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Spent committee they could book the immortal irishman is a biography of Thomas Francis mark who led a failed uprising in ireland against british rule before leaving the Union Brigade in the american civil war. Gothe author spoke at this years tucson festival of books. This is one hour. Good morning. Welcome to the eighth annual tucson festival of books. May name is bruce, director of publications at the arizona historical society. Im going to be moderating this point with timothy egan picked a want to extend our thanks to booktv and Cox Communications for spotting this venue your taxdeductible contribution allows us to offer program free of charge to the public and to support critical literacy programs for the community so become a friend by visiting the Student Union ballroom are going to our website. Out of respect for the author please turn off your cell phones now if they would. This morning as her pleasure for those timothy egan, pillage prizewinning New York Times columnist and author of seven books including the National Book award after winning the worst our time. Theres this enormous statue. You just cant miss it. You would see it from miles aw away. Its a man on his horse, sword pointed toward the Rocky Mountains and at the base of these fighting words from 1848 given in dublin at a time when 1 million irish were dying of hunger. And i said who is the kin guy ie statute . The governor looks and says you call yourself an irishamerican . You dont know who Thomas Francis moore is. I picked those people dont know but at one point he was the most famous irishman in the United States probably not until john f. Kennedy came along was a more famous irishamerican. He knew daniel oconnell, the liberator, the man who freed the catholics in ireland. He knew horace greeley. How could this giant stride three comments and have them disappear . Thats my job is to resurrect this great irishamerican who was flawed as well as brilliant. What jumped out at me at the beginning and thats the irish in ireland was live in the island not your own. Giving some background to the world that he was more into. Emily born 1823 just predict taurean ireland. They are getting into the 700th year of being under the english voodoo. You have to understand, some these parallels later what we now call ethnic cleansing. Most people didnt understand that after the cromwell conquest was was just brutal pillaging and plunging into the land to the soldiers, that shes got they didnt live on the own land. They say to this day one of the worst things you can say in ireland is the curse of cromwell beat on you. They sent 40,000 people or thereabouts into slavery in barbados and other parts of the caribbean following the conquest. To our descendents do. They did everything they could. From 07 hundred years to erase the irish people to take everything to make the people, their songs, language, sport to take away from them. Barbara comes of age just as they have lifted some of the pew but you cant surf and less your religion to you cant practice of government. That set the stage for his coming of stride. That begs the question. I went to college in the late 60s and early 70s so far for me not to see parallels sometimes. How does a young, wealthy irishman as fun as a member of parliament become a revolutionary . The great famine. It is just a concert the the biggest crime in the history of ireland. Now, i want to put this in context because a lot of good scholarship on this. Most people think the famine was caused by the potato rot which it was. The cause was the potato of which your average irish depended on you coul could raise almost or famine on and take a. You put these 2 aground in the spring. To require almost no cultivati cultivation. A little butter milk, a deck of the potatoes and what came was black rooted, black mess. A completely disappeared. At the time sicily to get through sports, the compostela, people starting to die but at the time this is going on ireland is raising a lot of of the food, grains, cereal, barley, pork. They are the leading exporter of beef to the British Empire. The great famine of which a million irish died and families are found that link together dead in these poorhouses. These horrible scenes are quite commissioners would describe in the go and try to poke the conscious of the bush empire. The chocolate in the nation sent a ship full of corn for the poor starving irish. The people of calcutta past i have. So. Barbara comes of age at the time of the greatest crime in Ireland History . He joined revolution is called the young ireland with the. All in their 20s. Theyre educated men and women. They see this horrible crime that irish food is being raised by irish hands but its not going into irish mouth. To the credit in 1997 from british Prime Minister tony blair apologized for the famine and said it was one of the great crimes of england, we are sorry, dont take it so hard. But actually the apologetically that because it opened the windows of scholarship. It wouldve been a shameful thing in ireland, they say we just couldnt talk about the famine there wouldve been a shingle period. They now know what the british called a policy of extermination. That was the word. I thought the there were too may irish and they thought that they killed a million, i want to make this clear. They were not actively killing them. They were passively