval and rebellion, a young patriot, Thomas O’Meagher went to France to study revolutionary events there. He returned home with the new Flag of Ireland, made and given to him by French women sympathetic to the Irish cause.  The flag was first flown in public on 1 March, 1848, at Waterford, Ireland.  O’Meagher’s Irish flag endured and became the national flag of the Republic of Ireland.

Thomas O’Meagher was an eloquent and gifted orator who was very popular with the people. The social upheaval came to a head in 1848 with the Young Irelander Rebellion against the British Monarchy. Following the incident also known as the ‘Battle of Ballingarry’ in August 1848, O’Meagher along with four of his fellow revolutionaries was arrested, tried and convicted of sedition. 

The penalty for sedition was death by being hung, drawn and quartered. Standing before the judge O’Meagher delivered an impassioned plea for clemency. The Irish people loved O’Meagher and also rallied together to demand clemency for him. 

The judge relented and commuted O’Meagher’s sentence to transportation for life in the Penal Colony of Van Diemen’s land, known today as the island-state of Tasmania, Australia. O’Meagher was shipped out as a political convict on board the transport ship, the Swift, in July 1849. 

Most of the prisoners or convicts as they were called, received these severe punishments for petty crimes and misdemeanours, like stealing a lace handkerchief or a loaf of bread. During the convict era, from 1788-1868, the British sent over 165,000 convicts, men, women and children, to the colonies in Australia.  Nearly half of them ended up in Van Diemen’s Land.

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND

O’Meagher arrived in Tasmania, where he gave his word to the authorities not to attempt an escape. In return, he was granted a ticket of leave, or permission to have comparative freedom on the island. He was first sent to live in Campbell Town and later in Ross where his brick cottage still stands today.   

While here in Ross, O’Meagher spent a good deal of his time in Hope’s Hotel, at the time a local inn, but now a private residence. Meagher’s letters were sent from here during his time in Ross.

One day while helping the local physician, Dr Hall with his carriage, he met Miss Catherine Bennett, who at the time was the governess caring for the six children of Dr. and Mrs Hall. 

Thomas and Catherine were married on 22 February 1851, quietly in a no-fuss ceremony by Bishop Wilson, at the home of Dr. Hall, and lived in a cottage on the shores of Lake Sorell.

But the restless and ambitious O’Meagher couldn’t be confined to the Penal Colony for long. Desperately wanting his freedom and a new cause to champion, O’Meagher, began secretly meeting with his fellow Irish rebels and plotting his escape.

By this time, he and Catherine had been married for almost a year, and Catherine was pregnant with their first child and soon to give birth. But none of this constrained O’Meagher.

ESCAPE PLANS

When his father sent money to pay for the escape, O’Meagher organised with the Irish sympathisers in northern Tasmania to assist him to meet up with a sailing ship bound for Brazil, and then on to America.

Leaving Catherine behind, O’Meagher, travelling mostly at night, past the mountains and the Great Lakes and down into the town of Westbury, which is at the foot of the mountains.  

It was a Gaelic-speaking area and he was sheltered there until the coast was clear.  Then, the Irish sympathizers rowed O’Meagher 60 kms down the Tamar River and out to sea under difficult and dangerous conditions, to rendezvous with the waiting ship.  It all had to be navigated in the dark – no lights at all, to avoid being detected. 

O’Meagher successfully escaped and reached New York in May, 1852. Here he found himself among the throngs of other Irish immigrants and was warmly welcomed by the Irish Exiles. O’Meagher thrived in this new world with enticing possibilities, and soon began to make a new life for himself. 

TRAGIC EVENTS

Meanwhile tragedy befell his family back in Tasmania. Thomas and Catherine’s son, Henry Emmet Fitzgerald O’Meagher, was born in 1852, just months after his father’s escape. Sadly at four months of age, little Henry contracted influenza and died. He was buried here in St. John’s Church in Richmond.

