A series of events will take place in Waterford city this weekend to commemorate the life and legacy of Thomas Francis Meagher, with particular reflection on his role in the Young Ireland rebellion, the rising at Ballingarry in South Tipperary, and the dramatic events that led to his arrest and transportation to Van Diemen’s Land.
Signatures of Thomas Francis Meagher and Patrick O’Donoghue, both arrested at Rathcannon, Holycross, Thurles, Co. Tipperary, following the 1848 Ballingarry (SR) rebellion. Both signatures are written on the back of a prison library book called “Wreath of Friendship”. Picture: G. Willoughby.
Although Meagher is forever associated with raising the tricolour at the Wolfe Tone Confederate Club at No. 33 The Mall in Waterford on Tuesday 7th March 1848, his place in Irish history was shaped just as powerfully by what happened later that year. As one of the leading figures of the Young Irelanders, he became involved in the 1848 rebellion, culminating in the confrontation at Ballingarry, Thurles, Co. Tipperary, in July.
The Ballingarry rising, though unsuccessful, became one of the defining episodes of the Young Ireland revolt. In its aftermath, Meagher was arrested at Rathcannon, Holycross, Thurles, Co. Tipperary, tried for treason, and sentenced to death, a sentence later commuted to transportation to Van Diemen’s Land*. His exile marked a crucial chapter in his life and secured his place among the most significant Irish nationalist figures of the nineteenth century.
* Van Diemen’s Land was the original European name for the island of Tasmania, Australia, used from its 1642 discovery by Abel Tasman, until renamed in 1856. Settled by the British in 1803, it served as a notorious, harsh penal colony for convicts. It is now a state of Australia known for its rugged landscape.
Earlier that same year, Meagher had unveiled what would later become the national flag of Ireland in his native Waterford. The tricolour flew for eight days and nights before being removed by the then British authorities. Speaking about the flag in April 1848, Meagher said: “The white in the centre signifies a lasting truce between Orange and Green and I trust that beneath its folds the hands of Irish Protestants and Irish Catholics may be clasped in generous and heroic brotherhood.”
The tricolour was adopted as the flag of the Irish Free State in 1922 and formally confirmed as the national flag in the 1937 Constitution.
This weekend’s Thomas Francis Meagher 178th Anniversary Tricolour Celebration will see a three-day festival of talks and events take place in Waterford city. Organisers say the festival offers an opportunity not only to reflect on the proud history of the flag, but also to consider Meagher’s wider legacy as a revolutionary, a political exile, and a symbol of Irish resilience.
Sadly, our local Thurles Tourist Office promoters have seen fit to ignore this same 178th Anniversary Tricolour Celebration. Same seem to be keeping themselves busy promoting Facebook posts about local children’s and men’s clothing shops, local nail bars, pubs, cafés, Easter camps, college open days, and Mother’s Day; clearly the kind of world-famous attractions that have international tourists booking flights as we speak. After all nothing says ‘must-visit destination’ quite like a last-minute Easter camp and a half-price manicure. Seriously, while all these Thurles advertised businesses are unquestionably among the very best in their field, same can hardly be seen as unique selling points (USP’s), as far as foreign tourism attractions are concerned, and therefore are about as useful as an ashtray on a motorcycle.
The commemorative weekend opens this evening with the Thomas Francis Meagher Fife and Drum Band performing at the Granville Hotel on Meagher Quay.
Chairperson of the organising committee, Mr Éamonn McEneaney, said the weekend will feature many highlights, including the Friday evening walking tour of the city, four guest speakers at the Medieval Museum on Saturday morning, a gala dinner on Saturday night, and the military parade, wreath-laying ceremony and raising of the flag on Sunday morning.
Bishop Monahan Pays Tribute as Cistercian Community to Leave Roscrea for Mellifont.
Mount Saint Joseph’s Abbey
Bishop Fintan Monahan of Killaloe has expressed deep sadness following confirmation that the Cistercian Community of Our Lady of Silence Abbey, Roscrea (formerly Mount Saint Joseph’s Abbey), is to relocate to Mellifont Abbey in Co Louth.
The Bishop noted that, since 1878, the abbey has been a cherished and faithful presence in the pastoral life of the Diocese of Killaloe, holding “a special place in the hearts of the people of Roscrea”, including all who prayed and worshipped there, generations of pupils, (former students, included former Taoiseach Mr Brian Cowen and former Tánaiste Mr Dick Spring), and staff connected with the school on the grounds since 1905, and those who benefited from retreats and the hospitality of the guesthouse. He also acknowledged the importance of the farm on the college grounds to the wider local community.