letting it happen. Man who was in charge of the famine, later knighted, he said the death of a million irish was a hand of god and it was the cure for too many irish. If you go to the Quinnipiac University great other museum theres a portrait of the lord and the job in charge of leading the irish famine. Beneath its is wanted for crimes against humanity. This gentleman, this prince of waterford, this man who could do anything he wanted, attractive, speaks filing which is, wealthy family, they made money in newfoundland and came back and had the biggest house and waterford. Becomes of age, and this is completely radicalized. He leads an uprising and with all irish uprisings that fails miserably. There with his pitchfork patties, these scare the irish, starting people. Barbara so i underestimate how we the people were. British empire, the flag of england is flying over onefourth of the earths land mass an the most troublesome pat is tiny little ireland. He leads his revolution and it goes nowhere. He doesnt fire a shot but he urges the hungry masses to shore up support. Lets stop the food from leaving ireland. Stop the food comes fro from the ports. Let from the ports. Let his irish roots to you is arrested and be sentenced to be hand drawn and quartered and his remains disposed of as her majesty shall see fit. I was surprised to see oscar wilde pop up in this book. Can you talk about who these people were that were young ireland, particularly the poets . Im glad you asked. One of his lovers based on the papers was a poet. She would on to become the mother of oscar wilde. Oscar wilde whenever he to he said im better known in ireland as the sun. She wrote these powerful, powerful poems about whether british were doing to starving irish. A million irish dead come and million irish dead, the skeletons away, these crimes grl pay for. She wrote these beautiful putt once. She wrote a poem saying, but by how beautiful his lips and how attractive she was. They were very liberated and ahead of their time. Irish progressives were probably closer to late 20s century and the Early Victorian age. All these people were brilliant. One of them, they were all since to be there and are banished to go to the award onto great brilliance. Theyre all cute in her 20s. Imagine taking on the British Empire sonnets against swords. They had this quixotic attitude that the young always have that Bernie Sanders supports have, like why dont we just they thought the British Empire, sure they could level double in an afternoon but will people see that our cause is great. Half of them were starving. He was only 23 when he gave that speech. He was considered the greatest orator and ireland. When he doesnt get which is what they did to the rebels of 1798. They are gracious majesty knute the sentenced to life time management on the island of tasmania. Suddenly tasmania has the most brilliant, most educated allocated educated people banished for life in the jungle of tasmania. He said, hes the greatest order. He talks to his dog. He said i will never make my mark. You cant describe how for australia is at this time because more than half of the earth but it takes more than nine months to get there. He says i will never see ireland again what you would not. I never see my family again. He is so lonely. They had this thing for the political prisoners. If you gave in your judgment code of conduct that you would not escape, they didnt put you in a little cage and wacky with a cat of nine tails which they did with the heavy reynolds. He had a cell which he was never supposed to leave. Is best to added seven by seven miles the next and. They found a river and a footbridge and arranged to have lunch there every friday. They were not in violation of their terms. We moved to this little place he names his boat he crafted speranza and spent many afternoons love afternoons, low afternoons sailing speranza. [inaudible] spirituous are beautiful governors and shes 19, falls in love with her. They are going to meet later. He plots his escape i want to how we escaped from tasmania but its one of those cryptic episodes in an amazing life. Takes into of days. My kids have wannabe to stop giving away all the parts of this book. Shark filled waters, pirates come a lot of back and forth. The way he gave up his paroles company sent a note to the general governor of the island, i hereby notify you that as of noon tomorrow i shall escape from this place. I remain forever your honorable servant, and that did this gentlemans duty. The governor sent these troops up to get him on a horse. He rears his horse up and he says i am Thomas Francis, catch me if you can. And he takes off to the tasmanian wild. After 12 days he does manage to escape and his young wife who is 19 is going to meet him in america but there are complications. Why dont you cover all of it, theres an irony to his nobility and sen sent that lettr off that later on turned into a tragic consequences for him. Spent in terms of the parole . Heres the tragic thing. Eventually because of the global irish diaspora which is no, we do breathe a lot, 70 Million People worldwide. A lot in australia, most in the states. They put this pressure on Queen Victoria that how can you come in this country that is most a progressive, they banned slavery ahead of the u. S. They had rights of men were honored, et cetera but on the irish had a blindside. On this global pressure victorino finally, years