“To refuse to fight would have been to lose; to fight is to win. We have kept faith with the past, and handed on its tradition to the future.” —Padraig Pearse
He made that speech at the grave of O’Donovan Rossa, an old Fenian who had been exiled to the USA. O’Donovan died in New York 35 years later and the British gave permission to have him returned. If only they had known what they were doing - less than 12 mths later came the Easter Rising and the War of Independence.
Today, in Northern Ireland, they still quote, “while Ireland hold these graves, Ireland unfree will never be at peace.”
He made that speech at the grave of O’Donovan Rossa, an old Fenian who had been exiled to the USA. O’Donovan died in New York 35 years later and the British gave permission to have him returned. If only they had known what they were doing - less than 12 mths later came the Easter Rising and the War of Independence.
Today, in Northern Ireland, they still quote, “while Ireland hold these graves, Ireland unfree will never be at peace.”