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800Years IrishPolitical, Literary&MilitaryHistory - 15thApril2014
410 CLARENDON, EdwardEarlof.
TheHistory of The RebellionAndCivilWars in England. A new edition, from the original man-
uscript. Oxford, U.P. 1834. Royal octavo. xiii, 964, [2] pp. Original full calf. With armorial book-
plateofWilliamSmithO’Brien, (withhis signature). Inscribedon front freeendpaper fromWilliam
SmithO’Brien, with instructions: ‘This book is to belong tomy / sonMorroughCharles / aftermy
death /Christmas 1858.WilliamS.O’Brien’.An attractive item.
William SmithO’Brien (1803-1864), nationalist, was born at Dromoland Castle, son of Sir Lucius
O’Brien. Educated atHarrow andCambridge. In 1825 hewas ConservativeM.P. for Ennis and ten
years later for Co. Limerick. Dissatisfied with Parliament, by 1844 he was a convinced Repealer.
WithGavanDuffy he became a leadingmember of theYoung Irelanders, broke away fromO’Con-
nell, founded the IrishConfederation andpromoted the formationof aNationalGuard.
Mostof their leaderswerearrested in1848, and thoseConfederates still at largedecidedonanarmed
rising. A small partyunderO’Brien clashedwith forty-sixpolicemen, who retreated toWidowMc-
Cormack’shouseatBoulahCommon,Ballingarry.This skirmishbrought the rising toan inglorious
end. O’Brienwas arrested shortly afterwards, tried at Clonmel, and found guilty of High Treason
and sentenced todeath.Thiswas later commuted topenal servitude for life, forwhichhe served five
years inTasmania.
Aunique association copy.
€250 - 350
411 DAVITT,Michael]
TheCollectedWorksofMichaelDavitt:Pamphlets, SpeechesandArticles, 1868-1906;Leaves froma
PrisonDiary; Speech inDefenceof theLandLeague; Life andProgress inAustralia; TheBoer Fight
forFreedom;Within thePale;TheFallofFeudalism in Ireland.EditedbyCarlaKing.Eightvolumes.
Bristol, ThoemmesPress, 2001. Full brownbuckram. Fine. Scarce.
Michael Davitt, (1846-1906), ‘The Father of the Land League’ was born at Straide, CountyMayo.
His fatherwas amember of a secret agrarian society and at the age of six he sawhis family evicted
in1852during the clearances that followed theGreat Famine. They emigrated toLancashire,where
Michaelwas employedon a cottonmill; at the ageof elevenhis armwas badly injuredby amachine
andhad to be amputated just below the shoulder. He joined the I.R.B. and in 1870was arrested for
his involvement inarms traffickingonachargeof treason-felony, andwas sentenced to fifteenyears
penal servitude.Due todegrading and inhuman conditions inprison and ill healthhewas released
sevenyears later.He laterwrote an account of his experiences in apublication entitled, Leaves from
a PrisonDiary. On Saturday 16thAugust 1879 in JamesDaly’sHotel (previously known as the Im-
perialHotel),Castlebar, theLandLeaguewas founded.HisFall of Feudalism in Irelandnarrates the
waysandmeansbywhicha revolutionon the linesofpassive resistancewasaccomplished.Howmen
andwomenof Ireland, scatteredall over theglobebyevictionandevilsofunsympathetic rule in Ire-
landwere ‘enlisted’ in the final struggle for the land and rule of theCeltic fatherland. It shows how
the generosity of the Irish people at home and abroad raised onemillion pounds to fight the evils
of landlordism, to subsidise the evicted families anduphold the causeof Irish self-determination.
€200 - 300
412 DEBURCA, Seamus.
The Soldier’s Song. The story of Peadar Kearney. Illustrated. Dublin: P.J. Bourke, 1958. 255 pp.
Signedpresentation copy from the author. Cloth.Attractive copy indust jacket.
€150 - 200
