John Donaghoe

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Dianne Jones on 6th February 2023

JOHN DONOGHUE is named in this republished letter, written by one of his fellow Fenians who received a free pardon and went to America, per the Baringa, in 1870 (see the Freeman’s Journal, Sydney, Sat 2 July 1870, p13): "NEWS OF THE RELEASED IRISH POLITICAL PRISONERS. The Boston Pilot — per favour of Mr. John Boyle O’Reilly, the military political prisoner who escaped from Western Australia — publishes the following letter received by that gentleman. We regret the want of success which met those [15 men who went there aboard the Baringa] who expected to find happy homes in California: '34, Minna street, between 1st and 2nd streets, San Francisco, Cal., March 9, 1870. MY DEAR O’REILLY,— It was more by chance than good luck I happened to hear of your being in New York, and so I write to be one of the first to congratulate you on your escape from Western Australia. Of course we were aware of your escape, but did not know in what quarter of the world you were. The majority of us thought you were soldiering down in South America, but I am very glad to find you are better off. Before we left Western Australia we visited the boys in prison; they all seemed to be in pretty good health — that is as far as health in a prison goes — and spirits. I give you, on the other side, the names of those here with me, those in prison in Fremantle, those gone home, those free in Western Australia, and of our soldier friends still prisoners in bush parties, and out on a ticket- of -leave. I am afraid there is but very little chance of their getting out. On the road up from Perth to King George’s Sound we met a few of our military friends, stationed in different bush parties on the road; they all seemed to be in good health and spirits, except [James] Wilson. He looked like a man that had to put up with a great deal of annoyance, as I believe he has, from his warder, who is continually reporting him for the slightest cause. Martin Hogan is up in the Champion Bay district. I did not see [Patrick] Keating, neither do I know where he is; but I heard that he and [Patrick] Killeen were working in different parties on the York road. [Michael] Harrington is somewhere about Northam; Keeley [James Keily/Kiely] is in some other quarter. With the exception of those, I have seen all the others. Although we had a police escort, we managed to speak to the boys "for a’ that." We had rather hard times after getting out of prison; some of us had to go miles away into the infernal bush, where I suppose we would be now, only for the noble-hearted Irishmen and women in the Australian colonies. You would not believe how kind they were to us. I could not find words enough in the dictionary to express their goodness; where-ever we went we found them the same… Had we stayed in Sydney we would have all got first-class situations from the wealthy Irishmen there; but like fools, as we were, nothing would do us only to come out to this place, where we are loafing about for the last six or seven weeks, and can’t get employment. Were it not for the money we got in Australia we would be ‘hard up’ indeed; some of us would be off soldiering for Uncle Sam — perhaps down in Arizona, or some other place — by this time. There are only five or six out of the fifteen of us at work. Since I made out the list, I have learned from a letter received by Denis Hennessy from Western Australia, that Hugh F. Brophy was to start for home the following mail, and that James Flood was about going to New Zealand. That is all the news from that benighted land. Send all the news from home, as I have not had a letter from any one since last August. We do not know how the wind blows in that quarter. Letter from M. Cody yesterday. Father Lynch gone home to Ireland for twelve months. Father McCabe, of Bunbury, in his place. Hoping soon to hear from you, I am yours, very sincerely, JOHN B. WALSH.' LIST… In San Francisco, California: John Keneally, Patrick Doran, Denis B. Cashman, Patrick Dunne, Denis Hennessy, Thomas Fogarty, Eugene Geary, David Cummins, Michael Moore, DAVID JOYCE, Patrick Leahy, John Sheehan, Maurice Fitzgibbon, John B. Walsh, Patrick Wall. In Prison in Fremantle, West Australia: John Flood, 15 years, Corn. D Keane, 10 years, J. Edward Kelly, life imprisonment, Daniel J. Bradley, 10 years, Michael Cody, 20 years, Thos. Baines, 10 years, Thos. Fennell, 10 years, James Kearney, 7 years, Geo. Connelly, 15 years. Gone Back to Ireland: Thomas Daly, Morgan McSwiney, Jeremiah O’Donovan, Michael Noonan, John S. Casey, Thomas Cullinane (alias Bowler) Eugene Lombard, Patrick Riordon, Simon Downey, Robert May. Free in Western Australia: Hugh F. Brophy, Cornelius O’Mahony, Joseph Noonan, Jeremiah Aher, James O’Reilly, John Goulding, Thomas Duggan, Laurence Fulham, James Flood, Luke Fulham. Our Military Friends Prisoners in different Bush Parties, and on Ticket of Leave in Western Australia: Sergeant Major [Thomas] Darragh, life, 11th Regiment. James Wilson, life, 5th Dragoon Guards. Martin Hogan, life, 6th Dragoon Guards. James Mecoy, 15 years, 61st Regiment. Patrick Keating, life, 5th Dragoon Guards. Thomas Delaney, 15 years, 5th Dragoon Guards John Foley, 7 years, Royal Horse Artillery. Thos. Hassett, life, 24th Regiment. J. [John] Shine, 20 years, 60th Rifles. Patrick Killeen, 7 years, Royal Horse Artillery. Michael Harrington, life, 61st Regiment. Robert Cranston, life, 61st Regiment. — Keely [James M. Kiely], life, 53rd Regiment. On Ticket-of Leave: William Foley, 5th Dragoon Guards. John Lynch, 5th Dragoon Guards. JOHN DONOUGHUE [sic, and my emphasis], 24th Regiment. --00--

