The Wearing of the Green written by A.M. Sullivan
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A.M. Sullivan >> The Wearing of the Green
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9 [Transcriber's note: The spelling inconsistencies of the original are
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THE
"WEARING OF THE GREEN,"
_OR_
THE PROSECUTED FUNERAL PROCESSION.
* * * * *
Let the echoes fall unbroken;
Let our tears in silence flow;
For each word thus nobly spoken,
Let us yield a nation's woe;
Yet, while weeping, sternly keeping
Wary watch upon the foe.
_Poem in the_ "NATION."
DUBLIN:
A.M. SULLIVAN, ABBEY STREET.
1868.
THE
PROSECUTED FUNERAL PROCESSION.
* * * * *
The news of the Manchester executions on the morning of Saturday, 23rd
November, 1867, fell upon Ireland with sudden and dismal disillusion.
In time to come, when the generation now living shall have passed away,
men will probably find it difficult to fully realize or understand the
state of stupor and amazement which ensued in this country on the first
tidings of that event; seeing, as it may be said, that the victims had
lain for weeks under sentence of death, to be executed on this date. Yet
surprise indubitably was the first and most overpowering emotion; for,
in truth, no one up to that hour had really credited that England would
take the lives of those three men on a verdict already publicly admitted
and proclaimed to have been a blunder. Now, however, came the news that
all was over--that the deed was done--and soon there was seen such an
upheaving of national emotion as had not been witnessed in Ireland for a
century. The public conscience, utterly shocked, revolted against the
dreadful act perpetrated in the outraged name of justice. A great billow
of grief rose and surged from end to end of the land. Political
distinctions disappeared or were forgotten. The Manchester Victims--the
Manchester Martyrs, they were already called--belonged to the Fenian
organization; a conspiracy which the wisest and truest patriots of
Ireland had condemned and resisted; yet men who had been prominent in
withstanding, on national grounds, that hopeless and disastrous
scheme--priests and laymen--were now amongst the foremost and the
boldest in denouncing at every peril the savage act of vengeance
perpetrated at Manchester. The Catholic clergy were the first to give
articulate expression to the national emotion. The executions took place
on Saturday; before night the telegraph had spread the news through the
island; and on the next morning, being Sunday, from a thousand altars
the sad event was announced to the assembled worshippers, and prayers
were publicly offered for the souls of the victims. When the news was
announced, a moan of sorrowful surprise burst from the congregation,
followed by the wailing and sobbing of women; and when the priest, his
own voice broken with emotion, asked all to join with him in praying the
Merciful God to grant those young victims a place beside His throne, the
assemblage with one voice responded, praying and weeping aloud!
The manner in which the national feeling was demonstrated on this
occasion was one peculiarly characteristic of a nation in which the
sentiments of religion and patriotism are so closely blended. No stormy
"indignation meetings" were held; no tumult, no violence, no cries for
vengeance arose. In all probability--nay, to a certainty--all this would
have happened, and these ebullitions of popular passion would have been
heard, had the victims not passed into eternity. But now, they were gone
where prayer alone could follow; and in the presence of this solemn fact
the religious sentiment overbore all others with the Irish people. Cries
of anger, imprecations, and threats of vengeance, could not avail the
dead; but happily religion gave a vent to the pent-up feelings of the
living. By prayer and mourning they could at once, most fitly and most
successfully, demonstrate their horror of the guilty deed, and their
sympathy with the innocent victims.
Requiem Masses forthwith were announced and celebrated in several
churches; and were attended by crowds everywhere too vast for the sacred
edifices to contain. The churches in several instances were draped with
black, and the ceremonies conducted with more than ordinary solemnity.
In every case, however, the authorities of the Catholic church were
careful to ensure that the sacred functions were sought and attended for
spiritual considerations, not used merely for illegitimate political
purposes; and wherever it was apprehended that the holy rites were in
danger of such use, the masses were said privately.
