Another bold, clever, and resolute opponent of British rule in Ireland
was torn from the ranks of the popular leaders on the day that Kevin
Izod O'Doherty was arrested. Amongst the cluster of talented and able
men who led the Young Ireland phalanx, he was distinguished for his
spirit and his mental accomplishments; amongst the organizers of the
party his ready words, manly address, and ceaseless activity gave him a
prominent position; amongst its journalists he was conspicuous for
fearlessness, frankness, and ability. Over the surging waves of the
excitement and agitation that convulsed the country during the period
which ended with the affray at Ballingarry, and through the haze which
time has cast over the attempted revolution of '48, his figure looms up
in bold proportions, suggestive of mental capacity, fortitude of soul,
and tenacity of purpose. For him, as for many of his brilliant
associates, the paths of patriotism led down to proscription and pain;
but O'Doherty fulminating the thunderbolts of the _Tribune,_ or sowing
the seeds of patriotism amongst the students of Dublin, was not one whit
more self-possessed or undaunted than when standing a convict in the
Greenstreet dock, he awaited the sentence of the court.
Kevin Izod O'Doherty was born of respectable Catholic parents in Dublin,
in June, 1824. He received a liberal education, by which he profited
extensively, showing even in his school-days strong evidences of natural
ability, and talents, of more than average degree. He directed his
attention to the medical profession on completing his education, and was
in the full tide of lectures and hospital attendance when the
development of the national sentiment that pervaded the year '48 drew
him into the vortex of public life. He became a hard working and
enthusiastic member of the Young Ireland party, and was one of the
founders of the Students' and Polytechnic Clubs, which were regarded by
the leaders in Dublin as the _elite_ of the national force in the
capital. When Mitchel was struck down and his paper suppressed,
O'Doherty was one of those who resolved that the political guidance
which the _United Irishman_ was meant to afford, should not be wanting
to the people. In conjunction with Richard Dalton Williams--"Shamrock"
of the _Nation_--he established the _Irish Tribune_, the first number of
which saw the light on the 10th of June, 1848. There could be no mistake
about the objects of the _Tribune_, or the motives of its founders in
establishing it. The British government could ill afford to endure the
attacks on their exactions and usurpations thundered forth weekly in its
articles. Its career was cut short by the mailed hand of authority at
its fifth number, and on the 10th of July, '48, Kevin Izod O'Doherty was
an inmate of Newgate prison.
[Illustration: CHARLES J. KICKHAM. JOHN O'LEARY. THOMAS CLARK LUBEY.]
On the 10th of August he was placed at the bar of Green-street
court-house, and arraigned on a charge of treason-felony, and a vigorous
effort was made by the crown to convict him. The attempt, however, was a
failure; the jury-panel had not been juggled as effectively as usual,
and a disagreement of the jury was the consequence. The crown, however,
had no idea of relaxing its grasp of its victim; after John Martin's
conviction O'Doherty was put forward again, and a new jury selected to
try him. Again were the government defeated; the second jury like the
first refused to agree to a verdict of guilty, and were discharged
without convicting the prisoner. A third time was O'Doherty arraigned,
and this time the relentless hatred of his persecutors was gratified by
a verdict of guilty. The speech delivered by Mr. O'Doherty after
conviction was as follows:--
"My lords--I did hope, I confess, that upon being placed in this dock
for the third time, after two juries of my fellow-citizens had
refused to find a verdict against me, that while my prosecutors would
have been scrupulous in their care in attempting to uphold their law,
they would not have violated the very spirit of justice."
Judge Crampton.--"I have a great difficulty in preventing you from
making any observations that may occur to you to be of service; but
if you mean to cast imputations of obloquy upon the law officers of
the crown, the court cannot permit that."
Mr. O'Doherty--"I only wish to mention a matter of fact. The
Attorney-General stated that there were only three Roman Catholics
set aside on my jury."
Judge Crampton again interposed, and requested the prisoner not to
pursue this line of observation.
Mr. O'Doherty.--"I would feel much obliged if your lordship would
permit me to mention a few more words with reference to my motives
throughout this affair.
"I had but one object and purpose in view. I did feel deeply for the
sufferings and privations endured by my fellow-countrymen. I did wish
by all means, consistent with a manly and honourable resistance to
assist in putting an end to that suffering. It is very true, and I
will confess it, that I desired an open resistance of the people to
that government, which, in my opinion entailed these sufferings upon
them. I have used the words open and honourable resistance, in order
that I might refer to one of the articles brought in evidence against
me, in which the writer suggests such things as flinging burning
hoops on the soldiery. My lords, these are no sentiments of mine. I
did not write that article. I did not see it, or know of it until I
read it when published in the paper. But I did not bring the writer
of it here on the table. Why? I knew that if I were to do so, it
would be only handing him over at the court-house doors to what one
of the witnesses has very properly called the fangs of the
Attorney-General. With respect to myself I have no fears. I trust I
will be enabled to bear my sentence with all the forbearance due to
what I believe to be the opinion of twelve conscientious enemies to
me, and I will bear with due patience the wrath of the government
whose mouthpiece they were; but I will never cease to deplore the
destiny that gave me birth in this unhappy country, and compelled me,
as an Irishman, to receive at your hands a felon's doom, for
discharging what I conceived--and what I still conceive to be my
duty. I shall only add, that the fact is, that instead of three Roman
Catholic jurors being set aside by the Attorney-General, there were
thirteen; I hold in my hand a list of their names, and out of the
twelve jurors he permitted to be sworn there was not one Roman
Catholic."
Mr. O'Doherty was sentenced to transportation for ten years. He sailed
for Van Dieman's Land in the same ship that bore John Martin into exile.
In the course of time he, like Martin and O'Brien, was set at liberty on
condition of his residing anywhere out of "the United Kingdom." He came
on to Paris, and there resumed his medical studies. He paid, however,
one secret and hurried visit to Ireland. He came to wed and bear away
with him, to share his fortune in other lands, a woman in every way
worthy of him--one whose genius and talents, like his own, had been
freely given to the cause of Ireland, and whose heart had long been his
in the bonds of a most tender attachment. "Eva," one of the fair
poetesses of the _Nation_, was the plighted wife of O'Doherty. Terrible
must have been the shock to her gentle nature when her patriot lover was
borne off a convict, and shipped for England's penal settlements in the
far southern seas. She believed, however, they would meet again, and she
knew that neither time nor distance could chill the ardour of their
mutual affection. The volumes of the _Nation_ published during his
captivity contain many exquisite lyrics from her pen mourning for the
absent one, with others expressive of unchanging affection, and the most
intense faith in the truth of her distant lover. "The course of true
love" in this case ended happily. O'Doherty, as we have stated, managed
to slip across from Paris to Ireland, and returned with "Eva" his bride.
In 1856 the pardons granted to the exiles above named was made
unconditional, and in the following year O'Doherty returned to Ireland,
where he took out his degrees with great _eclat_; he then commenced the
practice of medicine and surgery in Dublin, and soon came to be ranked
amongst the most distinguished and successful members of his profession.
After remaining some years in Ireland, Mr. O'Doherty sailed far away
seawards once again, and took up his abode under the light of the
Southern Cross. He settled in a rising colony of Australia, where he
still lives, surrounded by troops of friends, and enjoying the position
to which his talents and his high character entitle him.
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