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Dianne Jones on 6th February 2023

FREMANTLE JAIL: DONAGHOE, John; inmate #9714, arrived 10 Jan 1868 per Hougoumont Date of Birth: 1841 Place of Birth: Dublin Marital Status: Unmarried Occupation: Labourer, soldier Literacy: Literate Sentence Place: Dublin Crime: Mutinous conduct Sentence Period: 5 years Ticket of Leave Date: 20 May 1869 Certificate of Freedom Date: 17 Aug 1871 Comments: One of 62 Fenians transported on the Hougoumont, the last convict ship sent to Australia. Its arrival at Fremantle on 9 Jan 1868 signalled the end of transportation to this country. Conditional Release 1870. General servant, cattle minder, labourer (https://fremantleprison.com.au/). --0--

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Dianne Jones on 6th February 2023

1868, 10 January: On arrival in WA, convict #9714 John Donaghoe [sic] was listed as 25, single, Roman Catholic, literate and a labourer. He was 5’5” tall with flaxen hair, grey eyes, a fair complexion and of stout build with pockmarked features (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; General Register for Nos 9599-10128 cont. (R16)). His crime was: “Mutinous conduct”. Family -- his father Dennis, 4 Rosemary Lane, London. His behaviour was described as “fair”. In the normal course of events he would have been eligible for a Ticket of Leave in July 1869. In fact, he received his ToL on 20 May, 1869, and his Certificate of Freedom on 17 August, 1871 (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; General Register for Nos 9599-10128 cont. (R16)). —0—

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Dianne Jones on 6th February 2023

1868, 9 January: Off the coast of WA In “The escape of the Fenians, Western Australia, 17 April 1867”, Ormond Waters (1997, p100) describes the transportees’ arrival off the WA coast and their transfer next day to the mainland: “The Fenian prisoners were the last to be taken ashore from the Hougoumont in small boats and brought to ‘The Establishment’ as Fremantle Prison was called. One convict described the scene in a letter home: ‘Very early on the morning of the 10th, we were put on shore in Fremantle, and marched through the little town of that name to our destination, The Prison. Here we lay for some two days, going through the ordinary routine of prisoners on the first reception. Dressed in a suit of Drogheda linen, ornamented with a red stripe and black bands, typical of the rank we hold in the colony. To wit, convicts.’ The prison rules were harsh. There was a long list of offences, the penalty for which was death. Cells measured seven feet by four feet wide by nine feet high. Prisoners slept in hammocks.” —0—

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Dianne Jones on 6th February 2023

