He set Ireland aflame, but he never went home again.
The hero of Young Ireland, Thomas Francis Meagher escaped from the Australian penal colonies to the United States where he soon found himself embroiled in the Civil War. He recruited the famous Irish Brigade and ended up a brigadier for the Union, fighting in some of the bloodiest battles of the war such as Antietam and Fredericksburg.
Life in his adopted country was a struggle for him, in part because of rampant anti-Irish prejudice. He eventually found himself the acting governor of the Territory of Montana, beset by opponents at every hand, including the local vigilantes. And then one day he vanished, never to be seen again. This is the heartbreaking story of a courageous man, an exile living in a strange land and yearning to go home.
