New book explores Young Ireland insurrection in Carrick-on-Suir area led by John O'Mahony

Caption for photo above: James Ryan (centre) holding his book, John O’Mahony’s Insurrection, at Ormond Castle where it was officially launched. He is with his sister Marie Duggan, nephew Eoin Ryan, brother John Ryan holding his granddaughter Síun Ryan and his brother-in-law Robert Duggan. Picture Anne Marie Magorrian

A new book tells the fascinating history of the lesser known Young Ireland insurrection in the Carrick-on-Suir area and its hinterland in 1848 under the leadership of Ballyneale farmer John O’Mahony.

James Ryan, a member of Lingaun Valley Tourism Group, spent three years researching and writing, John O’Mahony’s Insurrection, which was officially launched at Ormond Castle in Carrick two weeks ago.

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The Young Ireland Rebellion is commonly associated with Ballingarry and the ill-fated Battle of the Widow McCormack’s Cabbage Patch at Farranrory on July 29, 1848 just a few kilometres from the village.

Mr Ryan argues the political turmoil and violence that summer and autumn around Carrick-on-Suir and its south Kilkenny and Waterford hinterland while the country was in the grip of the Great Famine, was a more substantial insurrection that posed a greater threat to the British authorities.

His 250 page book details the famous Young Ireland Monster Meeting on Slievenamon on July 16, 1848 nearly two weeks before the Ballingarry rebellion and how Carrick-on-Suir was a hotbed of political unrest at that time.

He describes the visit of Young Ireland leaders William Smith O’Brien and Thomas Francis Meagher to the town before the Ballingarry uprising; the arrest of Confederate Club secretaries in the Carrick area followed by a mass gathering of about 3,000 people outside the town’s RIC barracks with many armed with pikes and a Young Ireland rally featuring fiery speeches attended by thousands on Main Street.

The volatile situation led to the authorities suspending habeas corpus and deploying hundreds of RIC and military reinforcements from around the country to the Carrick area to quell the unrest.

John O’Mahony, a gentleman farmer, was a promiment local Young Ireland leader and after the Ballingarry rebellion’s failure he continued the insurgency by leading a series of guerilla attacks involving hundreds of men on RIC barracks and military posts in such places as the Ahenny Slate Quarries, Glenbower, Portlaw, Grannagh, Kilmacow, Mothel and Rathgormack in September.

O’Mahony established a rebel camp at Carrigadoon Hill, one of the foothills of Slievenamon, during the campaign.

The insurrection ran out of steam partly due to lack of weapons and ammunition.

James describes how the rebels were so desperate for ammunition that a lead mitre was stolen from Kilcash church and melted down to make blunderbus shots.

O’Mahony was forced into exile, first escaping to Paris and later to New York where he fought in the American Civil War on the Union side and was one of the founders of the Fenian Movement.

Despite his extraordinary life, James says O’Mahony died penniless at the age of 63. He was buried in the Fenian plot in Dublin’s Glasnevin Cemetery after a massive funeral in Carrick.

Local papers reported the funeral procession comprised 12,000 mourners and was watched by 25,000 spectators, surely one of the biggest funerals ever witnessed in the town.

James was drawn to write about this Young Ireland insurrection because it isn’t well known and he believed it needed to be told. He found reports published in local newspapers like the Tipperary Vindicator and Waterford Mail to be the most valuable historical sources for piecing together exactly what happened.

“The reporters at the time said it as they saw it. You can make out the panic in their heads as they were writing the articles.”

This is James’ second book The first was a history of his native Windgap in south Kilkenny which he co-wrote with his brother Noel.

John O’Mahony’s Insurrection is on sale in The Cabin shop and Tudor Artisan Hub at Main St. Carrick-on-Suir. You can also email James at: jimpryan1@hotmail.com to buy a copy.

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