We are committed to resurrecting dormant or vanished memories of the Irish men and women who fought for Ireland, fled to the United States and died on American soil. They are part of a centuries-old tradition of resistance to English rule in Ireland, and Irish America is innately tied to them, their effort and their sacrifice. Remembering them, and indeed memorializing them, is our duty. This work helps us remember where we have come from and where Ireland is headed in its continuing journey towards reunification and independence.

We invite you to join us by supporting our financial and educational efforts!

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Catalpa Rescue Memorial

We are embarking on our next campaign–a monument to the famous Catalpa Rescue, which liberated six Fenians from the infamous Fremantle Prison in Western Australia and brought them to the USA in August of 1876. The sesquicentennial of the daring rescue by Fenians and others from America is 2026. If we raise the necessary funds, we will erect just such a monument in Ireland. With the help of our partners in The National Graves Association of Dublin, we hope to do so in September, 2026. At present, there is no such monument in all of the 32 counties of Ireland.

This coming year, we have our work cut out for us. From preliminary indications and assessments, we will have to raise approximately $15,000 to complete our tribute to the Catalpa rescue planners, the escapees and the rescuers, including John Devoy (the great Fenian in New York), the Clan na Gael throughout the USA, John Boyle O’Reilly (a previous Fremantle escapee in Boston), Captain George Anthony (the Catalpa skipper), John Breslin (undercover Fenian agent in Australia), Father Patrick McCabe (who smuggled communications to and from Fenian prisoners in Fremantle to their liberators in America) and escapee James McNally Wilson, who wrote the “Letter from the Tomb” which moved Irish-American Fenians to plan the greatest escape of the nineteenth century.

Please remember that–with your help–the Fenian Memorial Committee of America has already placed headstones and memorial markers for the six Catalpa escapees, four of the planners and rescuers and two “Invincible” Fenians, all buried throughout America (in Rhode Island, New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Minnesota). We foresee our current endeavor as a long overdue tribute to Irish-America and its innate link to the struggle for an independent and sovereign Irish homeland. The Catalpa monument will be a place where the Irish and Irish-Americans can visit as a source of pride and ongoing commitment to a free and united Ireland.

If we receive 150 $100 donations, we will meet our goal! Please consider a donation of $100 (or collect $100 from sympathetic supporters) to help create the only permanent memorial monument to the Catalpa Rescue in Ireland: fenianmca.org/support-the-fmca

National Graves Association of Dublin, we hope to do so in September, 2026. At present, there is no such monument in all of the 32 counties of Ireland.

This coming year, we have our work cut out for us. From preliminary indications and assessments, we will have to raise approximately $15,000 to complete our tribute to the Catalpa rescue planners, the escapees and the rescuers, including John Devoy (the great Fenian in New York), the Clan na Gael throughout the USA, John Boyle O’Reilly (a previous Fremantle escapee in Boston), Captain George Anthony (the Catalpa skipper), John Breslin (undercover Fenian agent in Australia), Father Patrick McCabe (who smuggled communications to and from Fenian prisoners in Fremantle to their liberators in America) and escapee James McNally Wilson, who wrote the “Letter from the Tomb” which moved Irish-American Fenians to plan the greatest escape of the nineteenth century.

Please remember that–with your help–the Fenian Memorial Committee of America has already placed headstones and memorial markers for the six Catalpa escapees, four of the planners and rescuers and two “Invincible” Fenians, all buried throughout America (in Rhode Island, New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Minnesota). We foresee our current endeavor as a long overdue tribute to Irish-America and its innate link to the struggle for an independent and sovereign Irish homeland. The Catalpa monument will be a place where the Irish and Irish-Americans can visit as a source of pride and ongoing commitment to a free and united Ireland.

If we receive 150 $100 donations, we will meet our goal! Please consider a donation of $100 (or collect $100 from sympathetic supporters) to help create the only permanent memorial monument to the Catalpa Rescue in Ireland: fenianmca.org/support-the-fmca

Remembering Fenian Denis Cashman
Saturday, September 13, 2025 | Holyhood Cemetery, Brookline, MA

On Saturday, 13 September 2025, Denis Cashman was commemorated by the National Graves Association, Dublin and the Fenian Memorial Committee of America.  After 128 years, his gravestone was unveiled and blessed.  Approximately 100 were in attendance from as far away as Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey and Texas, and included more than 25 relatives of Cashman. We were blessed with beautiful weather. 

An informative and passionate oration by Liam O’Culbaird of the NGA was given and the master of the proceedings, Sean Whelan, introduced speakers, musicians and others, including Fr. Thomas Sullivan (AOH), Aidan Lambert (chief NGA project fundraiser), RichardCallaghan (Brooklyn, NY piper), relatives of Denis Cashman, Lisa Bennett (RI singer), Peter Maguire (MA flute player) and George McLaughlin (FMCA). We were honored to have Erica Veil (a descendant of the Fenian Colonel Thomas Kelly), Tomas Costello (creator of feniangraves.net), and members of the Watertown and Worcester AOH divisions in attendance as well.