Devastated, Catherine left Van Diemen’s Land and sailed for London, where she was met by her father-in-law. and then they both travelled on to Waterford.  On arrival at Waterford railway station, she was welcomed by thousands of citizens, such was her husband’s fame in Ireland as a nationalist. 

However, when she was rested and well enough to travel again, she sailed on to America to be with her husband.  

But Thomas O’Meagher had changed. He dropped the O’ from his name and was now known as Thomas Meaghar. He soon realised that the social constraints that he had experienced living under a monarchy were not applicable in a country like America. Seizing the opportunities presented before him, he soon began to study law and journalism and revelled in his new celebrity status. 

MOVING ON

Consequently, his relationship with his wife, Catherine dimmed. Catherine spent three lonely months with Thomas, only to leave broken-hearted for Ireland carrying their second child. Catherine went back to live with her father-in-law, Thomas senior, who was still the Mayor of the city of Waterford.

Sadly, Catherine, aged only 22 years, died soon after the birth of their second son.  Catherine was buried in the family O’Meagher grave at Faith Legge, (Led-je) in Ireland. Thomas Meagher never met his second son, who was raised by his relatives in Ireland and is known to have died while in the Philippines, where he was buried.

Not long after completing his studies Meagher began to lecture, and soon became a United States citizen. He then founded a weekly newspaper called the Irish News. In addition this,, Meagher also published the Citizen. 

Now, the Citizen was an anti-British, pro-Irish republican periodical that he published with a fellow revolutionary friend, John Mitchell. During this time Meagher was also court martialled by a handful of notable American citizens in New York, because they had heard of his escape from the penal colony in Van Diemen’s Land. 

Meagher vowed that if he was found guilty, he would happily return to Australia. But as it turned out the American court found in his favour and acquitted him of the charges that had been brought against him by the British crown. 

WAR AND CIVIL SERVICE

Just before the outbreak of the American Civil War, Meagher joined the Union Army and was commissioned as a captain in the 69th Infantry Regiment of the New York State Militia. The 69th fought in the First Battle of Bull Run, where the Union lost to the Confederates.

Meagher’s commanding officer was taken as a prisoner of war and Meagher succeeded him as colonel. After the Battle of Bull Run, Meagher went back to New York and formed the Irish Brigade. 

He was named Brigadier General and led the Brigade in a Union offensive launched in the south-eastern part of Virginia, known as the Peninsula Campaign of 1862. During this campaign the Union won several decisive victories and the Irish Brigade distinguished themselves as fierce fighters. 

This reputation was further cemented when Currier and Ives, a New York printmaker and lithographer, published a lithograph of Meagher on horseback leading his brigade in a bayonet charge against Confederate soldiers. 

After the war, Meagher returned to politics and public service with a passion. He was appointed secretary of the new Territory of Montana and shortly after his arrival found himself appointed as Acting Governor by the US President, Andrew Johnson. 

MYSTERIOUS DEATH

Meagher continued to serve the Territory of Montana until his disappearance in 1867. That summer Meagher made a fairly routine trip to Fort Benton, Montana to meet a shipment of guns and ammunition sent by General Sherman for the Montana Militia. 

Fort Benton was a steamboat terminus on the Missouri River and Meagher was travelling on board the steamboat G.A. Thompson on its approach into Fort Benton. The final tragedy came on the evening of 1 July 1867, when Meagher fell overboard, plunging into the churning waters of the Missouri River. 

Meagher was swept away with the current and his body was never recovered. His death remains a tragic and mysterious accident in a family that was separated not only in life but also in death.

The baby boy lies at Richmond, Tasmania. The Australian mother lies at rest in Waterford, Ireland; the second son is buried in the Philippines and the Irish patriot in the bed of the Missouri River.  

But Meagher’s life was a roller coaster ride of activism, imprisonment, and redemption. 