As stated, the abbey was founded in 1878 by a group of 32 monks from Mount Melleray Abbey, County Waterford. A number of years earlier Arthur John Moore MP of County Tipperary had visited Mt Melleray petitioning for it. The church was later opened for worship in 1883, on 600 acres in Mount Heaton, Roscrea, and a Boarding school, Cistercian College, Roscrea, was founded in 1905.
Bishop Monahan paid tribute to the contribution of the monks and school staff to education, highlighting the respected tradition of the boarding school and its strong sporting ethos. He confirmed that the Cistercians will continue as patrons of Cistercian College, ensuring the Cistercian spirit remains central to school life.
He said the abbey’s greatest gift has been its spiritual witness, including the long-standing availability of the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the enduring legacy of figures such as Dom Eugene Boylan OCSO.
While acknowledging local disappointment, Bishop Monahan said he understands the decision follows prolonged prayerful discernment and reflects wider rationalisation in Church life today. He offered gratitude to Dom Rufus and the community, assuring them of prayers and good wishes as they undertake this transition.
Sinn Féin leader Ms Mary Lou McDonald has condemned the recent/latest US and Israeli strikes, calling them “an act of unprovoked military aggression” and urging a halt to military action and a return to diplomacy.
Wrapped in the sanctimony of condemning ‘unprovoked military aggression,’ Sinn Féin’s moral certainty jars with a past in which civilians were too often treated as collateral.
That phrase, “unprovoked military aggression”, is designed to do a lot of work in a very small space. It tells you who the villains are, who the victims are, and who holds the moral high ground. It’s a clean sentence. A righteous sentence. The kind of sentence that fits neatly into a clip for an evening news bulletin.
The problem for Sinn Féin is that Ireland’s memory is not short, clean and neat, and neither is modern Sinn Féin’s own history. Because, while Sinn Féin is a political party, it was long widely regarded as the political wing of the Provisional IRA, even if both have emphasized separateness since the 1990s. That association matters, not as a cheap talking point, but because it drags out a very specific set of ghosts into any conversation about violence and legitimacy. And those ghosts have names, dates, and places, where civilians paid the ultimate price.
Civilians in the crosshairs: Provisional IRA (PIRA) If readers want to understand why some people hear “unprovoked aggression” and immediately wince; you don’t need to reach for ideology. You just need a calendar of factual events .
21st July 1972 – Belfast (“Bloody Friday”): 22 bombs in 75 minutes. 9 killed, around 130 seriously injured.
31st July 1972 – Claudy, Co. Londonderry (“Bloody Monday”): Three car bombs, 9 civilians killed, 30 injured.
17th February 1978 – La Mon House Hotel/Restaurant, near Comber, Co. Down: an incendiary device killed 12 and injured 30 in a restaurant setting.
27th August 1979 – Mullaghmore, Co. Sligo (Mountbatten assassination): a bomb on a boat killed four, including teenagers Nicholas Knatchbull (14yrs) and Paul Maxwell (15yrs).
8th November 1987 – Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh (Remembrance Day bombing): a bomb at a ceremony killed 11 people initially, most of them civilians.
20th March 1993 – Warrington, England: bombs in litter bins killed two children (Jonathan Ball, 3yrs; Tim Parry, 12) and injured 56 persons.
23rd October 1993 – Shankill Road, Belfast: a bomb detonated prematurely in a fish shop; 10 killed, including eight civilians and two children.
These aren’t “military operations.” They’re not “surgical strikes.” They’re the messy, brutal reality of what happens when violence is sold as strategy and civilians are treated as collateral, or as leverage. So when Sinn Féin’s leader uses the language of moral clarity about foreign wars, people are entitled to ask: where was that clarity when Irish and British civilians were being blown apart in pubs, streets, shops, at ceremonies, and in restaurants? Again, ordinary people, normal venues, lives ended in pieces.
Real IRA: Omagh and the moral bankruptcy of “after”. Then there’s Omagh, the moment that shattered any illusion that mass-casualty bombing belonged to the past. 15th August 1998 – Omagh, Co. Tyrone: the Real IRA bombing killed 29 and injured 200 plus. Whatever someone wants to call it; be it ‘war’, ‘resistance’, ‘conflict’, Omagh made one thing undeniable; there is no political argument that redeems the slaughter of civilians in a town centre.