TRANSPORTATION contd: The so-called military offenders/military Fenians shouldn’t have been transported at all, had Colonial Office policy been adhered to, according to Keith Amos (1987). He says the process for selecting the Fenian transportees was conducted behind closed doors so little is known about it except that “only less troublesome Fenian rank and file were to be transported [or so the Home Office told the Governor of Western Australia]… but in fact this policy was only loosely adhered to” by the British authorities. Amos says: “Although none were Fenian leaders, most had been severely punished; half having been sentenced to life imprisonment. All but two were convicted between March and August 1866, following exposure by informants who alerted the authorities to the fact that Fenianism had established a considerable base among British regiments in Ireland and England. Six of the seventeen had been 5th Dragoon Guards: Thomas Delaney, William Foley, Martin Hogan, Patrick Keating, John Lynch and James Wilson (real name McNally). Three were from the 61st Foot: Robert Cranston, Michael Harrington and James McCoy. From the 24th Foot, were JOHN DONOGHUE [my emphasis] and Thomas Hassett; and from the Royal Horse Artillery, John Foley and Patrick Killeen. The others were Thomas Darragh, 2nd Queens; John Shine, 60th Rifles; James Kielley, 53rd Foot; and John O’Reilly, 10th Hussars. All seventeen military offenders had been convicted either of mutinous conduct or of failure to report knowledge of a mutiny to a commanding officer. Seven had committed the further sin of deserting to avoid apprehension. To identify this group and to remind them forever of their crime, a capital letter ‘D’, two inches in height, was engraved on the left side of their chests. The instrument used was an awl, and the scar was made indelible with Indian ink [28]. All the deserters bar one who received fifteen years, received death sentences – later commuted to life imprisonment. The other military offenders received sentences ranging from five years [JOHN DONOGHUE] to life. When the Hougoumont was boarded, all the military Fenians were confined with ordinary convicts, whereas civilian Fenians were allotted separate quarters of their own. It would seem that this arrangement was at least a partial recognition that the civilian Fenians, all of whom were convicted either of treason-felony or high treason, were political prisoners rather than criminals - a concession that sympathetic Irish nationalists had earlier failed to gain official recognition of. Mutinous soldiers, on the other hand, were clearly regarded by the authorities as common criminals, and perhaps more dangerous ones in view of their training." Note 28: John Boyle O’Reilly quoted by James Jeffrey Roche, ‘Life of John Boyle O’Reilly’, New York, 1891, p. 329.” (1987, pp106-07). --0--

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Dianne Jones on 4th February 2023

1867, late September: Taken from Chatham jail to board the convict ship Hougoumont, John Donaghoe was, according to newspaper reports, one of 15 Fenians sent from Chatham for transportation: “The hired convict ship Hougoumont, which has been taken up, by the Government for the conveyance of a numerous party of convicts to Freemantle, Western Australia, left the Nore on October 1, and proceeded down Channel, after receiving on board 150 convicts from the establishments at Chatham and Millbank. The convicts from the Chatham establishment, at St. Mary's, embarked from the dockyard on board the paddle-wheel steamer Adder, Mr. W. J. Blakely, and were in charge of a numerous party of convict guards and wardens, all heavily armed. Among the convicts shipped were a party of fifteen Fenians, who were engaged in the late conspiracy in Ireland, together with the officers and crew convicted of scuttling the ship Severn [only two were on the Hougoumont – Thomas Berwick and Lionel Holdsworth, each sentenced to 20 years for fraud], and some others who have achieved notoriety from their crimes. The Fenian convicts, like the remainder of the prisoners, were chained together in gangs, but it was observed that they were kept apart from the other convicts in a portion of the vessel by themselves. The steamer Petrel also took down a number of convicts from the establishment at Millbank, for shipment on board the Hougoumont, in charge of a strong escort and convict guard. On Tuesday, October 8th, the Hougoumont arrived in Portland roads. Shortly before midday ninety convicts were marched down to the Government pier at Portland under a strong escort of the 12th Light Infantry. The party included twenty-three Fenian convicts, among whom it was said, was Moriarty. The Government steamer employed in the breakwater service was used for conveying the convicts on board the Hougoumont transport ship. The convicts were chained together on embarking, and on board the steamer a strong guard of marines from her Majesty's ship St. George was formed, and saw the convicts safely placed on board the Hougoumont. The Governor of the penal settlement at Freemantle, Captain Young, is on board the Hougoumont, and returns in that ship to his sphere of duty after paying a visit to his native land.” (Sydney Morning Herald, 19 Dec 1867, p4, at https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/28608271). --00--

