The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1898-03-19
A PATRIOTIC YOUNG PRIEST WHO
DIED FOR IRELAND.
The VICTIM OF ORANGE PERSECUTION.
HIS NAME is NOT WE'LL KNOWN TO
HIS COUNTRYMEN.
THE HANGING OF FIR. JAMES COIGlEY.
THE SCENE on TIE SCAFFOID WAS
AWFUL AND TRYING.

Fathers John and Michael Murphy,
Father Philip Roche and other brave
| patriot-priests led their people right
| we'll lover many noble town and
| many field of dead" when Wexford's'
peasants were driven to insurrection In
1898. But neither of the Wexford
priests had been a member of the So
ciety of United Irishmen; as a matter Of
| historical fact. there were very few
Catholic clergymen in Ireland who,
however they may have sympathized
with the movement and it's objects.
| actually joined the ranks of the organ
t.! ization and pledged themselves to ac-
lively aid in carrying out the program
of Tone and Fitzgerald, McNevin and
Oliver Bond. Father James Coiglcy
was an exception to the rule. He had
been in the condolences Of the leaders
of the society before he started on the
| fatal journey which ended on the gal
lows near Maidstone; and, though ne
was hanged on insufficient and tainted
evidence, 1t may fairly be taken for
granted that the brutal English crowd
who looked callously on while the brave
priest swung from their scaffold on
Penenden Heath saw the death U. Z. pyr-
sistent and determined enemy of the
domination Of their race over the fate
and fortunes of our country. Father
Coigley died for the cause of Irish free
dom as truly as did Father John Mur-
ply or Father Philip Roche, and his
name should be honored with theirs by
all who are reviving and celebrating
Weekly Freeman.
Some doubt exists as to the place Of
Father Coigley's birth; but though his
name is closely associated with the
county of Louth there is reason to be-
lieVe that he was native Of the city of
Belfast. His last thoughts, at all events
were with the people of that city. AS
the spirit of '9S is nowhere more active
than among the Nationalists Of the
Northern capital, it may be we'll to re-
mind them that one of the latest wishes
expressed by the martyr was desire
that a simple stone bearing his name
| should be erected to his memory in the
city which he loved, and of whose peo-
pie he wrote in terms of sincere, indeed
enthusiastic, admiration while waiting
for death at the hands of an English
hangman. Surely 1898 will not be al
lowed to pass away without seeing this
modest wish complied with.
During his tenure of the office of
Catholic chaplain at Dundalk prison
Father Coigley seems to have been
specially singled out as the victim of
Orange persecution and insult. Secure
in the favor and protection of the gov
eminent, the members of the newly
created Orange society lost no reason
able opportunity Of fulfilling that sec
tion of their amiable vow which bada
them wade knee deep in Papist blood"
"A Catholic priest was fair quarry for
these beasts of prey and we may we'll
suppose that the tortures and persecu-
tions to which Father Coigley and his
family were subjected had much to do
with his action in Identifying himself
with the men whose broad, tolerant
and statesmanlike policy was freedom
and equal rights for all 1rishmen who
lived on Irish SOIL At all events, we
can feel assured of one thing-Fathcr
Ccigley was a United Irishman.
Lord Clcncurry was one of the priest $
closest and best friends, and he main
tains that Father Coigleys fatal mis-
sion to France, which was interrupted
forever at Margate, was not connected
with the politics of the period. The
peer, in his personal recollections" :"
states that the prosecutions of the all
powerful Orange body in Dundalk forced
his friend to accept an offer of a pro-
fessorship at the famous Catholic Uni
versity of Douai where so many young
.lrishmen found the education denied at
! Aoiic uuIlHS llc penal days, ana tlat
he was on his way to France on such
a peaceable mission bent, when he was
arrested, tried, convicted and hanged.
In view Of events which certainly occur
red, this theory however, can hardly
be- accepted in full. Lord Holland
agrees with Lord Cloncurry to a great
extent, and between them they frame a
charge of incredible meanness and
treachery against Arthur O'Connor
| which hardly tallies with the character
| and career of that eccentric but daring
United Irishman. Their story is that
Y the connection between the Munster
organizer and the Dundalk priest was
purely accidental; that the latter, being
in dire distress. consented to travel
Francewards as the formers secretary;
that when the arrests were effected at
Margate the priest voluntarily offered to
sacrifice himself that O'Cornor and the
IL 49, q