The ceremony ended with a blessing of the nearby grave of Fenian John Boyle O’Reilly, Cashman’s old compatriot, who had been a fellow “passenger” on the prison ship, Hougoumont, and had escaped from Fremantle Gaol in Australia before Cashman was released and joined him in Boston. A lively reception with music was held at the Hibernian Hall in Watertown afterwards.

We are grateful to our donors and all participants for making this day possible and to the National Graves Association, Dublin and members of the Cashman family for taking the lead in this effort. 

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Remembering Fenian John W. Goff
Saturday, April 26, 2025 | Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla , NY

Please join the Fenian Memorial Committee, its friends, comrades and supporters for the unveiling and commemoration for Fenian John Goff on Saturday, April 26th at 12 noon. The Fenian, John Goff, was instrumental in the financing and planning of the great Catalpa Rescue, which saved six military Fenians from a slow death of penal servitude in Western Australia’s infamous Fremantle Prison, where they had already languished for years.  

With your help over the years, we have found and placed headstones or memorials at the graves of all six Catalpa escapees throughout the USA (five of them had no headstones), along with that of their “Messenger” Father McCabe, who smuggled Fenian communication in and out of the prison prior to the Catalpa escape, eventually dying in exile in rural Minnesota. We recently also placed a memorial marker at the graves of Fenians Frank and Mary Byrne in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
John Goff, as you can see in detail in his biographical sketch, never abandoned the Fenian ideal of a free Ireland while leading a distinguished career as an anti- corruption campaigner and judge in New York.

If you cannot attend this celebration of John Goff’s life and the lives of all Fenians, please consider donating to our campaign.

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Our dear friend, advisor and comrade, Jack O’Brien passed away recently. His family was given this plaque by the Fenian Memorial Committee of America in gratitude for his decades of work in remembering past Republicans and Fenians. He is with them now.

Go raibh mile maith agat, a Jack. Ar dheis De go raibh a anam.

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A special thank you to all the generous donors and others who helped on our most recent campaign, the commemoration of Invincible Fenians Frank and Mary Byrne. Because of you, on the 30th of September this year, a memorial stone, a plaque and a wreath were placed at their graves in Old Saint Mary’s Cemetery in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, USA. Dubliners Sean Whelan of the National Graves Association and Aidan Lambert of the Invincibles Reinterment Campaign were there to honor this brave duo. The Byrnes rest next to James McNally Wilson, a Fenian and Catalpa escapee, who also has an FMCA plaque at his grave. It was a glorious day, with nine descendants of Frank and Mary Byrne attending and third and fourth generation descendants placing the wreath at the grave! Go raibh maith agaibh aris!

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Catalpa Six Grave Markers

The work of the Fenian Memorial Committee of America is centered on remembering the Fenians and other Irish revolutionaries who are buried in the USA. 

On Saturday, November 16, 2021, in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, USA at Saint Mary’s Cemetery, the Fenian Memorial Committee of America honored James McNally Wilson on the 100^th anniversary of his death at the grave marker we had previously placed for him. He was one of the six Fenian escapees on the vessel Catalpa which sailed from Western Australia to New York in 1876. The Fenian Memorial Committee has also placed gravestones for three other Catalpa escapees, Michael Hogan (Chicago) and Robert Cranston and Thomas Darragh (Philadelphia). We also placed a commemorative stone at the gravesite of Father Patrick McCabe (Minnesota), who helped facilitate the escape and spent the rest of his life in exile as a parish priest in America. 

Honoring Fenians Michael Harrington and Thomas Hassett

On Saturday, October 15, 2022, a crowd of over 125 people gathered at the graves of Fenians Michael Harrington and Thomas Hassett in Calvary Cemetery, Queens, NY.  Both were Catalpa escapees from the infamous Fremantle Gaol in Western Australia. Thanks to our supporters, we were able to raise the necessary funds to accomplish this, even though we had to endure a drought of donations during the pandemic. It took us a lot longer than we intended–almost three years–but we did it. Many organizations and individuals generously sent money and helped with logistics and publicity. We thank all of you who helped with this effort. We especially want to thank Joe Byrne and Ed Johnson, FMCA board members, for their tireless work on this project, as well as our matching fund donor, Peter Kissell of Washington, D.C. who remained anonymous until we reached our goal.

We are also grateful to Dennis McCarthy and officers of The County Cork PB&B of NY, James McGlashin of the FMCA Board and the many volunteers, especially members of the O’Donovan Rossa GAA Club form Astoria, Queens who helped organize and prepare on the day itself. Andrew Nagle, administrator of Calvary Cemetery was also a tremendous help. Annie and Tomas McLaughlin helped with photos and layout and design of the memorial booklet.

Our thanks go out to the speakers, musicians and singers, color guard, attending priests and great-grandson of the Catalpa Captain, George Anthony. They all helped this be a day to remember and to renew our pride in our Fenian heritage. 

Read more about the voyage of the Catalpa and the effort to recognize Fenians Hassett and Harrington at Irish America

Go raibh maith agat aris! Thank you again!

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