34
99
THOMASFRANCISMEAGHER [1823-1867],
Young Irelander and revolutionary, ‘Meagher of the Sword’.
An important collection of ten autograph signed letters, with another incomplete
and unsigned, to his Waterford colleague and friend T.W. Condon, circa 1847-1853,
(see overleaf). An important and interesting correspondence, showing both Meagh-
er’s eloquence and courage, and his tendency at times to rhetoric and exaggeration.
Born in 1823, in a well-to-do Catholic family in Waterford, where T.W. Con-
don was among his childhood friends, Meagher went to Dublin to study law, and be-
came active in the Repeal movement and the more radical Young Ireland group.
A speech in which he referred repeatedly to the cleansing effect of ‘the sword’, led to the name
by which he was later known, although in truth he was more effective as a speaker than a sol-
dier. He did not take part in the skirmish at Ballintubber in July 1848, though he was sen-
tenced to death afterwards. The sentence was commuted and he was transported to Austral-
ia, escaping to the United States in 1852. He was active in Irish-American politics, fought on
the Union side in the Civil War, and became Commander of the 69
th
(Irish) Brigade. After-
wards he was appointed Secretary for the territory of Montana (not yet a State), and in 1867 he
apparently fell overboard from a steamer on the Missouri and drowned, still aged only 44.
This is a comprehensive collection, which gives a valuable insight intoMeagher’s views and char-
acter over a period of years before and after his imprisonment and exile. Condition varies, but is
generallygood at least.
€6000 - 10000