And soon public feeling found yet another vent; a mode of manifesting
itself scarcely less edifying than the Requiem Masses; namely, funeral
processions. The brutal vengeance of the law consigned the bodies of
Allen, Larkin, and O'Brien to dishonoured graves; and forbade the
presence of sympathising friend or sorrowing relative who might drop a
tear above their mutilated remains. Their countrymen now, however,
determined that ample atonement should be made to the memory of the dead
for this denial of the decencies of sepulture. On Sunday, 1st December,
in Cork. Manchester, Mitchelstown, Middleton, Limerick, and Skibbereen,
funeral processions, at which thousands of persons attended, were held;
that in Cork being admittedly the most imposing, not only in point of
numbers, but in the character of the demonstration and the demeanour of
the people.
For more than twenty years Cork city has held an advanced position in
the Irish national struggle. In truth, it has been one of the great
strongholds of the national cause since 1848. Nowhere else did the
national spirit keep its hold so tenaciously and so extensively amidst
the people. In 1848 Cork city contained probably the most formidable
organization in the country; formidable, not merely in numbers, but in
the superior intelligence, earnestness, and determination of the men;
and even in the Fenian conspiracy, it is unquestionable that the
southern capital contributed to that movement men--chiefly belonging to
the mercantile and commercial classes--who, in personal worth and
standing, as well as in courage, intelligence, and patriotism, were the
flower of the organization. Finally, it must be said, that it was Cork
city by its funeral demonstration of the 1st December, that struck the
first great blow at the Manchester verdict, and set all Ireland in
motion. [Footnote: It may be truly said set the Irish race all over the
world in motion. There is probably no parallel in history for the
singular circumstance of these funeral processions being held by the
dispersed Irish in lands remote, apart, as pole from pole--in the old
hemisphere and in the new--in Europe, in America, in Australia;
prosecutions being set on foot by the English government to punish them
at both ends of the world--in Ireland and in New Zealand! In Hokatika
the Irish settlers--most patriotic of Ireland's exiles--organized a
highly impressive funeral demonstration. The government seized and
prosecuted its leaders, the Rev. Father Larkin, a Catholic clergyman,
and Mr. Wm. Manning, editor of the _Hokatika Celt_. A jury, terrified by
Fenian panic, brought them in "guilty," and the patriot priest and
journalist were consigned to a dungeon for the crime of mourning for the
dead and protesting against judicial murder.]
Meanwhile the Irish capital had moved, and was organizing a
demonstration destined to surpass all that had yet been witnessed. Early
in the second week of December, a committee was formed for the purpose
of organizing a funeral procession in Dublin, worthy of the national
metropolis. Dublin would have come forward sooner, but the question of
the _legality_ of the processions that were announced to come off the
previous week in Cork and other places, had been the subject of fierce
discussion in the government press; and the national leaders were
determined to avoid the slightest infringement of the law or the least
inroad on the public peace. It was only when, on the 3rd of December,
Lord Derby, the Prime Minister, replying in the House of Lords to Lord
Dufferin, declared the opinion of the crown that the projected
processions were not illegal, that the national party in Dublin decided
to form a committee and organize a procession. The following were Lord
Derby's words:--
"He could assure the noble lord that the government would continue to
carry out the law with firmness and impartiality. The Party
Processions Act, however, did not meet the case of the funeral
processions, the parties engaged in them having, by not displaying
banners or other emblems, kept within the law as far as his
information went."
Still more strong assurance was contained in the reply of the Irish
Chief Secretary, Lord Mayo, to a question put by Sir P. O'Brien in the
House of Commons. Lord Mayo publicly announced and promised that if any
new opinion as to the legality of the processions should be arrived
at--that is, should the crown see in them anything of illegality--_due
and timely notice would be given_ by proclamation, so that no one might
offend through ignorance. Here are his words:--
"It is the wish of the government to act strictly in accordance with
the law; _and of course ample notice will be given either by
proclamation or otherwise_."
The Dublin funeral committee thereupon at once issued the following
announcement, by placard and advertisement:--
GOD SAVE IRELAND!
A PUBLIC FUNERAL PROCESSION
In honour of the Irish Patriots
Executed at Manchester, 23rd November,
Will take place in Dublin
On Sunday next, the 8th inst.
* * * * *
The procession will assemble in Beresford-place, near the Custom
House, and will start from thence at the hour of twelve o'clock noon.
* * * * *
No flags, banners, or party emblems will be allowed.
* * * * *
IRISHMEN
Assemble in your thousands, and show by your numbers and your orderly
demeanour your sympathy with the fate of the executed patriots.
