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On November 23, 1885, Boston unveiled memorial to Irish Patriot John E. Kelly

Photo by Barbara Rotundo

On November 23, 1885, a monument to the Irish patriot John Edward Kelly was formally dedicated at Boston’s Mount Hope Cemetery in Mattapan. Fellow Irish patriot John Boyle O’Reilly gave the impassioned oratory at the ceremony. 

 A native of Kinsale, Ireland, Kelly emigrated as a youngster with his parents to Nova Scotia and he eventually moved to Boston, and later New York, where he became involved in the Fenian movement brewing in the US.  

Kelly returned to Ireland to help stage an uprising in 1867 but was captured during the Fight at Kilclooney Wood. He was sentenced to life imprisonment to a penal colony in western Australia at age 19. 

In 1871, Kelly was among Fenian prisoners released in the British Government’s general amnesty, according to the Fenian Graves website. He lived in many places but eventually made his way back to Boston. When he died in January 1884, he was in poor health from the living conditions at the prison and from a hard life on the road. 

The Boston Pilot newspaper reported on January 26, 1884, "He went into the hospital about four weeks ago, and was treated with special attention through the kindness of Dr. John G. Blake and Dr. Rowe, the chief physician of the Hospital. He died on Friday last.  A few old friends had his body conveyed to the house of Undertaker Feeny on Hanover Street, where ' the old guard” of the Fenian Brotherhood came and sat with their dead compatriot."

The National League of Boston erected a monument in the shape of an Irish round tower and the unveiled was specifically set for November 23, 1885. 

In his graveside oratory, O’Reilly said: “This day has been selected for this ceremony because of its thrilling association for Irishmen. On this day 20 years ago, the English court was opened in Dublin to give a mock trial to the patriots and “rebels” John O’Leary and Thomas Clarke Luby - high-minded, cultured Irish gentlemen, who were adjudged guilty of “high treason” and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment among English criminals. 

“Eighteen years ago, on this day, three young Irishmen were murdered on English gallows in the city of Manchester. Their names are honored and their death is reverently commemorated in many countries today. This monument is consecrated by association with their memory.” 

O’Reilly’s oratory was powerful and persuasive, because he himself had been shipped to the English penal colony in western Australia, from which he escaped after several years and made his way to Boston in 1870, where he settled and became a well-respected writer, editor, activist and orator. 

According to the City of Boston, Mount Hope Cemetery was established in 1851 and is the largest of all City-owned cemeteries. Its 125 acres contain burial plots for veterans of all wars since the Civil War; members of a variety of organizations such as the Elks, Odd Fellows, and Masons; and is the oldest burial area for Boston’s Chinese immigrants.

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