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Hello
there.
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the
River Shannon, Limerick
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I
am now pretty much a permanent resident of Limerick,
although I do still spend a fair amount of time in
St. John's,
Newfoundland.
(Talamh-an-Éisc in Irish - land of the fish)
I have been skipping back and forth between the two
for several years now. I am a Newfoundlander of Irish
descent, and have pursued Irish-Newfoundland political
and historical studies during my degrees. If you would
like to know more about the Newfoundland-Ireland connection,
Why not visit the Newfoundland
Heritage web site?
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A
Brief History of the Newfoundland & Irish tricolours
Newfoundland
and Ireland have much in common. There is a strong Celtic
culture in Newfoundland, and we have our own proud history
as an independent state. Newfoundland was granted "Representative
Government" as a British North American colony
in 1832.
As with the other North American colonies
(such as Canada) this system was not particularly successful.
Part
of the problem stemmed from the unique circumstances
of Newfoundland society and politics:
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The Narrows & Signal Hill, St.John's
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Given the nature of the colonial constitution granted
to Newfoundland, and the privileged position of the
Established Church of England, members of other denominations,
particularly Roman Catholics (who overwhelmingly in
the 1830s were Irish), were excluded from having any
influence. As a result, the House of Assembly came to
reflect the grievances of the colony. Patronage was
controlled by the governor, who showed favoritism to
Anglicans and Congregationalists, while excluding Wesleyan
Methodists and Roman Catholics. The Roman Catholic bishop,
Michael Fleming, had been recruited to come to Newfoundland
from Ireland. When he arrived he became upset with the
deliberately inferior position in which many Newfoundlanders
had been put by the Colonial system. Wesleyans and Roman
Catholics were compelled to pay marriage and burial
taxes to the Church of England Parson. Additionally,
Roman Catholics were obliged to take insulting oaths
if they were to be members of the governor's council,
which excluded them from membership.
(source: Dr. John FitzGerald, St. John's, Newfoundland,)
The
struggle between religious denominations is reminiscent
of the Irish struggle for independence, and of the divide
that exists in Northern Ireland today. The Newfoundland
Natives' Society, founded on 15 June 1840, was in many
ways a response to these appalling social inequities.
Its purpose is described in the Encyclopedia of Newfoundland
and Labrador:
Its
main purpose was to promote the interests of native-born
Newfoundlanders (the word native in this context does
not mean aborigine) in a colony that was beginning to
acquire a sense of local identity but was still dominated
by an immigrant bourgeoisie whose actions were, in part,
motivated by religious and racial Anglo-Irish hatred
imported from the British Isles. (source:
http://enl.cuff.com/entry/62/6232.htm)
The
goal of the Natives' Society was to fan the flames of
Newfoundland nationalism. Religious affiliation was
not a barrier to entry, provided the member was considered
a resident of the island - as opposed to recent immigrants.
There was no love lost for new immigrants, especially
those of power and influence. One of the goals of the
Natives society was to secure a place for the local
residents, and prevent immigrants from dominating government
and politics.
In
our 21st century context, the Natives' Society could
be judged harshly as a quasi-racist organisation (After
all, shouting "foreigners go home" is hardly
the height of tolerance). In an 18th century context,
it is important to remember that although in the British
Empire everyone was considered an equal subject of the
Queen, some were considered more equal that others.
An active disdain for native Newfoundlanders and their
generally poor level of education was not uncommon.
John Valentine Nugent, an Irish immigrant with intellectual
aspirations, referred derisively to ``copper-coloured
natives in their native woods'' during a particularly
heated St. John's by-election. Although he later denied
saying it, he had succeeded in hitting on a sore spot.
Certainly, there was no shortage of animosity between
the two sides. (source: http://enl.cuff.com/entry/62/6232.htm)
Dr.
Edward Kielley, a St. John's-born Catholic who became
the first President of the Society, said that he had
thought of the idea of such an organization in 1836,
"because strangers had been sucking the vitals
of the country," while the native-born, "who
were often obliged to seek to better their condition
by resorting to other Countries,'' had been treated
"as an unworthy race, and as intruders in their
native land.'' (source: http://enl.cuff.com/entry/62/6232.htm)
The
Protestant newspaper editor and proprietor R.J. Parsons,
born in Harbour Grace, noted in the Newfoundland
Patriot of September 22, 1840, that the formation
of the Newfoundland Natives' Society was the "fulfillment
of a wish contemplated for years.'' On September 12,
Parsons gave a heartfelt speech at the first meeting
of the Society, in front of a crowd of 200-300 at John
Ryan's fish store in St. John's:
"This
night we proclaim ourselves a people -- we proclaim
our nationality, and we shall fail to do our duty, if
henceforth we do not make that nationality to be respected."
