Resources for further research on John Devoy
To mark the birth and death of John Devoy an annual commemorative event is held in Naas every September. This year it will feature John Devoy’s chair which has been transported from the United States. It was donated to Kildare County Council/Kildare County Archives by Frank MacGabhann, grandnephew of Alice Comiskey and Lily Carragher who cared for John Devoy in his later years up to his death in 1928.
Please see below a list of links to various online resources related to John Devoy, including his papers which were deposited in the National Library of Ireland by his executor, Alice Comiskey. There is also a list of publications which can be found via the library catalogue.
John Devoy, rebel, Fenian and patriot was born in Kill, County Kildare, on 3 September 1842. He orchestrated the daring escape from custody of James Stephens, swore British soldiers into the ranks of the Fenian movement, was arrested, tried for treason and imprisoned in England. Eventually exiled to the United States, he dedicated his life to Ireland. In his adopted home he founded Clann na Gael, engineered the escape of Fenian prisoners from Australia, worked with Davitt and Parnell during the Land War, and forged close links with the Irish Republican Brotherhood. When Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa died in the US in 1915, Thomas Clarke and John Devoy engineered a homecoming, and his funeral became a rallying point for the nationalist movement. In the written program for the burial of O’Donovan Rossa Pádraig Pearse pronounced that John Devoy would be remembered as ‘The Greatest of the Fenians’. Devoy died on 29 September 1928.
Online Resources
Dictionary of Irish Biography
https://www.dib.ie/biography/devoy-john-a2562
A Forgotten Hero – John Devoy https://kildarecoco.ie/library/KildareCountyArchivesandLocalStudies/DecadeofCommemorations/1916-2016Commemorations/A%20Forgotten%20HeroJohn%20Devoy.pdf
Those that set the stage: John Devoy, Joseph McGarrity and Clan na Gael
https://www.nli.ie/1916/exhibition/en/content/stagesetters/force/devoy-mcgarrity/
Behind Every Great Man – John Devoy and Alice Comiskey https://nyirishhistory.us/article/behind-every-great-man-john-devoy-and-alice-comiskey/
John Devoy and The Friends of Irish Freedom
https://kildarelibraries.ie/ehistory/john-devoy-and-the-friends-of-irish-freedom/
John Devoy Papers
John Devoy’s papers were deposited in the National Library of Ireland in 1938. A selection of Devoy’s correspondence (MS 18,000-18,013) was published in two volumes, under the title ‘Devoy’s Post Bag’ in the 1950’s. This publication was edited by William O’Brien and Desmond Ryan.
https://catalogue.nli.ie/Collection/vtls000545345
‘The Greatest of the Fenians’ John Devoy, a documentary by Donal Higgins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fqEHJFYUv0
Passing of John Devoy, 1928, British Pathé news
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QxLcYzaC6A
Publications
Please search the library catalogue to locate copies
Recollections of an Irish Rebel: A Personal Narrative by John Devoy
Devoy’s post bag 1871-1928 by John Devoy
John Devoy’s Catalpa expedition, Philip Fennell and Marie King eds.
Irish Rebel: John Devoy and America’s fight for Ireland’s freedom by Terry Golway
The greatest of the Fenians: John Devoy and Ireland by Terence Dooley
John Devoy by Seán Ó Luing
