They think that they have pacified Ireland. They think that they have purchased half of us and intimidated the other half. They think that they have foreseen everything, think that they have provided against everything; but the fools, the fools, the fools! — they have left us our Fenian dead, and while Ireland holds these graves, Ireland unfree shall never be at peaceIt was an explosive oration that lit the spark of the 1916 uprising (in which Mac Piarais himself died) and the War of Independence. It was a speech that changed the world.
Contemporary silent film of O'Donovan Rossa's funeral, with a musical soundtrack added.
I didn't know anything about this bit of Irish history. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteA pleasure.
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