Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Immortal Irishman:
This guy packed a lot into 44 years.
Quick synopsis:
The story of Thomas Francis Meagher who was an Irish Nationalist and American Civil War general.
Fact for Non-History People:
Meagher was actually sentenced to death by the British. His sentence was commuted to life in Tasmania. Yeah, then he escaped to America.
Fact for History Nerds:
After the Civil War, he became the acting governor of Montana.
My Take on The Immortal Irishman:
Talk about checking a lot of boxes on your bucket list.
I never heard of Thomas Francis Meagher before this book. Turns out a lot of people had not. After reading the book, I’m not sure how you could NOT know about him.
Meagher was born in Ireland (duh) and by his early 20s had already become a well-known Irish nationalist. He was so well-known that of course the British tried to have him executed, as is their wont. Public outcry led to his death sentence to being commuted to life imprisonment down in Tasmania.
He arrived in Tasmania in 1849 and escaped in 1852. He did find the time to get married while there, though. His next stop was America.
Without getting into too many details, he became a Civil War general and ultimately the acting governor of Montana. There is a lot more and his death is… murky. Go read about it.
Verdict:
A great book about an amazing life not many people know about. Buy it here!
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