(source:
http://enl.cuff.com/entry/62/6232.htm)
At
the meeting a motto ("Union and Philanthropy'')
and a flag were displayed. The complex flag bore an
elaborate device around which was a wreath "composed
of the rose, thistle and shamrock, denoting the stock
from whence the Newfoundlander derives his origin."
Newfoundlander is a title reserved for the native born,
in use since as early as 1765. The title predates the
title of Canadian by 102 years, if one is to refer to
the creation of the Canadian Federation in 1867. Indeed,
many Newfoundlanders retain this distinction of race
or nationality, in much the same way as residents of
Quebec. This is hardly uncommon - France has its Corsicans,
Spain their Catalonians, Britain its Scottish and English.
The
Society's purposes, included "cooperating with
the peaceable, orderly, respectable and well-disposed
inhabitants of this Island,'' as well as promoting the
interests of "our fellow countrymen." Most
members were composed of the middle class, made up of
merchants and professional men. Many were Irish-Catholic
in descent, but there was a fairly diverse cross-section
of Newfoundland society.
The
common history of the Newfoundland and Irish Tricolours.
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Newfoundland's Tricolour Flag.
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The Newfoundland tricolour
It is from the Native society - albeit indirectly -
that Newfoundland gained it's Tricolour flag - the pink,
white and green.
The
"Pink, White and Green" flag originated in
1843 in St. John's, Newfoundland. It is the oldest flag
in continuous use of any of the former jurisdictions
of what was British North America. Only the Union Flag
of Britain (1801) has been in use longer. The Newfoundland
tricolor is the only flag in the world to include the
colour pink.
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Pink represents the Tudor Rose of England, White the
Cross of St. Andrew of Scotland and Green the Shamrock
of Ireland.
The origins of the flag are diverse. The original
flag of the Newfoundland Native Society was a pink
flag, with two clasped hands extending to the elbows
and a spruce tree in the centre. (See
http://www.wordplay.com/newfoundland/intro.html)
The tree rose from the joined palms and the
word "Philanthropy" ran underneath the arms.
Pink was perhaps a poor choice. The Tudor Rose of
England was never a real rose, but instead an artistic
and political emblem intended to disguise the rather
dubious royal lineage of the Tudors.The Tudor Rose
superimposed the Yorkist White Rose upon the Lancastrian
Red. It is for this reason that the pink flag was
strongly associated with the English Protestant community
in Newfoundland both prior to and following the creation
of the Natives' Society. Having none of that, Irish
Catholic immigrants began flying a green banner with
the Celtic harp of Brian Boru in the centre. (see:
http://www.irishclans.com/flags/green.html).
This
sectarian division grew at an inopportune time. The
members of the relatively new Representative Government
took advantage of the animosity between the two groups
to build their popularity. Tension would reach alarmingly
high levels during the annual wood hauls of the 1840s.
The wood hauls were a means of keeping the large number
of fishermen busy and out of mischief while they waited
for their ships to take them to the icefields. Unfortunately
this did not work out quite as expected.
The
volunteer work of the wood hauls was to supply wood
for charitable organisations, schools and
the Anglican and Roman Catholic cathedrals.
The two groups, numbering
up to 10,000 sealers, would mark their wood piles
with their flags. The hauls became events
of religious rivalry, often degenerating into fistfights
over who had the largest haul. (source:
O'Neill, Paul. "Around and About" The Monitor
July 1976. pp. 11-12) The newspapers of the
era reflected the degree to which these disturbances
concerned much of the public. They also allow us to
approximate the date of these incidents. (Relevant
newspapers from the period are listed at: http://www.cla.ca/marketplace/microfilm.pdf.)
The Newfoundlander [1827-1882] likely contains
an account allowing us to establish a more accurate
date for the conflicts, as well as the Public Ledger
and Newfoundland General Advertiser [1827-1882].
Dr.
