The Irish standard., 1904-08-06
PATRIOT PRIEST
Father John Murphy Was a
Leader in '98 Movement.
Bravely He Fought and Died
For His aCountry.

John Hughes, then archbishop of New
York, told a meeting of Irish priests
and people assembled for the purpose
of raising fund to provide munitions
of war for young Irelanders in 1S4S
when the news that Ireland was in
rebellion reached America-is ''in ev-
cry way worthy of Il patriot and a
Christian" says the San Francisco
Monitor. In the olden days-and in
the days not so very old-they went
forth, with hearts in their bosoms
and pixies in their hands, to fight for
faith and fatherand, and to show
their detestation of foreign rule by
leading their people to victory or to
death on many bloody field. When
st. Laurence O"Toole melted the peo-
pie of his archdiocese Of Dublin to re-
pei the Norman invaders at their first
coming, he set an example since fol-
lowed by clerics almost beyond count.
The bishops and priests who, in the
various rebellions of the Desmonds.
ONeilis, O'Donnells and other chiefs
in the great struggle of 1G41-52, and
again in 1898, bore arms and fell on
the battlefield bravely, fighting for
homes and affairs Free" can be num-
bered by thousands. Equally numer-
GUS were those who, defying the Eng
lish laws, persisted in ministering to
their people, all through the penal
days, when the priest who even pre-
sumed to exist was guilty of high trea-
son. and had the same price set on
his head as on that of the wolf 9th
ers there were who taught their peo-
pie that they We're human beings with
immortal souls. not mere automatic
machines for the production of rents
and tithes, and that
''AIen must fight who dare desire
For freedoms course Il higllway;'
and who, for so teaclling, died on the
gallows, victims Of Englands favoritc
weapons, the paid inforlncr and the
packed jury. Deeply enslrined in the
hearts of the Irish people are all these
and none more deeply than the brave
warrior-prirst, the anniversary of
whose death for ireland. which he
vainly strove to free. we commemo.
rate this week.
Father John Murphy, native Of
the county of Wexford, was educated
ut Seville, whence. being ordained
priest, he returned to Ireland i'm 1885.
and was appointed parish priest OF
November, 1897. when the government
was doing it's hest to drive the peas
antry to desperation. Father Murphy
advised his people to let nothing III
duce them to he other than loynlists!
For This advice he was soon to meet
his reward. Mylcs Ryrne-whO was Il
ply, and who afterwards became Il
Characterization in the French army
describes his leader as "a worthy,
piOus simple man, and one of those
Roman Catholic priests who used the
greatest eXertions and eXhortations to
oblige the people to surrender their
pixies and firearms of every descrip-
tion!' He must have been indeed
simple to give himself and his people
over to the tender mercies of England
and her anti-1rish allies.
On March 30, 1898, the government
declared that Ireland was in rebellion,
and that consequently martial law
should be i'll force throughout the coun-
try, although according to Sir Ralph
Abercrombie-who was then cOmman-
der-in-chief in Ireland, position
which he threw up in disgust-"they
have declared the country to be in re-
bellion when the orders of his eNcellen-
cy might be carried over the whole
kingdom by an orderly dragoon, or IL
writ executed without any difficulty,
except in few places in the noun
tains" Although Wexford had re-
mained quiet, and had contributed less
than 200 members to the Society of
United Irishmen, Orange ruffianism
was rampant there. Atrocities that
sicken the heart in their contemplation
filled with terror the homes of that
peaceful and inoffensive people," says
A. M. Sullivan's Story of Ireland. '"The
midnight skies were Redeemed with
the flames of burning cottages, and the
glens resounded with the shrieks Of
agony, vengeance and despair. Homes
desolated, female virtue made the
victim Of crimes that cannot be named,
the gibbet and triangle erected in ev-
cry hamlet, and finally the temples of
God desecrated and given to the
torch"-these were the consequences
Of the advice given by Father Murphy
and his brother priests. Unfortunate
ly, the advice was taken, the people
left themselves without proper means
Of defense, and the yeomen We're at
liberty to work their own sweet will.
On Whit-Saturday, May Goth, party
of them came to Boolarogue and burn
ed Father Murphy's house and chapel,
as well as the houses Of his parishion-
ers, many of whom perished in the