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Dianne Jones on 4th February 2023

1867, 21 May: After 6½ months at Millbank, he was transferred to Chatham prison, east of London at St Mary’s Island in Kent. Chatham, a public works prison for male convicts, was notorious for riots in the 1860s (https://www.prisonhistory.org). --0--

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Dianne Jones on 4th February 2023

1 November, 1866: John Donoghue was sent from Pentonville jail to Millbank Prison at Westminster in London, which served as a holding facility for convicted prisoners before they were transported to Australia. There he was listed as prisoner #2559, 24 years old, a labourer, and Private 1st Battalion, 24th Regiment 989. He was described as single, Roman Catholic, able to read, and sentenced to 5 years’ penal servitude for mutinous conduct, on 15 August 1866 by General Court Martial, Dublin. A notation says a parchment copy of his Discharge, received 20 December 1866, is attached. His behaviour was described as “good”; his next of kin was his father Dennis Donaghoe [sic], of 4 Great Garden Street, Whitechapel. By this time, he had served a total of 7 days in “Separate confinement” (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951, Millbank Prison; Register of Prisoners 1866-1867). Note: By the 1850s, Pentonville and Millbank were places for all male convicts to serve “their probationary term (of 9 months), after which they would be transported or sent to a public works prison. This function continued more or less (notable exceptions including the reception of military prisoners in the 1860s…) until the decision to remove it from the convict prison system in 1885” (https://www.prisonhistory.org). --0--

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Dianne Jones on 4th February 2023

JAILS: 24 October, 1866: After his conviction in Ireland, John Donoghue was sent to London. Most likely the journey from Dublin was via the Irish port of Kingstown, for passage by boat to Holyhead in Wales. From there it was 300 miles south by road to London to Pentonville Prison in north London. Completed in 1842, Pentonville was built “for the detention of convicts sentenced to imprisonment or awaiting transportation” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HM_Prison_Pentonville). Also transferred with him were Martin Hogan, Patrick Keatinge, James Wilson, Thomas Hassett, James McCoy, John Shine, William Foley, Thomas Delaney and John Lynch – all listed as known Fenians (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Pentonville Prison; Register of Prisoners 1866-1869). --0--

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Dianne Jones on 4th February 2023

Fenians and imprisonment: In his thesis, “The Fenians and Australia c1865-1880”, Keith Amos (1987) says all of the Fenians transported to WA on the Hougoumont “had been arrested, tried and sentenced between September 1865 and August 1867 for a variety of roles in a concerted but ill-fated attempt forcibly to establish Ireland as an independent republic. Immediately after the first convictions, sympathetic countrymen began to agitate for official recognition of Fenians as political prisoners, hoping that certain privileges accorded to Daniel O’Connell and the Young Irelanders might be granted, the most important being physical separation from ordinary criminals.” Their efforts were unsuccessful. Amos says “all Fenians were treated at first as ordinary criminals. "Shortly after sentence, beards were cut off, hair cropped, clothes exchanged for prison dress, and photos taken as the prisoners held before them black slates bearing their names and numbers inscribed in chalk. Most served about three months in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin, where they were lodged in separate cells and worked during the day, in solitude, picking coir. They were then shipped to England to serve a further six months solitary confinement at Pentonville or Millbank, and progressed from there to Chatham, Portsmouth, Portland, or for intractables, Dartmoor, where limited conversation was permitted during gang labour and one letter allowed each month. Conditions were undoubtedly harsh, stretching sanity to the limit under the stress of solitary confinement, and physical health to the point of collapse under heavy labour. On the whole though, most Fenians were not singled out for worse treatment than other convicts unless, like O’Donovan Rossa, they attracted attention with acts of defiance.” (1987, pp110-111) —0—