Vincent P Martin (Green Party)
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Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit chuig an Seanad. Tá mé ag lorg an scéal is déanaí maidir leis na pleananna do chathaoir Sheáin Uí Dhubhaí, an Finín mór le rá, a thabhairt do chontae Chill Dara. Deirtear gur scríobh Seán a chuid cuimhní cinn agus é ina shuí sa chathair sin. D'fhill sé go dtí a chontae dúchais 100 bliain ó shin agus tá candle ar leith ag muintir Bhaile Eoin, Kill, agus muintir Chontae Chill Dara agus muintir na hÉireann ar fad freisin, le John Devoy.

On 17 April 1876, a whaling ship, the Catalpa, spirited away six Fenian prisoners from a desolate prison on the other side of the world, in Fremantle, Western Australia. The jailbreakers arrived in New York city on 19 August 1876. There were wild celebrations there and back home in Ireland. Professor Joe Lee called it one of the greatest prison escapes of world history. It was the Fenian John Devoy from County Kildare, who was in exile in New York and who had the great help of John Boyle O'Reilly of Dowth, County Meath, who secured the approval of Clan na Gael in America to plan and undertake this audacious jailbreak. Incredibly, they pulled it off with no loss of life. For many, Clan na Gael effectively became Ireland's government in exile and John Devoy its leader. He was not afraid to depart from republican orthodoxy, as can be seen from his adoption of the new departure with Charles Stewart Parnell and Michael Davitt in 1878. The new departure was, of course, a model for the peace process in the North over a century later. Every Republican leader from James Connolly to Joseph Plunkett made a pilgrimage to Devoy in New York, and there is now a wonderful statue of him in the centre of Naas.

In 1924, when Devoy was 82 years old and in deteriorating health, Clan na Gael asked two Irishwomen from Castleblayney, Alice Carragher Comiskey and Lily Carragher, to look after Devoy and allow him to live with them in their apartment in Manhattan. In that apartment, Devoy wrote his memoirs, Recollections of an Irish Rebel, and did so in a chair bought for him. That chair has been in the continuous possession of the collateral descendants of Alice Comiskey since. Before she died, she gave it to her grand-nephew, Irish lawyer Frank MacGabhann. Frank and his family have kindly agreed and are willing to donate it to Ireland. The State, through Kildare County Council, has expressed a desire that the chair rightfully go to Devoy's birthplace in County Kildare. Mr. Frank MacGabhann hopes Kildare children will be able to sit in the same chair that this heroic Kildareperson sat in and from which he wrote his memoir. It would be appropriate to have a national, as well as a County Kildare, celebration to commemorate the historic Catalpa prison rescue, to be held in 2026. Right now, our concern is to get the chair home safely to Ireland.

Official preparations for the 150th anniversary of the Catalpa jail escape are beginning in Australia. Ideally, the two countries could do something together. One hundred years ago this year, in 1924, after many years in exile, the then elderly John Devoy returned to his beloved Kildare to visit friends and his childhood sweetheart, Mrs. Kilmurry. She and the people received him with open arms.It was very well received by W.T. Cosgrave's Free State Government. It would be wonderful to get this chair safely to Ireland. I ask for an update on its current status and whereabouts, and whether we are on course to have the chair back in its rightful place in Naas. John Devoy was very proud man from the Johnstown-Kill area of Kildare.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Martin for raising this matter, to which I am responding on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin.

John Devoy was an important historical figure. Born in Kill, County Kildare, in 1842, he went on to become an active member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, IRB, before arrest and penal servitude for treason against Britain led to his exile in America in 1871. He spoke on behalf of the Irish cause to the US House of Representatives, became a journalist with the New York Herald and was active with Clann na nGael, the successor of the Fenian Brotherhood and sister organisation of the IRB. In 1875, he helped to organise the daring escape of six Irish prisoners from Freemantle in Australia aboard a ship called the Catalpa.

