Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-07-14
IRISH HEROES HOMES
Where Robert Emmett Was
Born in Dublin.
PLAYMATE OF TOM MOORE
Emmets Sweetheart Was q Daugh-
ter of Curran the Advocate.
EDMUND BURKE AND O'C0NNELL
Both Were Great Orators, and There
Will Always Be Dispute Which
Was the Greater.
PLAYMATE OF TOM MOORE
EDMUND BURKEAND O'CONNELL

was the 6reateI.
BY WILLIAM L. CURTIS
Special Correspondence Of The star and inc
Chicago Record Herald
DUBLIN, July 8. 1908.
Confirming the subject I was writing
! about Observation-Disclosures to the
| Homes and Haunts of Irish Patriots-l
went this morning to the home OF Rod
ert Emmett in Marchalsea lane, near the
Debtors prison. where he used to meet
| his fellow-conspirators while organizing
| the instruction of the United 1rishmen
In 1903. Emmett was q brilliant, eager
| boy. only twenty-four, and had been
| expelled from the University Of Dublin
| for sympathy with the revolution of 119S.
He went to Paris, remained there for a
while, until things had Quoted down,
and then returned to Dublin. where he
! conceived a rash project to seize the
castle and the fort. The authorities were
| taken entirely by surprise. but the coun-
try contingent, which had been prom
| Used to support him, failed to arrive.
and Emmett and less than hundred
| men, armed with pikes-simply spear
heads mounted on the ends of poles
| marched against the castle and. Of
course, were Immediately overcome. Many
| Of his followers who fled to their homes
were killed at their own doors. and EN-
met became q fugitive.
Robert Emmett was born in Dublin in
ITS, and was a playmate and school,
| fellow of Thomas Moore, the poet. His
| brother. Thomas Adds Emmett. born in
| 1854, was involved in the revolution of
| 1898, anu fed to America, where he be-
came eminent at the bar of New York,
serving at one time as attorney general
of thai state. He left several sons and
grandsons.
Emmet's Arrest and Execution.
When Robert Emmett escaped after the
failure of his foolish attack upon the cas-
tie he took refuge among friends in the
Wicklow hills. south of Dublin, to await
an opportunity to cross over to France.
Against ..-eir protests he went at night
to say goodbye to his sweetheart. Sarah
Curran, daughter Of the famous advocate,
was arrested and tried for high treason.
He conducted his own defense with ex-
traordinary ability. His closing speech
stands as one of the greatest examples
of eloquence in the English language.
He was condemned to death and hanged
outside of st. GATHERINGS Church, upon
the spot where Lord Kilwarden an emil
killed by some of Emmet's men while
returning with his nephew and daughter
from a visit to the country.
Emmett in his farewell speech asked
that his epitaph should not be written
until Ireland was free, and that UNI
doubtedly suggested the popular belief
that his burial place is known and will
be disclosed in due time.
Sarah Curran died soon after. in Sicily,
Of broken heart, and Tom Moore, one
of Emmets most beloved friends. and
also devoted to Miss CuTran, enshrined
the pathetic story In touching ballad:
She is far from the land where her young hero
But coldly she turns from their gaze and weeps,
FOr\her heart on his grave is lying.
''she sings the wild songs of her dear native
plains,
Every note which he loved awaking:
All: little they think, who delight in her strains,
How the heart of the minstrel is breaking"
Nearby the place where Emmett and his
fellOw-conspirators planned the revolution
of 1903 is No. 151 Thomas street, the house
in which Lord Edward Fitzgerald leader
of the insurrection of 1898, was captured
after desperate struggle, and 1t Is a
curious coincidence that he and Emmett
should both have been arrested by the
same man. a certain Mai. SIR in COM
mand of a regiment at the castle. Lord
Edwards refuge was the house of tailor
who sympathized with the instruction. as
almost every other artisan in Ireland did,
and sheltered him for several days before
Tie arrest. Illt Is I1dThcu Will d
tablet and appropriate inscription.
Lord Edward was wounded In the Shout
der by Maj. SIR and carried away to
prison. where he died before he could be
brought into court.
The Octroi Tax.
The Corn Market of Dublin is just be-
.yond the house and the name of the
thoroughfare is there changed to Thomas
street. which is customary in Dublin.
Sometimes there is different name for
every block and it is very puzzling to a
stranger. You walk from Clare street into
MerriOn street and from Merton street
into some other; from Dame street into
the Corn Market and from the Corn Mar
ket into Thomas street all unconscious.
but the names are plainly posted on the
walls of the corner houses both in Eng
lish and Gaelic so that he who runs may
read
Thomas street is very wide and that is
understood when you know it was for
merly an open market place outside the
CITY walls for the sale of country produce.
The octroi tax levied by the corporation
on the farmers who brought in vegetables
and butter chickens and eggs, was paid
in kind, a measure of corn from each sack,
a pound of butter from each ffrkin and
one egg for every twelve. which was the
origin Of a proverb that eleven eggs make
a dozen in Ireland. The taxes were farmed
out to the highest bidder. who eXacted
every penny possible from the farmerS.and
used every means of extortion that could
be devised to increase his profit. The
most odiouS of all the Dublin tax con-
tractors In history was a woman named
Kate Strong, and they hated her so that
after her death the farmers erected
gross caricature of her person holding a
large toll dish in her hand 1t stood for
several years.
James street succeeds Thomas street on
the same thoroughfare and runs down
upon the river quay where the enormous
brewery establishment of the Guinness
Company begins. Their plant covers fifty.
one acres
Where Edmund Burke Was Born.
Across the river from the big brewery
is No. l. Arran quay, named for the son
of the Duke of Ormonde, where Edmund
Burke was born in 1929 of Protestant
barrister and a Catholic mother. He was
educated at a Quaker school at Ballitore,
County Kildare. and at Trinity College.
where he was cOtemporary of Dean
Swift and Oliver Goldsmith: but. unlike
them, he was an omniverOuS student who
never participated in the college sports
and was always digging at his books or
engaging In discussions with members of
the faculty. In 1747 he organized a de-
batting club. which still exists.
After finishing his course in 1850 he
went to London Ito keep terms at the
temple''-that is. to finish his law studies
and prepare for his examinations. but
suddenly. owing to some disappointment.
he conceived a strong distaste for his
profession and plunged into a wild career
of dissipation. He was introduced by