SEARC'S WEB GUIDE - Thomas D'Arcy McGee (1825-1868)

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Searc's Web Guide to 19th Century Ireland - Thomas D'Arcy McGee (1825-1868)

Thomas D'Arcy McGee was born in Carlingford, County Louth. He emigrated to America in 1843 and became editor of the Boston Pilot. In 1845 D'Arcy McGee was offered the editorship of the Freeman's Journal and he returned to Dublin where he later edited The Nation. After the 1848 Young Ireland Rising D'Arcy McGee was arrested and imprisoned in Wicklow from where he escaped to Scotland. He returned briefly to Ireland, finding shelter with Dr Maginn, Bishop of Derry, before reluctantly emigrating to America for a second time.
In New York D'Arcy McGee founded the American Nation and the American Celt newspapers and also published A Popular History of Ireland (1863). In 1866 D'Arcy McGee was elected to the Canadian Parliament and was Minister of Agriculture and Emigration until 1867 when he became editor of New Era. Thomas D'Arcy McGee was assassinated in Ottawa, Canada in April, 1868.©

Thomas D'Arcy McGee (1825-1868)

The Exile's Devotion
I'd rather be the bird that sings
Above the martyr's grave,
Than fold in fortune's cave my wings
And feel my soul a slave;
I'd rather turn one simple verse
true to the Gaelic ear,
Than Sapphic odes I might rehearse
With senates list'ning near.

Oh native land! Dost ever mark,
When the world's din is drown'd,
Betwixt the daylight and the dark
A wandering solemn sound,
That on the western wind is borne
Across the dewy breast?
It is the voice of those who mourn
For thee, far in the west!

For them and theirs I oft essay
Your ancient art of song,
And often sadly turn away,
Deeming my rashness wrong,
For well I ween, a loving will
Is all the art I own.
Ah me, could love suffice for skill
What triumphs I had known!

My native land, My native land
Live in my memory still!
Break on my brain, ye surges grand!
Stand up mist-covered hill!
Still in the mirror of my mind
The land I love to see;
Would I could fly on the western wind,
My native land, to thee.
© Searc's Web Guide 1997-2008

19th Century Ireland History Index
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