Maud Gonne, Irish Rebel, Visits Lowell, Fall River and Boston to Protest British Role in Boer War
Maud Gonne , rebel, activist and poetic muse, came to the United States in February 1900, to tell Americans about the atrocities of the British in South Africa's Boer War. She spoke forcefully about British refugee camps filled with women and children, and of efforts by Irish and Irish-Americans to fight alongside the Boers. Gonne's husband, Major John MacBride , led the Irish Transvaal Brigade on the side of the Boers during the war. They were married in 1903 and divorced in 1905. Already renowned for her beauty and fiery disposition, she was described by The Boston Globe as "pictuesque in a black velvet gown with a silver girdle at the waist...her splendid voice extremely musical." Gonne spoke in Lowell on Sunday, February 11, 1900 in Associate Hall , and later met with a group of German-Americans from Lawrence. Then on Monday, February 12, she addressed 2,500 people in Fall River, during which eight Irish s...