* * * * *
IRISHWOMEN
You are requested to lend the dignity of your presence to this
important National Demonstration.
By Order of the Committee.
JOHN MARTIN, Chairman.
J.C. WATERS, Hon. Secretary.
JAMES SCANLAN, Hon. Secretary.
J.J. LALOR, Hon. Secretary.
DONAL SULLIVAN, Up. Buckingham-street, Treasurer.
The appearance of the "funeral procession placards" all over the city on
Thursday, 5th December, increased the public excitement. No other topic
was discussed in any place of public resort, but the event forthcoming
on Sunday. The first evidence of what it was about to be, was the
appearance of the drapery establishments in the city on Saturday
morning; the windows, exteriorly and interiorly, being one mass of crape
and green ribbon--funeral knots, badges, scarfs, hat-bands, neckties,
&c., exposed for sale. Before noon most of the retail, and several of
the wholesale houses had their entire stock of green ribbon and crape
exhausted, it being computed that _nearly one hundred thousand yards_
had been sold up to midnight of Saturday! Meantime the committee sat _en
permanance_, zealously pushing their arrangements for the orderly and
successful carrying out of their great undertaking--appointing stewards,
marshals, &c.--in a word, completing the numerous details on the
perfection of which it greatly depended whether Sunday was to witness a
successful demonstration or a scene of disastrous disorder. On this, as
upon every occasion when a national demonstration was to be organized,
the trades of Dublin, Kingstown, and Dalkey, exhibited that spirit of
patriotism for which they have been proverbial in our generation. From
their ranks came the most efficient aids in every department of the
preparations. On Saturday evening the carpenters, in a body, immediately
after their day's work was over, instead of seeking home and rest,
refreshment or recreation after their week of toil, turned into the
_Nation_ office machine rooms, which they quickly improvised into a vast
workshop, and there, as volunteers, laboured away till near midnight,
manufacturing "wands" for the stewards of next morning's procession.
Sunday, 8th December, 1867, dawned through watery skies. From shortly
after day-break, rain, or rather half-melted sleet, continued to fall;
and many persons concluded that there would be no attempt to hold the
procession under such inclement weather. This circumstance was, no
doubt, a grievous discouragement, or rather a discomfort and an
inconvenience; but so far from preventing the procession, it was
destined to add a hundred-fold to the significance and importance of the
demonstration. Had the day been fine, tens of thousands of persons who
eventually only lined the streets, wearing the funeral emblems, would
have marched in the procession as they had originally intended; but
hostile critics would in this case have said that the fineness of the
day and the excitement of the pageant had merely caused a hundred
thousand persons to come out for a holiday. Now, however, the depth,
reality, and intensity of the popular feeling was about to be keenly
tested. The subjoined account of this memorable demonstration is
summarised from the Dublin daily papers of the next ensuing publication,
the report of the _Freeman's Journal_ being chiefly used:--
As early as ten o'clock crowds began to gather in Beresford-place,
and in an hour about ten thousand men were present. The morning had
succeeded to the hopeless humidity of the night, and the drizzling
rain fell with almost dispiteous persistence. The early trains from
Kingstown and Dalkey, and all the citerior townlands, brought large
numbers into Dublin; and Westland-row, Brunswick, D'Olier, and
Sackville-streets, streamed with masses of humanity. A great number
of the processionists met in Earlsfort-terrace, all round the
Exhibition, and at twelve o'clock some thousands had collected. It
was not easy to learn the object of this gathering; it may have been
a mistake, and most probably it was, as they fell in with the great
body in the course of half an hour. The space from the quays,
including the great sweep in front of the Custom-house, was swarming
with men, and women, and small children, and the big ungainly crowd
bulged out in Gardiner-street, and the broad space leading up
Talbot-street. The ranks began to be formed at eleven o'clock amid a
down-pour of cold rain. The mud was deep and aqueous, and great pools
ran through the streets almost level with the paths. Some of the more
prominent of the men, and several of the committee, rode about
directing and organizing the crowd, which presented a most
extraordinary appearance. A couple of thousand young children stood
quietly in the rain and slush for over an hour; while behind them, in
close-packed numbers, were over two thousand young women. Not the
least blame can be attached to those who managed the affairs of the
day, inasmuch as the throng must have far exceeded even their most
sanguine expectations. Every moment some overwhelming accession
rolled down Abbey-street or Eden-quay, and swelled the already
surging multitude waiting for the start. Long before twelve o'clock,
the streets converging on the square were packed with spectators or
intending processionists. Cabs struggled hopelessly to yield up the
large number of highly respectable and well-attired ladies who had
come to walk. Those who had hired vehicles for the day to join the
procession were convinced of the impracticable character of their
intention; and many delicate old men who would not give up the
design, braved the terrors of asthma and bronchitis, and joined the
rain-defying throng. Right across the spacious ground was one
unmoving mass, constantly being enlarged by ever-coming crowds. All
the windows in Beresford-place were filled with spectators, and the
rain and cold seemed to have no saddening effect on the numerous
multitude. The various bands of the trade were being disposed in
their respective positions, and the hearses were a long way off and
altogether in the back-ground, when, at a quarter to twelve, the
first rank of men moved forward. Almost every one had an umbrella,
but they were thoroughly saturated with the never-ceasing down-pour.
