Denis Bambrick Cashman (March 1843 – 8 January 1897) was an Irish political prisoner and diarist who was transported to

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...

due to Fenianism and wrote of his experiences in a

diary A diary is a written or audiovisual record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwritten but are now also often digital. A personal ...

Early life

Cashman was enlisted as a Fenian in 1858, around the age of 16. By the age of 25 he was working as a Law Clerk in

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

. On January 12, 1867, Cashman was arrested (the same day his third child was born) and was brought to trial on February 19, 1867 where he pleaded guilty to treason, he was sentenced to seven years penal servitude. He was first transported to Millibank Prison where he awaited transportation to Australia aboard the ''

Hougoumont Château d'Hougoumont (originally Goumont) is a walled manorial compound, situated at the bottom of an escarpment near the Nivelles road in the Braine-l'Alleud municipality, near Waterloo, Belgium. The site served as one of the advanced defensi ...

''.

Transportation

During the journey Cashman kept a diary detailing the day-to-day activities aboard ship and proving a detailed account of the feelings of the convicts and prisoners on the ship. Cashman was also involved in the production of ''

The Wild Goose ''The Wild Goose: A Collection of Ocean Waifs'' was a hand-written newspaper created in late 1867 by Fenian prisoners aboard ''Hougoumont'', the last ship to transport convicts to Australia. Seven issues of the newspaper were produced, and ea ...

'', the onboard newspaper.

Life in United States

Like many civilian Fenians, Cashman was pardoned on the 15 May 1869. In late October 1869, he and 14 other Fenians boarded the ship ''Baringa'' and sailed from Sydney, Australia to

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for "Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. He took the Central Pacific Railroad out of California and headed to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

to meet up with his wife Catherine, his son William, and his good friend and fellow Fenian

John Boyle O'Reilly John Boyle O'Reilly (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 Australi ...

. While in Boston, he worked in the book and publishing department, and later as the business manager of the ''

Boston Pilot ''The Pilot'' is the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Boston and claims the title of "America's Oldest Catholic Newspaper", having been in continuous publication since its first issue on September 5, 1829. Although the first Catholic new ...

''. He worked as a top salesman of ''

Donahoe's Magazine ''Donahoe's Magazine'' was a United-States-based Catholic-oriented general interest magazine that ran from about 1878 to July 1908, when it was absorbed by the '' Catholic World'' of New York. It had been founded by Patrick Donahoe, one-time edi ...

'', and later as the superintendent of Waste Water Department in Boston. Cashman was involved in the initial stages of planning the

Catalpa rescue The ''Catalpa'' rescue was the escape, on 17–19 April 1876, of six Irish Fenian prisoners from the Convict Establishment (now Fremantle Prison), a British penal colony in Western Australia. They were taken on the convict ship ''Hougoumont'' ...

of 6 Fenians from Western Australia. After hatching the scheme with

Thomas McCarthy Fennell Thomas McCarthy Fennell (22 December 1841 – 23 February 1914) was a Fenian political prisoner transported as a convict to Western Australia. Born in County Clare, Ireland in 1841, Fennell was just four years old when the Great Famine struck. ...

John Devoy John Devoy ( ga, Seán Ó Dubhuí, ; 3 September 1842 – 29 September 1928) was an Irish republican rebel and journalist who owned and edited '' The Gaelic American'', a New York weekly newspaper, from 1903 to 1928. Devoy dedicated over 6 ...

, the well known leader of the

Clan na Gael Clan na Gael ( ga, label=modern Irish orthography, Clann na nGael, ; "family of the Gaels") was an Irish republican organization in the United States in the late 19th and 20th centuries, successor to the Fenian Brotherhood and a sister org ...

traveled to Boston to meet with

and Cashman. As former prisoners—the two Bostonians had intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the

Fremantle Prison Fremantle Prison, sometimes referred to as Fremantle Gaol or Fremantle Jail, is a former Australian prison and World Heritage Site in Fremantle, Western Australia. The site includes the prison cellblocks, gatehouse, perimeter walls, cottages ...

and their contributions helped lead to the success of the rescue mission. Cashman strongly supported agrarian agitation in Ireland. In 1881, he published the first biography of

Michael Davitt Michael Davitt (25 March 184630 May 1906) was an Irish republican activist for a variety of causes, especially Home Rule and land reform. Following an eviction when he was four years old, Davitt's family migrated to England. He began his caree ...

, a founder of the

Irish National Land League The Irish National Land League ( Irish: ''Conradh na Talún'') was an Irish political organisation of the late 19th century which sought to help poor tenant farmers. Its primary aim was to abolish landlordism in Ireland and enable tenant farme ...

. Cashman's ''The Life of Michael Davitt'' was published the same year Davitt was again imprisoned for after he accused the chief secretary of Ireland

W. E. Forster William Edward Forster, PC, FRS (11 July 18185 April 1886) was an English industrialist, philanthropist and Liberal Party statesman. His supposed advocacy of the Irish Constabulary's use of lethal force against the National Land League earne ...

of "infamous lying". Cashman was the pall-bearer at O'Reilly's funeral on August 13, 1890.

Death

Cashman died from heart disease in his Boston home on 8 January 1897, he was survived by his wife Catherine and 3 children.

Diary

His diary was donated to

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a teacher training school, East Carolina has grown from its origi ...

where Professor of English Charles Sullivan III edited it and in this form it was published in 2003. The diary contains poems by Cashman,

and John Flood. The diary is currently housed in the East Carolina Manuscript Collection in Joyner Library at

.A finding aid can be found at this link.
Cashman's Hougoumont Diary
, lib.ecu.edu; accessed 24 August 2017.

In the arts

* Musician and local historian Brendan Woods authored a play about the breakout, ''The Catalpa''. On 15 November 2006, it premiered to a sellout audience at

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

Town Hall, and ran until 25 November. The play is based on Cashman's diaries with poetry by

set to music and dance.

References

External links

Biography
waterfordcountymuseum.org; accessed 24 August 2017. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cashman, Denis Convicts transported to Western Australia Members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood 1843 births 1897 deaths Recipients of British royal pardons Date of birth unknown