The point isn’t “whataboutism.” It’s credibility. Defenders will say, “Sinn Féin today is not the Provisional IRA”. True, in the direct operational sense. But Sinn Féin can’t have it both ways, it can’t trade on a revolutionary heritage when it suits, then act offended when that heritage is raised as a moral mirror. Britannica’s phrasing is blunt for a reason: “Sinn Féin was long widely regarded as the political wing of the Provisional IRA”.
So yes, Ms McDonald can condemn foreign strikes as “unprovoked military aggression.” But if Sinn Féin wants to speak like an international referee, it should expect people to replay their tapes, and on their tapes, watch as civilians scream, burn, bleed and die. No, it’s not ancient history. No, it’s the price paid by ordinary people who never got to vote on anybody’s future “strategy.” And it’s why moral language, used cheaply, can sound less like principle, and more like a theatre performance, for the less informed.
“Unprovoked Military Aggression”,said Ms Mary Lou McDonald. Let us take a look at Iran’s weapons support and who it armed, and roughly for how long, up until this year (2026).
Hezbollah (Lebanon): since1982 – (44 years). Hamas + Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) associated with Sinn Féin: the former commonly described as armed/supported since the 1990s era – (30–36 years).
Major war-theater pipelines. Houthis / Ansar Allah (Yemen): at least since 2014 (and UN panels have identified Iranian-origin missile/UAV remnants in Yemen) – (12+ years.) Syrian government / pro-Assad forces: widely reported military support since 2011 – (15 years).
Newer state-to-state channel. Russia: transfers tied to the Ukraine war since 2022; UK/France/Germany have publicly condemned Iran’s ballistic missile transfers – (4 years).
Hezbollah timeline: 1982: Hezbollah emerges, founded in the context of Israel’s invasion of Lebanon with Iranian support. 18th Apr 1983: U.S. Embassy bombing, Beirut: 63 killed. Frequently attributed in U.S. accounts to Hezbollah-linked networks / “Islamic Jihad Organization 23rd Oct 1983: U.S. Marine barracks bombing, Beirut: 241 U.S. service members killed.23rd Oct 1983: French paratrooper barracks bombing, Beirut: 58 French soldiers killed. 20th Sep 1984: U.S. Embassy annex bombing (Aukar), Beirut: 23 killed. 3rd Dec 1984: Kuwait Airways Flight 221 hijacking: 2 killed (two U.S. passengers murdered). 14th–30th Jun 1985: TWA Flight 847 hijacking (Athens): 1 killed (U.S. Navy diver Robert Stethem). 12 Apr 1985: El Descanso restaurant bombing (Spain): 18 killed. 7th Mar 1992: Assassination of Ehud Sadan (Israeli Embassy security chief), Ankara: 1 killed, 3 injured; claimed by “Islamic Jihad Organization,” Hezbollah suspected/denied. 17th Mar 1992:Israeli Embassy bombing, Buenos Aires: 29 killed, 242 injured; claim of responsibility by “Islamic Jihad Organization,” which has been linked to Iran/Hezbollah in many accounts. 28th Jan 1993: Attempted murder of Jak Kamhi (prominent Turkish Jewish figure): shot and survived; discussed in intelligence/terrorism reporting as part of Iran/Hezbollah-linked activity. 17th Mar 1994: Attempted bombing of the Israeli Embassy, Bangkok: failed after suspects’ car crash; C4 reportedly found. 18th Jul 1994: AMIA bombing, Buenos Aires: 85 killed; widely attributed by Argentine judicial/official actions and major reporting to Hezbollah with Iranian backing, (Iran denies). 19th Jul 1994: Alas Chiricanas Flight 901 bombing (Panama): 21 killed; long unresolved, later treated publicly by U.S. sources as Hezbollah-linked. Apr 1996: Hezbollah rocket fire into northern Israel (Grapes of Wrath period): Hezbollah fired Katyusha rockets; exact counts/precise injury figures vary by source. 25th Jun 1996: Khobar Towers bombing (Saudi Arabia): 19 killed; attribution often tied to Saudi Hezbollah/Hezbollah al-Hejaz, but it is politically disputed in some accounts. 7th Oct 2000: Abduction of three Israeli soldiers: abducted, later confirmed dead; remains returned in 2004 exchange. 14th Feb 2005: Assassination of Rafik Hariri (Beirut): 22 killed. International legal proceedings convicted Hezbollah members (in absentia), while also noting limits on proof regarding leadership direction. 12th Jul 2006: Cross-border raid: 8 Israeli soldiers killed, 2 captured; triggers the 2006 Lebanon War. 26th May 2011: Attempted assassination of Israel’s consul in Istanbul: some reporting ties it to Iran/Hezbollah; treated as alleged. Feb 2012: India/Georgia diplomat attack attempts: widely discussed as an Iran-linked campaign, sometimes described as Iran/Hezbollah-linked. 2012: Bulgaria (Burgas) bus bombing: 6 killed (+ bomber); Bulgarian/EU assessments attributed involvement to Hezbollah operatives; Hezbollah denies. 2012: Azerbaijan plot against Israeli ambassador / Chabad-linked targets: widely described as Iran-linked; “Iran/Hezbollah” appears in some reporting/claims. Apr 2014: Bangkok plot targeting Israeli tourists (Passover/Songkran period): Thai authorities arrested suspects described in reporting as Hezbollah members/agents. May–Jun 2015: Cyprus ammonium nitrate seizure: Reuters reported Cyprus believed it foiled a major attack; Israel said it bore Hezbollah hallmarks. 2015: London-area ammonium nitrate cache, widely reported as a 2015 discovery later revealed publicly. Nov 2023: Brazil: foiled plot targeting Jewish-linked sites: Brazilian federal police said suspects were recruited/funded by Hezbollah; treated as alleged pending full public case details. 27th Jul 2024: Majdal Shams (Golan Heights) strike: 12 killed; a rocket attack. Israel/U.S. blamed Hezbollah; Hezbollah denied responsibility.
