John Boyle O'Reilly

John Boyle O'Reilly (Irish: Seaghán Baoighil Ó Raghallaigh; 28 June 1844 – 10 August 1890) was an Irish poet, journalist, author and activist. As a youth in Ireland, he was a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, or Fenians, for which he was transported to Western Australia.

After escaping to the United States, he became a prominent spokesperson for the Irish diaspora community and culture through his editorship of the Boston newspaper The Pilot, in addition to his personal writings and lecture tours.

Born in Dowth, County Meath, O'Reilly moved to his aunt's residence in England as a teenager and became involved in journalism before enlisting in the British Army shortly thereafter. In 1863, he left the army after becoming discontented with British rule in Ireland.

In 1864, after returning to Ireland, O'Reilly joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood under an assumed name and was part of the group for two years until he and many others were arrested by the British authorities in early 1866. After a trial that same year, he was sentenced to death, but the sentence was subsequently commuted to twenty years of penal servitude.

In 1867, O'Reilly was transported to Western Australia. He was sent to the town of Bunbury, from where he escaped two years later, assisted by a Catholic priest, Patrick McCabe, from Arnaghan, Gowna, County Cavan.

After his escape, O'Reilly moved to Boston and embarked on a successful writing and journalism career. He authored works such as Moondyne (1879) and Songs from the Southern Seas (1873), and wrote poems such as The Cry of the Dreamer, The White Rose and In Bohemia. He married Mary Murphy in 1872 and had four daughters.

In his final years of life, O'Reilly suffered from various health problems before dying of an overdose in 1890 at his summer home in Hull, Massachusetts. His memorial service, held at Tremont Temple, was a major public event.

O'Reilly's literature and involvement in civil rights causes have been celebrated over the years.