THE FUTURE OF THE YOUNG MEN OF IRELAND
From Irish Ideas by William O'Brien, 1893
Page 153
THE FUTURE OF THE YOUNG MEN OF IRELAND
« previous page | book contents | start of this chapter | next page »
shooter, ranged often in bloody strife with their own countrymen in the ranks of rival continental tyrants, and destined one day to be huddled into an unknown grave by stranger hands upon some far-away battle plain. Ireland probably lost more of the flower of her manhood in all but unremembered foreign campaigns under the lilies of France or the yellow standard of Spain than were slain of Englishmen and Frenchmen put together in all the battles of Marlborough and King Louis; yet of that rich torrent of red Irish blood that flowed from the Shannon to the Danube, there remain no landmarks but some noble Irish family thrown up by the tide of battle in pathetic isolation, a French marshal, an Austrian Prime Minister, some tradition in an Alpine monastery, or inscription in a forgotten graveyard. Mother and maiden on the Irish shore strained their eyes in vain for the Donal Dhus that were to return no more.
In the present century the bountiful commonwealth of America has given Irish enthusiasm, brawn, and intellect a more fruitful place of exile than the hungry battlefields of Turenne and Prince Eugene. Our countrymen have not only fought American battles, they have tasted American freedom; they have become an imperishable part of the greatness of the world's greatest State—rulers among her rulers, pioneers in her progress, partners in the rich heritage of her giant trades and silver mines and golden prairies. They have not only grown with the greatness of the land of their exile, they have showered countless blessings back upon the island of their birth. Even in the glorious eyes of the republic of their wedlock they have never forgotten the grey hair and loving accents of the poor old mother in the mountain hut at home. The Irish-Americans and Irish-Australians have achieved two feats for which no … continue reading »
« previous page | book contents | start of this chapter | next page »