Boolavogue Brian Roebuck

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Father John Murphy is one of the most famous of the leaders of the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and many Irish martyrs who died for the cause of Irish freedom. The song Boolavogue was written in his honor in 1898 by Patrick Joseph McCall, who set the lyrics to an ancient Irish air called Eochaill. • • Father John Murphy was born at Tincurry in the Parish of Ferns, County Wexford in 1753, the youngest son of Thomas and Johanna Murphy. He sailed for Spain in early 1772 and studied for the priesthood in Seville, Spain where many of the clergy in Ireland received their education due to the persecution of Catholics, most notably by means of the Penal Laws. He was ordained to the priesthood in the spring of 1779. • • On his return to Ireland in 1785 he became the parish priest of Boolavogue, a small village 5 miles north-east of Enniscorthy. • • He was opposed to a rising prior to May 1798. He encouraged his parishioners to give up their arms in a hope that such a gesture would relieve the terror being inflicted on the people of County Wexford by the crown forces. • • But the Yeomanry continued their reign of terror. That radicalized Father Murphy to the point where he aligned himself with the highly organized United Irishmen structure in Wexford. He advised the people that they had better die courageously in the field, than to be butchered in their houses.'' • • Father Murphy was not a member of the United Irishmen but got involved after British militia burnt down his church and surrounding cottages to intimidate the local people. • • The rebels found themselves up against the yeoman forces at the start of the rising. The yeoman regiments were formed by the British in the 1790s in response to the threat posed by France following the French revolution. • • On 26 May, 1798, one such unit called the Camolin Cavalry, led by Lieutenant Bookey, went to confront Father Murphy and his men at The Harrow near Enniscorthy. The song outlines how Father Murphy and other rebel leaders had further victories taking Camolin, Enniscorthy, Wexford and securing other morale boosting victories at Tubberneering and Ballyellis. • • Father Murphy's forces were finally defeated at the Battle of Vinegar Hill just outside Enniscorthy. The rebels were armed mainly with pikes while the British army had heavy artillery. • • Father Murphy and his bodyguard, James Gallagher, managed to escape and decided to head for the safety of a relative's house in Tullow, County Carlow, and hoping from there to eventually return to Wexford. But after a few days living rough they were captured by yeomen at a farmyard on 2 July. They were brought to Tullow where later that day they were sentenced to death. James Gallagher was stripped and flogged in front of Murphy to try to extract their identities from him, before being hanged. • • Father Murphy was then taken to Tullow's Market Square, brutally beaten by the yeomen warders, stripped of his clothes, denied a trial by jury and finally hanged from the town gallows. For the perceived insult of being a Catholic priest and not cooperating with the local authorities Father Murphy's body was subjected to further desecration when the yeoman, unsatisfied by the lack of entertainment decapitated his corpse and burned it in a barrel of tar outside a Catholic family's house. To allow the holy smoke'' to permeate their dwelling the yeomen forced the family to open all their windows. • • As a final insult, his head was impaled on a spike opposite the Catholic Church on the Sessions House. This final gesture was meant to be a warning to all others who would dare to take up arms against the British crown. • • Father John Murphy was only 45 years old when he died that July day in 1798 but his sacrifice and dedication to the cause of Irish freedom will never be forgotten. He lived as a true Irishman and true martyr for the Catholic faith. Father Murphy's spirit has continued on in the hearts and minds of every Irish patriot who has lived, fought and died in the cause of Irish freedom and liberty. • • God Grant You Glory, Brave Father Murphy! • • Lyrics: • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boolavog...)

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