The Immortal Irishman: The Irish Revolutionary Who Became an American Hero

Timothy Egan's biography traces the life of Thomas Francis Meagher, an Irish revolutionary who became a prominent figure in American history. During the Great Hunger of the 1840s, Meagher was a young orator who led a failed uprising against British rule. For this, he was banished to a Tasmanian prison colony for life. Two years later, Meagher escaped and arrived in New York, where he became the most famous Irishman in America. He went on to lead the Irish Brigade during the US Civil War, commanding Irish immigrants in major battles. After the war, Meagher attempted to establish a new settlement in the Montana Territory, an effort that ended with his mysterious disappearance. Egan's biography resolves this long-standing mystery and presents Meagher's story as central to the early Irish American experience.