The Life Story of an Old Rebel by John Denvir
page 37 of 281 (13%)
page 37 of 281 (13%)
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The story seems somewhat improbable, as it might be asked how, in the
excitement of a battle, men of one religion could be distinguished from those of another? But this will not seem so unlikely if the circumstances arising out of the Ulster Plantation of King James I. be remembered. As a consequence of this you will find townlands and parishes and whole districts, where the soil is poorest, where the people are almost exclusively Catholic, and others where the non-Catholic population are in an overwhelming majority. In the United forces the men of each locality would have been drilled and trained together, and, in the same way would, no doubt, act together on the field of battle, so that, without any actual arrangement for that purpose, the Catholic or the Presbyterian would, most likely, find himself among his own co-religionists. It is wonderful how the memories of '98 were handed down from one generation to another, not only in Ireland, but wherever our people have made their homes. This has been brought home to me in the most forcible possible manner by a circumstance which has come to my knowledge only a few months since--so to speak--after a lapse of over a hundred years. This is that General James William Denver--after whom, for his distinguished career, the capital of the State of Colorado was called Denver City--had for his grandfather Patrick Denvir, who did a man's share in the insurrection of '98, and, for his connection with it, had to fly from his native Down to America. This information I had from General Denver's daughter, replying on behalf of her brother, to whom I had written to find if the family were |
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