An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Seanad Éireann — 2026-04-14
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Mark Daly (CC), Administrative Panel

Before I call Senator Fiona O'Loughlin, there is a resolution before the House signed by all the leaders of the groups in the House in relation to the 150th anniversary of the Catalpa rescue, where six prisoners who were involved in the Fenian rising were rescued by the captain and the crew of the Catalpa .
I read from the resolution:
- those prisoners rescued - James Wilson, Thomas Darragh, Martin Hogan, Michael Harrington, Thomas Hassett and Robert Cranston - and their suffering in harsh and cruel conditions in Fremantle Penal Colony in Western Australia;
- the bravery of the Captain of the Catalpa, Captain George Anthony, and the crew who, despite demands by the British authorities to surrender the prisoners, hoisted and pointed to the flag of the United States of America and sailed the prisoners to freedom;
- the role of John Devoy, Clan na Gael, and the Irish in America in working with John Boyle O’Reilly in securing the Catalpa and its Captain, George Anthony of New Bedford in Massachusetts, for this most perilous rescue;
- the role of Denis F. McCarthy and John Walsh whose parallel rescue mission under the guidance of Fenian leaders in Ireland, including Charles Guilfoyle Doran, Secretary of the Supreme Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, combined with the Catalpa rescue mission to ensure its success and the freedom of those who sought to secure the independence of Ireland.
It was signed by Senators Maria Byrne, Fiona O'Loughlin, Victor Boyhan, Conor Murphy, Alice-Mary Higgins and Laura Harmon, as the leaders and representatives of all the groups in Seanad Éireann. I thank Members for their support and also Enda O'Coineen and his guests in the Distinguished Visitors Gallery, who are bringing an exact replica of the flag that was flown from the Catalpa by the captain, which has just gone on display in the National Library. It is quite enormous, much bigger than we could put on display here. Those copies of the flags that were flown on the Catalpa will be brought over to New Bedford in Massachusetts and also to Fremantle in Australia for the 150th anniversary of that rescue, which was this week 150 years ago. I thank Members for their support on that.
Anois, all politics being local, Ballymakenny College in County Louth and guests of Deputy Butterly are here. I welcome Chloe O'Callaghan, niece of Senator Nessa Cosgrove, to the House, doing her transition year work experience. I thank Chloe for being here.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-04-14/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-14