Edward O'Meagher Condon

'''Edward O'Meagher Condon''' (27 January 1840 - 15 December 1915) was an Irish nationalist and Fenian who fought in the American Civil War and attempted to participate in the Fenian Rising of 1867 in Ireland. After the Fenian Rising failed, In September 1867 O'Meagher Condon led a rescue party which attempted to save Irish Republican Brotherhood leader Thomas J. Kelly from imprisonment in Manchester, England. The rescue attempt led to the death of an English police officer and the arrest of sixty Irishmen, and lead directly into the Manchester Martyrs case, in which O'Meagher Condon himself was one of the five main defendants. For his role in the attempted Manchester rescue, O'Meagher Condon was sentenced to death. During the trial, O'Meagher Condon gave a memorable speech in his own defence which ended with the rallying cry "God Save Ireland!", which was immediately repeated in unison by his fellow defendants. Not only did "God Save Ireland" become a popular slogan amongst Irish nationalists, but it was also turned into a song which became the "Unofficial Irish national anthem" until 1916, and continued to enjoy popularity long after.

O'Meagher Condon was an American citizen and his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment following an intervention from the American ambassador to Britain Charles Francis Adams Sr.. O'Meagher Condon remained imprisoned until June 1878, when after semi-persistent petitioning from Irish-American politicians he was released on condition he not return to the United Kingdom for 30 years. O'Meagher Condon went into exile and settled in New York City, where many other Fenians had also gone. There, O'Meagher Condon joined the Irish Republican organisation Clan na Gael and continued to espouse radical Irish nationalism, expressing support for the Fenian dynamite campaign. However, following the murder of Patrick Henry Cronin in Chicago by members of Clan na Gael which caused shock and outrage across the United States, O'Meagher Condon was forced to reduce his radicalism and thereafter withdrew from public politics, beginning a career in journalism. During a tour of Ireland in 1909, O'Meagher Condon's legacy was widely celebrated and he was given the freedom of the cities of Dublin, Cork and Waterford. Provided by Wikipedia