The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1902-11-22
THE MANCHESTER MARTYRS.

Thirty-five years ago three young
Irishmen suffered an ignominous
death on the scaffold in Stafford Jail
England. Their names were William
Philip Allen, Michael Larkin anC
Michael O'Brien, and they are remem
bered by the Irish people all over the
world as the Manchester Martyrs
On Nov. %, 1867, they died for Ire
land with the words Lord Jesus have
mercy on us" on their lips. What
had these young Irishmen done to
merit such fate ut the hands of a
British hangman? The tale is briefly
told as follows:
Two Irish-American soldiers named
Col. Kelly and Capt. Deasy had gone
over from this country in 1867 to help
the Fenians in achieving the indie
pendence of Ireland by force Of arms.
On September IL of that year they
were arrested in Manchester by the
police as suspicious characters. On
being brought to the lookup they
were searched and loaded revolvers
were found in their possession. Sub
sequently they We're identified as Irish
revolutionists and were held OH Il
charge of treason-felony. They were
brought before a magistrate and re-
manded for trial.
Both of them were handcuffed and
placed in a van with locked compart-
ments. The conveyance was put in
charge of Sergeant Brett, who was
armed with Il cutas and sat inside on
Il seat near the door. Twelve police
men accompanied the van to the
prison. After going some two miles
through the principal streets of Man.
chester they came to railway arch
from which two men emerged with
revolvers, one of whom presented his
weapon and cried, "Stop The Van!'
The driver paid no heed to the man.
date until a bullet was fired over his
head to intimidate him.
Meanwhile a body of men made
their appearance armed for the most
part with revolvers, and on seeing
them the policemen fled panic-strick-
en-. Among these formidable men
were Edward O'Meagher Condor
and Michael O'Brien who had been
officers in the Union army. William
p. Allen and Michael Larkin were
also there. The former was me-
chanic and he and Larkin were I'M
armed.
After the departure of the police
men, the rescuers proceeded to release
Kelly and Deasy and Sergeant Brett
was called upon to open the van
This he stubbornly refused to do. AT
length shot was fired through the
keyhole into the lock with the view
of breaking it. The bullet penetrated
Brett's head and the wound proved
fatal. The prisoners were rescued
and never recaptured.
On the night of that day about
sixty Irishmen were dragged from
their homes and lodged in Jail. A
reign of terror for the Irish prevailed
throughout the city. Large rewards
for the apprehension of Kelly and
Deasy We're offered by the Govern
ment, but they escaped safely tc
America.
On October %, twenty-six Irishmel,
We're placed on trial for the acci
dental killing of Sergeant Brett. A
change of venue was asked by the
attorneys for the prisoners on the
ground that they could not get n fail
trial in Lancashire, but this was re-
fused. Some of them We're discharged
from time to time for lack of suffi
cient evidence, but the jury on Nov
L., found Allen, Larkin, O'Brien, Con
don and Mcguire guilty. Not one OF
them fired the shot.
Condor and Mcguire We're pardon
ed, while the other three We're hang
ed. 1t was Condor who made the
longest speech in reply to the question
| why sentence of death should not be
| passed upon him. He ended his ad
dress by saying: II only trust that
those who are to be tried after us
will have fair trial, and that our
blood will satisfy the craving which
exists. have nothing to regret, OF
to retract, or to take back. car
only say, God Save Ireland"