His life was colourful and diverse. He was a man with a flawed character, who made poor decisions, particularly in relation to the abandonment of his wife and family.

However, even though he had major shortcomings, we should recognise that he had strong vision, firm ambition and the kind of tenacity that ensured he chased after his goals with a relentless passion that overcame every obstacle. 

TRUE GRIT

In many ways Meagher was a man who possessed grit in spades. Now, grit is a concept that has been extensively studied by psychologists and researchers. In her book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, psychologist and researcher Angela Lee Duckworth reveals some interesting discoveries. 

She writes that of all the predictors of success; talent, IQ, emotional intelligence, none is more important or factors more largely than grit. She describes grit as the ability to stay the course for the long haul. 

In other words, grit is the stamina, both mental and emotional, to pursue long term goals regardless of obstacles or challenges. The ability to treat life, and by extension, our goals, like a marathon instead of a quick sprint. 

Duckworth believes that grit is not an inborn ability that only a few people are blessed with. Grit, she says is something that can be cultivated and taught to anyone willing to learn. So how can we cultivate this important life skill called grit?

Duckworth points to the work being done by Professor Carol Dweck, a professor of psychology at Stanford University. Professor Dweck’s research centres largely on a concept she calls ‘growth mindset’. 

GROWTH MINDSET

Growth mindset is the opposite of a fixed mindset. As an example, Professor Dweck talks about a high school in Chicago, where students were required to pass 84 units in order to graduate. 

Now interestingly, students who didn’t pass a unit, instead of getting an ‘F’ they were given the grade ‘not yet’. ‘Not yet’, instead of ‘fail’, gave them a sense that they shouldn’t give up but should keep persevering until they reached their goal. 

Professor Dweck’s premise is simple; instead of educating people to think in terms of failure or success she suggests that people should be taught to think in terms of ‘not yet’. That every goal is achievable given time, perseverance and hard work. 

Thomas Meagher’s life is a reflection of both grit and growth mindset. Regardless of how many times he seemed to get knocked down the man just kept getting up and forging onwards, especially in the pursuit of his goals for his homeland. 

BIBLE EXAMPLES: MOSES AND JOSEPH

The Bible is filled with examples of both grit and growth mindset. Moses exhibited considerable grit as the leader of the Israelites. When God called him to lead a ragtag group of slaves out of Egypt and into Canaan, he had his work cut out for him. 

At every step along the way the Israelites complained about the rugged terrain, shortage of food, lack of water, the hardships they endured. Their behaviour would have driven a lesser man to despair, but Moses was steady and calm in the face of almost incessant whining. 

He refused to quit. He was given a goal and even in the bleakest moments when it seemed that the odds were all stacked against him, Moses refused to give up. Turning to God for strength and guidance Moses pursued the goal that was set before him with singleness of purpose. 

Another example of grit is Joseph. Sold as a young man into slavery by his own brothers, Joseph arrived in Egypt and was sold into the household of Potiphar. Instead of giving way to despair and a sense of hopelessness Joseph clung tenaciously to his faith in God. 

And it was this faith that buoyed him through the struggles that lay ahead. He was able to rise to the position of chief steward of all that Potiphar owned, until Potiphar’s wife falsely accused him, and he was thrown into jail.

But even when he was unjustly accused and jailed for something he didn’t do, Joseph didn’t give up. Instead, he shored up his courage, clung to his faith and made a difference in the prison. In fact, the entirety of Joseph’s story is one long, hard round of persistent and persevering faith in God.

Joseph’s persevering faith and faithfulness finally paid off when he became Prime Minister of Egypt, and saved not only Egypt from famine, but also his own family from ruin and death. In fact, God used Joseph’s position in Egypt to provide a place of refuge for the children of Israel. 

Joseph displayed grit in his pursuit of his goal to be faithful to God and follow Him wherever he led. And that grit was fuelled by his mindset. His knowledge that God loved Him and would work all things together for his good. 

