The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1901-07-06
Interesting Facts Concerning One of the
Noblest Martyrs Of Ireland
in the Year '98.
Estimate of the Grand Character of the
I Murdered Patriot is Given
by Wolfe Tone.

At2 o'clock on Monday morning, June
4, 1898, Lord Edward Fitzgerald died
in cell in Newgate prison, Green
street, Dublin, in which he had been
confined since his arrest on the evening
of May 10. In resisting his arrest Lord
HE,dward was wounded severely in the
right arm near the shoulder, writes J.
G. Swift MacNeill NJ. P, in an Irish
exchange. That wound, however, was
not considered dangerous, and there is
little doubt that Lord Edwards death
was the direct, if not indeed the calcu
lated, result Of the treatment to which
hewas elessly subjected inprison.
On the day previous to the interment
an inquest was held on the body, and
the finding of the jury was to the effect
that Lord Edward died from the ef-
. fects Of fever drought on by great
anxiety Of mind aided by two pistol
balls found lodged near the scapula Of
the SIDE" The only means Of sooth-
! ,ing the great anxiety of the suffering
fprisoner was deliberately denied him
by the orders Of the Irish government,
and that government by their conduct
to him in prison aggravated the suffer-
ings and shortened the life Of Lord Ed
ward Fitzgerald.
Mr.. Lecky has well said that the vi
cissitudes Of Lord Edwards sick bed
have been followed by several genera
!. tions Of Irish readers and writer's with
an intensity of interest hardly bestowed
bon any other page of Irish history.
eLord Edward Fitzgerald was removed
from the castle to which he had been
conveyed after his arrest to Newgate,
and placed in cell which was hence
forth known as Lord Edwards cell.
As Newgate has been demolished, a
description Of the room in which Lord
Edward died, from the pen of DR.. Mad
den. who visited 1t in 1857, will be Of
interest: "On entering the room I rec.
ognized the locality had first visited
when I was boy. The cell given him
In 1903, but known as Lord Edwards
room, is on the right hand side Of the
stprison as you enter from Green street.
There are two windows in this room
looking into Green street on the second
stage; the sills of the windows are just
twenty feet from the fagway Of the
street on the outside. The gallows un-
der which the visitor to Newgate pass
es is Immediately over the principal
entrance, and on the right-ffand side
the next window to it, in the cell of
the second stage is one Of the windows
Of Lord Edwards room, and 1t is i'm
portant to bear in mind that when an
execution took place the suspended
man was within 16 or 18 feet of the
window (nearest the gallows) Of Lord
Edwards cell. The length Of this room
lis 1915 feet, but the breadth is 13 feet,
and the height is 911a feet" Now, from
the commencement of his imprisonment
till few hours before his death, which
was then known to be imminent, all ac-
cess to him Of his friends and relatives
4 was savagely denied to Lord Edward
Fitzgerald by the government. On
May 26, Lord Edward made his will.
S His solicitor was not suffered to enter
the prison; he remained seated in car
riage at the door, while the surgeon
general went backwards and forwards
from the cell of the prisoner to the car
riage outside the Jail, communicating
between Lord Edward and his legal ad-
wiser on the disposition Of his property.
Mr.. Lecky, who, true to his manner,
is ready to palliate every atrocity of
the Irish government, thus gently de-
scribes their method of torturing an
unconvicted prisoner by stating that
the government determined that in the
very dangerous condition of affairs no
friends or relatives should be admitted
10 persons confined for treason, and
that they refused till the last moment
to relax their rule in the case Of Lord
Edward Fitzgerald. Lord Clare, the
Irish lord chancellor. speaking In the
Irish House Of Lords On Sept 8. 1893,
thns referred 70 Lord Ddwafd's Illness: