Robert McCaffery

## Robert McCaffery - Glaswegian Miner

Robert McCaffery was born in Scotland to a small family of coal miners. From the young age of 13 Robert worked in Scottish coal mines outside Glasgow with his dad to provide for his mother and sister. After the famines in Ireland, scottish-irish catholic migrant were also scared something could happen to them due to the religious rivalry between Catholics and protestants. This led Robert fleeing for America which was rumored to be a land of dreams and freedom. Exactly what the migrants needed,

### **Early Life**

Robert McCaffery was born to a Catholic family in Glasgow, Scotland. Both his maw and da where Irish and had migrated over to Scotland during the famine to try and get away from the poverty and starvation destroying families across the nation. His da was a coal miner who worked very long hours on little pay, his mother was a stay at home maw who raised the kids whilst his da went out and mined. Once Rob turned 13 his das mining company employed him to begin mining for them so he could earn a little money for the family too. He worked there for many years fighting through brutal mining injuries and constant broken bones from heavy lifting and fatigue. In 1881, when Rob was 17 he followed a call to arms o fight for the Irish Republican Brotherhood he returned home in 1886. On a night out drinking cheap ale in a small pub Robert met a street salesmen advertising ferry tickets to America with one leaving in the morning. With Catholicism illegal in Britain Robert had to leave quickly before he was ratted out by people around him. He broke into a small shop through the back entrance and stole a large sum of 300 pounds. He went to sleep and in the morning left for his ferry that left for the port of Saint Denis.

#### **Call to Arms for the Brotherhood**

In 1881, the Irish Republican Brotherhood recruited Robert in his local pub. He was hired to assist the their "Dynamite Campaign" across Britain. He left home and went to their safe houses in main stream British Cities like London, Glasgow, Manchester and Birmingham. He specialized in producing demolitions for the brotherhood and made the bombs for the 1883 possil road bridge bombing in glasgow. He also produced the bombs for the 1885 Gower street station bombing in London. He helped plant the bombs and was put on trial in February 1885 for the 2 bombings however McCaffery portrayed a protestant unionist background on trial which convinced the jury to find him not guilty. The campaign ended after that and many of the irish brotherhood where arrested and executed. Robert however found employment mining again but began thinking of a new life.

### Ruthless County

After arriving in Saint Denis, Robert converted his pounds to dollars and bought a scrawny nag from the stables to get him around. He bought a pickaxe and now spends his time mining full-time again for a profit however he is employing himself and supplying resources to locals and other people who need it across the county. He has also applied with the government for a business loan so he can afford to start up a mining company as he has high hopes to create his own and live his dream life that he couldn't in Glasgow.

##### **Notes**

* McCaffery is an expert in demolitions and using dynamite
* He is quite scrawny however is very durable and strong.
* He still has ties with the brotherhood and is planning to return to them later on.