The mindset that God is in control of every circumstance and that He is full of goodness and compassion spurred Joseph on. It is this mindset that enabled Joseph to persevere in holding on to his principles and persevering in his faith.

THE APOSTLE PAUL

Then in the New Testament we find the Apostle Paul, another example of the grit and growth mindset.  God had given Paul a special work – to share the good news of Jesus with the Gentiles, non-Jews.  It was an extremely difficult, demanding, and challenging task.  Paul accepted it with full dedication and commitment.

He undertook 3 extensive missionary journeys that took him to far flung regions of the Empire, sharing the Gospel wherever he went.  He became the great proclaimer of the goodness and grace of God.  He was threatened, persecuted, beaten, stoned, and imprisoned.  Yet, through it all Paul is a man of extraordinary courage and tenacity.

Nothing could stop him pursuing his goal – to take the Gospel to the world.  When sharing the good news of Jesus his message was consistent, steady and unwavering.  Paul had a grit about him, a focus and determination that is evident throughout his ministry.  

THE ULTIMATE EXAMPLE

But perhaps the most powerful example of grit and growth mindset in the Bible is the example of Jesus. When Jesus began his ministry, he understood what lay at the end of his path: a cross and a painful, humiliating death. 

And yet he continued to press forward towards His goal of saving the world from sin. During his brief ministry he had to work against almost insurmountable odds. The rulers and leaders of the time seemed to be constantly aligned against Him.

Even His own followers didn’t fully understand his mission. The crowds who followed him were fickle at best, looking for an easy handout. His mission was to bring spiritual transformation to a dying world, and yet the people who thronged to see him expected him to deliver them from the Romans. 

Jesus’ life was full of trial, contradiction and opposition, and yet, though he seemed to trudge through an almost incessant storm surge he stood firm and resolute in the eye of it all. To everyone watching, Jesus’ entire mission seemed to be heading towards failure and disaster. Even His own disciples thought this was the case. 

The people wanted him to defeat the Romans and rule the world. His Heavenly Father was leading him towards death on a Roman cross. And resurrection. 

And yet Jesus’ mindset was not one of failure, but one of ‘not yet’. Jesus possessed grit and a mindset that did not accept defeat. His life revolved around being patient, persevering and steadfast in following the plan God had laid out for him, and he understood the principle that when you follow God’s plans for your life there is no failure.

The Bible promises us in Romans 8:28 

“for we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” 

In God’s great plan for each of us there is no failure.

GOD’S PLANS

There may be times in our lives when we feel frustrated and overwhelmed by disappointment and defeat. It is in those moments that we need to look to Jesus and remind ourselves that before there is a crown of victory there is sometimes a cross of defeat. 

Hebrews 12:3 says, 

“for consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls”.  

Sometimes, when we’re mired in our struggles it is easy to get discouraged. 

But the Bible tells us to look outside of ourselves and to think about Jesus. Think about the fact that Jesus, who had healed countless people, who could bring the dead back to life, who could feed thousands with almost nothing at hand, still chose the shame and bitter humiliation of the cross for us. 

Bible prophecy tells us that Jesus is coming soon. It points to the pestilence, wars and turmoil around us as fast fulfilling signs that we are not far from Jesus’ return to establish his kingdom on earth. 

God’s plan for our salvation has spanned over six thousand years and through it all he has not been weary or inclined to admit defeat. His love for us is limitless, and even though we may make serious mistakes in our lives, like Thomas Meagher, He still loves us and never gives up on us. Despite the setbacks and the obstacles, God has patiently persevered in his purposes for us. With God there is no failure, just ‘not yet’

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Dear Heavenly Father. We thank you that we can look to you when our trials and difficulties overwhelm us. We ask for the courage to face the road ahead and overcome our defeats. Please grant us faith and true grit.  We want to choose to obey your word. We ask for your blessing. In Jesus’ name. Amen.