Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa – kicked off the Easter Rising [Video]

On June 29, 1915, Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa, the old Fenian, died on Staten Island. Legend has it that John Devoy wired Thomas Clarke in Dublin, “Rossa dead. What should I do?” Clarke replied: “Send his body home at once!” Thus began the long, final, and heroic journey of Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa. 

Editor’s note: Below is an excerpt from Dermot McEvoy’s new book, Real Irish New York, published by Skyhorse Publishing.

Like a lot of the Fenians, Rossa was a very tough character. His family in West Cork was fairly comfortable until the time of the famine, which destroyed it. It was the trigger that set him afire with nationalism. The odd thing about Rossa is that he never got to fight in any of Ireland’s battles. As plans were being made for a rising in 1865—it was postponed until 1867—he was arrested in Dublin and sent to British prisons where, under brutal conditions, he would live for the next five years. He was freed …