So should the USA and Israel attack be therefore described as “Unprovoked Military Aggression”? If a strike is responding to an armed attack carried out by an Iran-backed aggressor, supporters can surely argue that it’s actions are not “unprovoked.”
The No. 171 “Slieve Gullion” Steams into Thurles at 11:57am This Morning, Marking Another Milestone for Irish Main Line Steam.
Great Northern Railway (Ireland) S Class 4-4-0 No. 171 “Slieve Gullion”, arrived into Thurles Railway Station at 11:57am this morning, drawing a warm welcome as the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s (RPSI) flagship steam locomotive continues its return to regular main line operation.
Today’s working forms part of the RPSI’s “An Sáirséal” Steam & Diesel Special operating between Dublin Connolly and Limerick, with No. 171 hauling the train from Dublin Connolly to Thurles, before an 071 Class diesel takes over for the onward run to Limerick.
Built by Beyer, Peacock & Co. in Manchester in 1913, No. 171 is one of the celebrated GNR(I) S Class express passenger locomotives, named after a mountain in the south of County Armagh, Northern Irelandand, is synonymous with the golden age of Irish main line steam.
Following an extensive overhaul and a long period out of traffic, No. 171 returned to steam in July 2024, officially launched back into service at Whitehead in September of that year, and later resumed main line, revenue-earning passenger work in November 2025, its first such duties since 2002.
An RPSI spokesperson said the Thurles arrival is “another proud moment for everyone who contributed to bringing ‘Slieve Gullion’ back; proof that Irish main line steam remains very much alive, and still capable of turning heads wherever it goes.”
“Where Tipperary leads, Ireland follows” is attributed to Thomas Davis (1814–1845), a writer, poet, and prominent figure in the Young Ireland movement. He used this phrase in the 1840s in his “The Nation” newspaper, to praise the counties intense nationalistic spirit, earning it the title of “The Premier County”, thus highlighting Tipperary’s role in both political and social movements.
Dr. Robert Emmet M.D., the father of Irish Republican, orator and rebel leader Robert Emmet (1778 – 1803), was born in Tipperary town on November 29th 1729, the younger of two sons in a family where medicine was already a calling. While no biographical sources name a townland or house, a carefully researched account helps narrow the scene; his father’s Will referred to “the house where he resided in Tipperary”, with family interests tied to the town’s trade and market life. In other words, the Emmets belonged to the working, improving fabric of Tipperary town, not some anonymous dot on a map.
Left: Dr. Robert Emmet. Right: Executed Rebel Robert Emmet. Note the striking resemblance (around the mouth) in all Emmet family featured portraits.
His rebel leader son today has three towns in Co. Tipperarywith streets named after him : In Thurles:Emmet Street (L-4021) connecting Barry’s Bridge and Thomond Road, is most often incorrectly spelt, by Tipperary Co. Council, as “Emmett Street”. His rebel son is also commemorated on the 1798 memorial, visible standing in Liberty Square today, and locally referred to as the “Stone Man”. In Tipperary Town: Emmet Street is one of the main streets laid out connecting Dillon Street, and it’s still an everyday address in use today. In Clonmel: Emmet Street is a more central street (for example, Tipperary County Council lists its Civic Offices there, and An Post lists Clonmel Post Office as being on Emmet Street).