Paul O'Neill of Memorial University has done the most
exhaustive research into the response to these events:
To
avoid further bloodshed, Dr. William Carson, the Speaker
of the House, is credited with having suggested that
his great friend, Dr. Fleming, should be enlisted
in the role of peacemaker. Bishop Spencer, who was
about to leave for Jamaica, felt an answer to the
problem lay in trying to unite the warring factions
rather than preach sermons at them. He gave the project
his blessing and a delegation representing the government
along with leaders of the English and Irish communities
called at Dr. Fleming on his residence on Henry Street.
(source:
O'Neill, Paul. "Around and About" The Monitor
July 1976. pp. 11-12)
In
an attempt to defuse the conflicts, a delegation representing
the government and leaders of both communities sought
the council of the Catholic Bishop Fleming, who was
respected by all. Tradition has it that after pondering
the problem, the bishop asked that the pink flag and
the green flag of the two factions be brought to him.
Commenting on his great respect for Carson, he joined
the two flags with a white handkerchief, which he
said represented the white of peace from the flag
of St. Andrew. He handed it to the assembled group
and said, "Go in Peace."
(source:
http://fraser.cc/FlagsCan/Provinces/Newfoundland.html)
Bishop
Spencer was in the process of leaving for his post
for Jamaica as he entered the fray. The Bahamas was
made an Archdeaconry by the Bishop of Jamaica (Rt.
Rev'd Aubrey Spencer) in 1844. (source:
http://www.stgeorgebah.org/History_d.htm)
With a sealing season taking place in March, and the
ice breaking up in April and May, this means that
the bishop was likely on hand to lend his voice in
1843, or 1844 at the latest.
Thus
was born the pink, white and green tricolour of Newfoundland,
a flag which quickly gained prominent social and commercial
and governmental use throughout the island. It was
flown on all government buildings during the visit
of the Prince of Wales to St. John's in 1860. On 19th
century flag charts it is shown as the flag of Newfoundland.
At
the turn of the 20th century it was flown at Government
house by two British Governors. Sir Herbert Harley
Murray from 1895-1898 and Sir Cavendish Boyle from
1901-1904. In June 1896 the newly formed police force
and fire departments adapted it as their official
banner. It was used by Newfoundland Prime Minister
Sir Robert Bond during his election campaign, who
served from 1900-1909.
It
is said that the Newfoundland native, Captain Bob
Bartlett, who accompanied Admiral Peary on his ultimate
polar expedition in 1909, planted the pink, white
and green within a few miles of the North Pole. (Source:
"Crew of the Invermore say Capt. Bob Bartlett
was within six miles of North pole and planted the
pink, white and green there." The Daily News,
(St. John's, September 16, 1909).
The
tricolour flag was a symbol of revolution throughout
the world at the time of its creation, which perhaps
explains why it was not adopted as the official flag
of independent Newfoundland. The red ensign designed
by Adelaide Lane, the niece of Sir Cavendish Boyle,
had been adopted as an official flag instead. (see
O'Neill, Paul. "Around and About" The Monitor
July 1976. pp. 11-12) It was also a nationalist
symbol in the struggle for Responsible Government
and those opposed to confederation with Canada. This
possibly explains why, despite its popularity, it
was not adopted as the official flag in 1980. In its
place, a new design reminiscent of the British Union-Jack
was adopted. Nevertheless, the green white and pink
remains the traditional and unofficial flag of Newfoundland.
It flies prominently throughout the province.
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The
green stripe represents those of native Irish descent,
the orange stripe represents the descendants of 17th-century
British colonists, and the white stripe represents the
hope for peace between the two groups. Thomas Francis
Meagher introduced the flag for the first time at a
meeting organised by the Young Ireland movement on 7
March, 1848 in his native city of Waterford. He had
finished his studies at the Jesuit colleges of Clongowes
Wood College in Kildare and Stonyhurst in Lancashire
in 1843 at 20 years of age. Presumably he spent the
next five years in his home town of Waterford (see
http://members.tripod.com/waterfordhistory/recollections_of_waterford.htm).
As he described the flag in a speech:
The
white in the centre signifies a lasting truce between
the 'Orange' and the 'Green', and I trust that beneath
its folds the hands of the Irish Protestant and the
Irish Catholic may be clasped in generous and heroic
brotherhood. (Source:
http://www.irishclans.com/flags/tricolor.html)
The
Green Flag was used by the contemporary supporters
of Daniel O'Connell, but the Young Irelanders were
republicans and required a distinctive emblem which
would clearly express their republicanism. The design
is thus thought to be modeled on the flag of the French
Republic - an argument which would make sense given
the similar design and the resurrection of the French
tricolor at about that time, as well as Meagher's
role as one of three delegates appointed to present
an address of congratulations to the French Republican
Government in 1848. There are reasons to doubt this
origin as exclusive however.
