I move:

That Seanad Éireann:

- honours the 150th Anniversary of the Catalpa Rescue of six prisoners for their involvement in the Fenian Rising;

acknowledges:

- those prisoners rescued - James Wilson, Thomas Darragh, Martin Hogan, Michael Harrington, Thomas Hassett and Robert Cranston - and their suffering in harsh and cruel conditions in Fremantle Penal Colony in Western Australia;

- the bravery of the Captain of the Catalpa, Captain George Anthony, and the crew who, despite demands by the British authorities to surrender the prisoners, hoisted and pointed to the flag of the United States of America and sailed the prisoners to freedom;

- the role of John Devoy, Clan na Gael, and the Irish in America in working with John Boyle O’Reilly in securing the Catalpa and its Captain, George Anthony of New Bedford in Massachusetts, for this most perilous rescue;

- the role of Denis F. McCarthy and John Walsh whose parallel rescue mission under the guidance of Fenian leaders in Ireland, including Charles Guilfoyle Doran, Secretary of the Supreme Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, combined with the Catalpa rescue mission to ensure its success and the freedom of those who sought to secure the independence of Ireland.”