“Where Tipperary leads Ireland follows”. That line, by Thomas Davis, fits him surprisingly well, because the Emmet story becomes a pattern seen again and again in Irish life; provincial beginnings, serious education, success in a southern city, and finally the pull of Dublin’s institutions and power.
A doctor, made in Edinburgh and shaped by Europe. To study medicine properly in the 18th century was to look outward, and Robert Emmet did just that. He graduated at the University of Edinburgh, one of the then great medical schools of that era. A letter he wrote to a Cork newspaper, in 1763, even suggests time spent studying in Paris, the kind of continental polish ambitious doctors prized.
Thomas Addis Emmet.
By the time he returned to Ireland, he was not simply a local practitioner, he was the sort of physician who could move between worlds, rural and urban, Irish and European, private practice and public appointment.
Cork years: Reputation, Marriage, and a growing household: Emmet settled down to practise in Cork, and it was here that his name began to carry weight. The board of Cork’s Charitable Infirmary would later formally thank him for “the great care” he took of patients, the kind of public endorsement that tells you a doctor was not merely competent, but trusted.
In November 1760, he married Ms Elizabeth Mason, linking him to another established family network (the Masons of Munster). Some of their children can be identified clearly in sources, and they anchor the family’s Cork chapter. Christopher Temple Emmet, born in Cork in 1761. He married Anne Western Temple, daughter of Robert and Harriett (Shirley) Temple. Thomas Addis Emmet, born in Cork on April 24th 1764. He married Jane Patten (1771–1846), a daughter of John Patten and Jane (née Colville) Patten, in 1791.
Emmet was also a man of projects. The Munster account shows him involved in property and land, advertising holdings and opportunities in the countryside, a reminder that professional families often broadened their income in practical ways, through farms, leases, and investments.
The turning point –Dublin and the post of State Physician: Then came the step that changed everything. In March 1770, Emmet took up office in Dublin as state physician, after purchasing the office from the widow of the former holder for £1,000; a role that required presence in the capital and placed him close to the heart of administration. The move was abrupt enough that he was winding down Cork affairs and property as he departed; the record even notes the precise start, March 6th 1770.
Dublin was not just a new address. It was a new scale of life, bigger circles, bigger expectations, and a household that would become famous for reasons he could not control.
The sources are blunt about the family’s size and its sorrow; their son Robert was the seventeenth child, but only the fourth to ever survive. That single line captures both prosperity and loss; the realities of family life even among the comfortable classes in the 1700s.
Mary Anne Holmes, (née Emmet) and husband Robert.
The four surviving children are identifiable: Christopher Temple Emmet, born Cork, 1761, and a distinguished barrister and poet, who died aged 27 years, in 1788, followed some months later by his wife. Thomas Addis Emmet, born Cork, April 24th, 1764 and a leader of the United Irishmen, before being forced into exile and later becoming a renowned lawyer in New York city. Mary Anne Holmes, (née Emmet) writer and poet, wife of barrister Robert Homes, former born in Dublin, on October 10th, 1773. Robert Emmet, (Executed Rebel in 1803), born March 4th, 1778 at 109/110, St Stephen’s Green, Dublin. The family’s Dublin story is inseparable from that address: a prosperous, educated household in the capital, and the cradle, ultimately, of one of Ireland’s most remembered names.
Final years and death: Dr. Emmet lived long enough to see his children grown and their talents emerging, and long enough, too, to sense that Irish politics were shifting underfoot. He died on December 9th 1802, and accounts of the period record his burial in the Churchyard of St Peter’s Church, Aungier Street Dublin.
He did not live to witness the family’s most dramatic and tragic chapter, that came less than a year later, when his youngest surviving son Robert junior, stepped into Irish history. It was on his death, that rebel Robert, using the £2,000 left to him by his father, laid preparations for a failed rising against what he described as “the cruel English government and their Irish ascendancy”, on July 23rd, 1803. Chief Justice Lord Norbury sentenced the rebel Emmet to be hanged, drawn and quartered, as was customary for conviction of treason. On September 20th, 1803, Emmet was executed in Thomas Street in front of St. Catherine’s. He was hanged and then beheaded once dead. Today, his actual burial place is still unknown, thus inspiring the phrase, “Do not look for him. His grave is Ireland.”
Still, step back from the legend and the Emmet story comes into sharp focus; a birth in Tipperary, a medical education in Edinburgh, professional success in Cork, a state appointment in Dublin, and a family whose “only four surviving” children would go on to shape Irish public life, literature, law, and rebellion.
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