The Irish standard., 1898-07-30
THE INTREPID MICHAEL DWYER
Was a Remarkably Intelligent Man
for the Period.
PREP0SSEssING PERSONALITY
His Name Lovingly Cherished by
His Countrymen.

Among tho gallant men who figured In
tho rebellion as 1t is called, Dwyer
was pre-eminently the orc who had q
liking for adventure for its own sake.
writes Il. ID. Fitzgerald in the Dublin
Weekly Freeman. \ life of leisured
peace. undlsturbcd by trouble or excite
ment and free of danger, would have
killed him. He courtcd adventures. so
TO speak, FOR the fun of the thing" He
was never SO happy as when bcsat by
danger and difficulty, and he cared for
no pastime that was not In some degree
related to tho pcrllous. lIo was, there
lore, IN his native element when carry
Ing on that guerrilla warfare in the
Wicklow hills against tho hated Yeos
who for many years trembled, as they
had good reason to do, at the bare men,
tion of his name. Though there were
greater and moro imposing figures in the
campatn than he. men OF larger minds,
of moro commanding personality, and Of,
perhaps, greater claim to historical no.
ticc, yet 1t must be said for Dwyer that
In hating England with truo patriots
hate, IN fighting against her minions
with reckless disregard of life, and in
Cutting his vengeance for the wrongs
done his country, by tho slaughter of his
enemies, there was not Il man in tho
movement who had won his record or
qualified himself to be matched with the
subject of this sketch. There was no
drawer man than Dwycr in the patriot
army, and 1t must DO admitted that at
times, when "his blood was ,lp," there
wcro not many more vcngeful men. But
this was when his passion was inflamed
by the viln:nics Of tho Yeomcn perpc-
tratcd before his eyes
Dwycr taking him all in all, and talk
Ing into account his surroundings and
the circumstances in which he lived, tho
consideration of which is essential to a
Just estimate OF any person, was IL man
or prcposscsslng personality, of un-
bending will, of Il chivarous disposition,
of great goodness of heart, righteous in
his dealings with his fellow men, slow
to anger and of a fUrgiving temperament,
except when he was called upon to eX-
tend the vlrtllo Of forgiveness to the bru-
tai Yeomlnry and lnhuman North
Cork" when rs we'll expect mercy from
an lnfuriatcd tiger that had tasted tho
blood of its victim.
Dwycr with his own eyes beheld the
"Ycos' at work, and IL he did his best
to pay them back in their own coin, who,
making excuses for human nature, can
blame him ovcrmuch?
But 1t was not the outrages of the
Orangcmcn and the Ycomanry that
made Dwycr join the insurgents. Hum
bic though his origin was, Dwycr was a
remarkably intelligent man for his class
and for tho period He had learned
enough and knew sufficient of Irish his
tory to be convinced that foreign rule,
assuming even the possibility of its
being well administered was essentially
y.
accordingly demanded from all men
having sense of what their rights
were, incessant and vigorous resistance.
When, then, that rule was the embodi-
mcnt OF everything odious and tyranni-
cal that men with every instinct bru-
taliZcd could pcrpetratc, there was little
wonder that it found in the young Wick
low Rapparce a bold, determined and
turbulent enemy. And SO it turned out
that he was one of the first to shoulder
pike for the hills in the terrible year
OF '9S In that honor many participated
with him. but the great glory Of being
the last to givo in was his alone, with
the exception Of one or two comrades
who kept by his side till the government
had to come to terms with him.
Born though he was in humble cir.
cumstanccs. Dwyer had attributes Of
heart and soul a king might envy. Nor
were his qualities Of mind less inferior.
He had great natural shrewdncss, and
from tho first days of his boyhood
cvinced an ardent desire to utilize what
ever opportunities for improving his
mind came in his way
Though tho accounts of Dwyer's life
during the actual incidents of the insur-
rection arc of a most mcagcr character,
because IL was as u scout and guerrilla
captain he distinguished himself, and
was therefore to some extent out Of
reach of the. special correspondent"
yet it is absolutely clear that he par
ticipated, in one capacity or other, in
almost all the striking engagements Of
tho campaign.
Dwyel took an active part in all the
stages Of the rebellion. and in the later