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The Life Story of an Old Rebel by John Denvir
page 22 of 281 (07%)
seen. He is still remembered with appreciation by many in England, and,
I am sure, in Ireland too.

He was a patriotic Irishman, and once offered himself to our committee
as a Nationalist candidate for the Parliamentary representation of
Liverpool. This was in the days when it was a three-membered
constituency. It was only the belief that the sacrifice which he thus
offered to make for his country would have injured his career as an
actor that prevented us from accepting his offer.

In my boyhood a great feature in Liverpool was the annual procession of
one or other of the local societies.

The great Irish and Catholic procession, of which the Hibernians formed
the largest contingent, was, of course, on St. Patrick's Day. A
considerable portion of the processionists were dock labourers; a fine
body of men, who were at this time, as I have already said, mostly
Irish.

The Orange processions in Liverpool were often the occasion of
bloodshed, for in them they carried guns, hatchets, and other deadly
weapons, as if they were always prepared for deeds of violence. The
ship carpenters were the most numerous body in the Orange processions.
Indeed, they formed such a large proportion that, by many, the 12th of
July was called "Carpenter's Day." Shipbuilding used to flourish in
Liverpool, and, as none of the firms engaged in it would take a Catholic
apprentice, it was quite an Orange preserve. This became somewhat
changed when the Chalenors, an English Catholic family, who were already
extensive timber merchants, commenced ship-building, and, of course,
took Catholic apprentices.
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