later, can use the total since to australia of all the seven young irish rebels. But because he escaped he would never be allowed to go back to ireland. If you just did it he wouldve been able to go and see his family is now the irony of his escape they did as he said i am a homeless exile. Thats what he was for the rest of his life. We cant talk about irishamericans without talking about immigration because its the story. If you could just describe a little bit what new york city was like in 1852 when he arrived and then how the irish were viewed in 19th century america. This is why i write about history. Iaaf the past is dead. Its not even past. As William Faulkner said. We have these periodic times return against people. We are a nation of immigrants to only 1 of us are native americans but what else is from somewhere else. The irish were the first of the big wave, in many ways would follow with eastern european, southern, asians, people from all over. They didnt want to leave. They loved their emerald ireland will remember 1 million die, 1. 5 billion plus. Most have never been more than 30 miles from the tiny villages. They raised pigs and potatoes. They got on these chips for 10 pounds. That was the price. Jammed into these corners and in the first few years what if i died in the passage. When they provide often it would be seven, eight kids orphaned immediately. Some were put on trains and sent to the midwest to be raised by people who have nothing to do with them. They washed ashore and remember they are rural people. They are coming to this loud, extraordinary series of cities, boston, new york, philadelphia, ultimate and most of them never go more than four or five blocks from where the ship landed in new york city. They crowd into these awful tenements. Just awful. They live 10 to 100 square foot sleeping with straw on the floor, 37 cents a week with a bucket for a latrine. Some of them still have pigs and so the New York Times, if you want to see some real slumming, go down to the Lower East Side and watch quote the pigs and the patty fly down together. So do feel just jails. They are totally out of sort. They are just like they landed on mars. Went in for new yorkers in 1852 is from ireland. Its the biggest search integration. 195 it left the country so there as i say they fill the jails. They dont call me a city lunatic asylum and we comes ashore they are appalled. He said this is whats become of our people. This is an awful degradation, living in misery and squalor. How is this could help our people. Hes encouraged that some of his fellow educated have done very well in this new country. They are lawyers, prosecutors, judges, writers. Politicians. He comes ashore. Hes hailed as the saving of the irish masses. He speaks to 5000, 10,000 at a topic the New York Times give an elaborate story and so elaborate story and says is that deny the irish masses. Is essentially jesus for the irish. This is a man who can help them get out of their degradation. The backlash which you touched on is the know Nothing Party. At one point the second Biggest Political Party in the United States, its because in 1850s. The only party in our history founded for only one reason, and the irish. And some antigerman as well but mostly at the irish. They elect a governor of massachusetts, a government in new york and to push through these laws and makes it hard for the average to become citizens. They push through laws that makes it hard for them to become civil servants, they dig the canals, the sewers. They taketh other peoples children. Its hard for them to become citizens. The know Nothing Party burns Irish Catholic churches in philadelphia. They burn and irish firehouse. They were irish neighborhoods. They say get on the boat and go back, you scum. It treats them horribly. They draw pictures of them as monkeys. Beer in the whiskers and tales. They are subhuman. They dehumanize them. Thats what he went up against the the know Nothing Party before the civil war which rescues him and the irish is his biggest opposition. They have to click the handle from his head so to start spreading rumors that his escape of some of this honorable. Is on appeal calling for the rest of his life. How could that be dishonorable . Thats what he comes up against as the know Nothing Party. You write the irish face a dilemma at the outbreak of the civil war and it involves slavery. Would like to talk about that . This interesting passage thats in the book from Frederick Douglass come the great orator and newspaperman and former slave. Because to ireland on a speaking tour at the start of the great famine. Is a terrific novel called transatlantic that turns on go have him as a character going to either. He says something. He said i find myself a direct quote, i find myself treated in ireland as a man, not as a cover. The irish were not racist. He said they welcomed him. Big crowds turned up and he said he was appalled by the condition of the irish peasant. He said only an American South have a seen anything worse being slaves of course the former slaves have i seen anything worse than the condition of the irish peasant. They come to america. Over 10 years wouldve told these blocks if there ever for it will take your jobs, douglas comments happened to the irish once they came here . They picked up a racist attitudes. The big question at the outbreak of the civil war which side with a beyond what they are told by