As the steady, well-kept, twelve-deep ranks moved slowly out, some
ease was given to those pent up behind; and it was really wonderful
to see the facility with which the people adapted themselves to the
orders of their directors. Every chance of falling in was seized, and
soon the procession was in motion. The first five hundred men were of
the artisan class. They were dressed very respectably, and each man
wore upon his left shoulder a green rosette, and on his left arm a
band of crape. Numbers had hat-bands depending to the shoulder;
others had close crape intertwined carefully with green ribbon around
their hats; and the great majority of the better sort adhered to this
plan, which was executed with a skill unmistakably feminine. Here and
there at intervals a man appeared with a broad green scarf around his
shoulders, some embroidered with shamrocks, and others decorated with
harps. There was not a man throughout the procession but was
conspicuous by some emblem of nationality. Appointed officers walked
at the sides with wands in their hands and gently kept back the
curious and interested crowd whose sympathy was certainly
demonstrative. Behind the five hundred men came a couple of thousand
young children. These excited, perhaps, the most considerable
interest amongst the bystanders, whether sympathetic, neutral, or
opposite. Of tender age and innocent of opinions on any subject, they
were being marshalled by their parents in a demonstration which will
probably give a tone to their career hereafter; and seeds in the
juvenile mind ever bear fruit in due season. The presence of these
shivering little ones gave a serious significance to the
procession--they were hostages to the party who had organized the
demonstration. Earnestness must indeed have been strong in the mind
of the parent who directed his little son or daughter to walk in
saturating rain and painful cold through five or six miles of mud and
water, and all this merely to say "I and my children were there." It
portends something more than sentiment. It is national education with
a vengeance. Comment on this remarkable constituent was very frequent
throughout the day, and when toward evening this band of boys sang
out with lusty unanimity a popular Yankee air, spectators were
satisfied of their culture and training. After the children came
about one hundred young women who had been unable to gain their
proper position, and accepted the place which chance assigned them.
They were succeeded by a band dressed very respectably, with crape
and green ribbons round their caps. These were followed by a number
of rather elderly men, probably the parents of the children far
ahead. At this portion of the procession, a mile from the point, they
marched four deep, there having been a gradual decline from the
front. Next came the bricklayers' band all dressed in green caps, a
very superior-looking body of men. Then followed a very imposing
well-kept line, composed of young men of the better class, well
attired and respectable looking. These wore crape hat-bands, and
green rosettes with harps in the centre. Several had broad green body
scarfs, with gold tinsel shamrocks and harps intertwined. As this
portion of the procession marched they attracted very considerable
attention by their orderly, measured tread, and the almost soldierly
precision with which they maintained the line. They numbered about
four or five thousand, and there were few who were not young, sinewy,
stalwart fellows. When they had reached the further end of
Abbey-street, the ground about Beresford-place was gradually becoming
clear, and the spectator had some opportunity afforded of glancing
more closely at the component parts of the great crowd. All round the
Custom-house was still packed a dense throng, and large streams were
flowing from the northern districts, Clontarf, the Strand, and the
quays. The shipping was gaily decorated, and many of the masts were
filled with young tars, wearing green bands on their hats. At
half-past twelve o'clock, the most interesting portion of the
procession left the Custom-house. About two thousand young women, who
in attire, demeanour, and general appearance, certainly justified
their title to be called ladies walked in six-deep ranks. The general
public kept pace with them for a great distance. The green was most
demonstrative, every lady having shawl, bonnet, veil, dress, or
mantle of the national hue. The mud made sad havoc of their attire,
but notwithstanding all mishaps they maintained good order and
regularity. They stretched for over half a-mile, and added very
notably to the imposing appearance, of the procession. So great was
the pressure in Abbey-street, that for a very long time there were no
less than three processions walking side-by-side. These halted at the
end of the street, and followed as they were afforded opportunity.