In 1879, John Devoy helped to bring together the leading republican leaders and the lrish Parliamentary Party leader, Charles Stuart Parnell. who was an MP from 1846 to 1891. The result was that the Irish National Land League which campaigned successfully in the 1880s and 1890s for the rights of Irish Catholic tenant farmers. Following the Irish War of Independence, Devoy supported the Anglo-Irish Treaty, believing it was a sound foundation for future Irish freedom and eventual reunification of the Irish Free State with the Unionist Northern Ireland created in 1921. In the aftermath of the conflict, John Devoy was able to visit Ireland in 1924. He died in New York in 1928, and was later laid to rest in Glasnevin cemetery in Dublin.

The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media received an inquiry regarding the possibility and offer of official assistance to facilitate the return of John Devoy’s chair from the USA to Dublin. The chair is in the possession of Irish American community members in New York and was due to be sent to Kildare in 2014 to mark the year of the centenary of John Devoy’s final visit to Ireland in 2024. The chair is of significance because John Devoy used it while writing his memoir, Recollections of an Irish Rebel. This memoir was first published in 1929 and is an account of John Devoy’s long career as an Irish nationalist republican revolutionary from the 1850s until the 1920s. This important historic record is his narrative account of the Fenian movement and its origins and progress.

As members will be aware, the Minister and her Department, in conjunction with the Department of An Taoiseach, were responsible for the decade of centenaries. The latter was envisaged as a comprehensive exploration of the events in the turbulent period of Irish history that shaped the progress of Ireland in the 20th century. From the agitation of the Home Rule movement, the emergence of armed resistance, the economic and social conditions, including the 1913 Lockout, the descent into the First World War, the Easter Rising 1916 and its aftermath, the armistice, the general election of 1918 and the renewed assertion in arms of the Irish Republic that led to the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921.

In the final phase, the commemorative programme addressed the tragedy of Civil War in Ireland. Nonetheless, it was noted that an abiding memory of special interest would be reflected in a special commemoration organised by the County Council in Kildare in the aftermath of the national programme. The Department is currently engaged with both Kildare County Council and the Irish Consulate General in New York in relation to the transfer of the chair, which I understand is to take place in the coming weeks. Members may be aware of the planning currently underway in Kildare to commemorate the centenary of the final visit of John Devoy to Ireland, which I expect will be of interest not only to the local community but to many across Ireland and the United States.

Vincent P Martin (Green Party)
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I thank the Minister of State for attending and for his very encouraging and positive words. As he said, the campaign to bring this chair home started in 2014. So many people in County Kildare will be delighted to learn that the chair will be home in Ireland in the coming weeks, in time for the centenary of John Devoy's final visit to Ireland.

County Kildare has a rich tradition of appreciation of history. A particular group has been working on this matter.I acknowledge their vibrancy, dedication and passion for this topic. I do not want to name anyone in case I leave out others, but they will be so delighted that this chair will take its rightful place in, I hope, the library in Naas. I thank the Minister of State for that.

Finally, I acknowledge the generosity of Frank McGowan, his brother and the rest of his family, who kindly donated this chair. It is something we can all look forward to celebrating. He was a renowned native son of Kildare and, indeed, of Ireland.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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It is appropriate that the achievements of John Devoy be commemorated on the centenary of his visit to Ireland. His lifetime coincided with the most remarkable period of modern Irish history and he was prominent in reflecting the changes that carried the nation from devastation and the edge of annihilation to restored autonomy and a pathway to peace and prosperity. He is particularly important in that he represents the connection between the Irish people in Ireland and the Irish diaspora, most especially the emigrants of the Famine era who established themselves in the US. The goodwill and support of the Irish diaspora in the United States have been a great resource for the people of Ireland. As we gather here today in the aftermath of the celebrations of St. Patrick's Day 2024, we are conscious of the ties to our family and culture around the world, especially in the US.

I thank the Senator for bringing to this Chamber's attention the planned special recognition of John Devoy and the return of the chair to County Kildare. It is important that John Devoy's remarkable life, extraordinary commitment and historic achievements be brought to mind, not least for our younger generations and new citizens. Furthermore, he should abide in the consciousness of the many of Irish descent in the United States. On behalf of the Minister, Deputy Martin, I offer my thanks to those involved in preparing the commemorative programme in Kildare and send our best wishes for the success of the programme in County Kildare.