One of the bands was about to play near the Abbey-street Wesleyan
House, but when a policeman told them of the proximity of the place
of worship, they immediately desisted. The first was a very long way
back in the line, and the foremost men must have been near the
Ormond-quays, when the four horses moved into Abbey-street. They were
draped with black cloths, and white plumes were at their heads. The
hearse also had white plumes, and was covered with black palls. On
the side was "William P. Allen." A number of men followed, and then
came a band. In the earlier portion of the day there were seen but
two hearses, the second one bearing Larkin's name. It was succeeded
by four mourning coaches, drawn by two horses each. A large number
of young men from the monster houses followed in admirable order. In
this throng were very many men of business, large employers, and
members of the professions. Several of the trades were in great
force. It had been arranged to have the trade banners carried in
front of the artisans of every calling, but at the suggestion of the
chairman this design was abandoned. The men walked, however, in
considerable strength. They marched from their various
committee-rooms to the Custom-house. The quay porters were present to
the number of 500, and presented a very orderly, cleanly appearance.
They were comfortably dressed, and walked close after the hearse
bearing Larkin's name. Around this bier were a number of men bearing
in their hands long and waving palms--emblems of martyrdom. The
trades came next, and were led off by the various branches of the
association known as the Amalgamated Trades. The plasterers made
about 300, the painters 350, the boot and shoemakers mustered 1,000,
the bricklayers 500, the carpenters 300, the slaters 450, the sawyers
200, and the skinners, coopers, tailors, bakers, and the other
trades, made a very respectable show, both as to numbers and
appearance. Each of these had representatives in the front of the
procession, amongst the fine body of men who marched eight deep. The
whole ground near the starting place was clear at half-past one, and
by that time the demonstration was seen to a greater advantage than
previously. All down Abbey-streets, and in fact throughout the
procession, the pathways were crowded by persons who were practically
of it, though not in it. Very many young girls naturally enough
preferred to stand on the pathways rather than to be saturated with
mud and water. But it may truly be said that every second man and
woman of the crowds in almost every street were of the procession.
Cabs filled with ladies and gentlemen remained at the waysides all
day watching the march. The horses' heads were gaily decorated with
green ribbons, while every Jehu in the city wore a rosette or a crape
band. Nothing of special note occurred until the procession turned
into Dame-street. The appearance of the demonstration was here far
greater than at any other portion of the city. Both sides of the
street, and as far as Carlisle-bridge, were lined with cabs and
carriages filled with spectators who were prevented by the bitter
inclemency of the day from taking an active part in the proceedings.
The procession was here grandly imposing, and after Larkin's hearse
were no less than nine carriages, and several cabs. It is stated that
Mrs. Luby and Miss Mulcahy occupied one of the vehicles, and
relatives of others now in confinement were alleged to have been
present. One circumstance, which was generally remarked as having
great significance, was the presence in one line of ten soldiers of
the 86th Regiment. They were dressed in their great overcoats, which
they wore open so as to show the scarlet tunic. These men may have
been on leave, inasmuch as the great military force were confined to
barracks, and kept under arms from six o'clock, a.m. The cavalry were
in readiness for action, if necessary. Mounted military and police
orderlies were stationed at various points of the city to convey any
requisite intelligence to the authorities, and the constabulary at
the depot, Phoenix Park, were also prepared, if their services should
be required. At the police stations throughout the city large numbers
of men were kept all day under arms. It is pleasant to state that no
interference was necessary, as the great demonstration terminated
without the slightest disturbance. The public houses generally
remained closed until five o'clock, and the sobriety of the crowds
was the subject of the general comment.
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