One
such reason stems from the work done by Dermot Power,
an Irish historian. Power established the 7 March
1848 date. This represented a push back of five weeks
in the history of the tricolour from a Dublin meeting
on April 15, 1848. Of greater importance was the fact
that Meagher informed that Waterford meeting that
the flag was being displayed for the first time. No
such claim was made at the Dublin meeting. Meager's
speechs indicate that it was a unique creation, not
a revival of another flag. (source:
http://www.fotw.ca/flags/ie.html#his
& Irish television network RTÉ
1 report March 8, 1998)
A
second possible influence on the development of the
Irish tricolour is available through a look at the
Meagher family history. Thomas Francis Meagher is
credited with the creation of the first Irish tricolour.
Given his family history and his family ties to the
Newfoundland tricolour, it is likely he saw the Newfoundland
tricolor flying on ships in his home port of Waterford
long before he left for France.
The
Meagher Family and the Newfoundland Tricolour Connection
John
Mannion has done some of the most extensive work on
the connections between Waterford, Ireland and St.
John's, Newfoundland. Thomas F. Meagher III, who introduced
the Irish flag in 1848, was the son of Thomas Meagher
Jr, a Native Newfoundlander. This connection begins
with Thomas F. Meagher's grandfather.
Thomas
Meagher was born in 1764 near Ninemilehouse in southeast
Tipperary, near the port of Waterford. Waterford had
been a site of migration to Newfoundland since the
beginnings of the 18th century. Meagher moved to St.
John's in the 1780s, a town of about 1,200 at the
time with a large migratory population of about 650
during the summer fishery. Unlike other Irish servants
migrating to Newfoundland, Meagher apprenticed to
an Irish tailor. He apparently did well in this role,
marrying the widow of his former master, Mary Crotty
and succeeding to a well-established premises and
a trade at a young age. His son, Thomas Jr. was born
in 1795, and two two others before 1800. He was recorded
as a tailor with a house and family in the center
of town in about 1800.
The
Meagher fortune was built up largely in St. John's.
By 1805 he had lived in St. John's for 20 years and
had become respected in the community. In 1806 he
was elected to a committee of the Irish Benevolent
Society, one of few Catholics to gain such an honour.
In 1807 he was a member of the St. John's Society
of Merchants. His leap from tailor to merchant came
in 1808 with the purchase of a sixty ton brig for
deep-sea trade. A larger vessel was acquired a year
later and his partnership with a Waterford tailor
in St. John's dissolved in 1811.
The
merchant trade of the Meagher's grew rapidly. In the
autumn of 1809 Meagher shipped over 1,350 quintals
(67,500 kilograms) of cod to Waterford. The return
voyage to St. John's returned provisions and passengers,
and was rounded out with a trip to Boston. Meagher
picked an opportune time to establish his maritime
trade. The final years of the Napoleonic wars saw
a boom in the demand for Newfoundland cod. favourable
tarrifs and a near monopoly by the Newfoundland fishery
led to a dramatic increase in trade between Waterford
and St. John's between 1809 and 1815. Meagher did
a great deal of business with Richard Forgarty, his
agent and principal supplier.
In
1815 Meagher admitted his two sons as full partners.
They prospered in the post-Napoleonic recession in
the fishery market, taking advantage of bankrupt houses
to expand their clientele. Meagher then moved to Waterford
in 1815 to establish the company's own marketing base.
His eldest son, Thomas Jr. remained in Newfoundland,
assuming his fathers position as treasurer of the
Irish Benevolent Society in 1815.
Meagher
returned to Waterford and acquired Ballycanvan, an
imposing Gregrorian villa east of the city. it is from
here he managed his extensive Newfoundland trade.
Given his 20 year residence in Newfoundland, he retained
a close relationship with the island. In 1819 his
two sons joined him in Ballycanvan. Thomas Jr. married
Alicia Quan, the daughter of local merchant Thomas
Quan, in 1820. Between 1812 and 1821 Meager's main
ship made two round trips annually to St. John's.
A run of bad luck however, including fires in St.
John's in 1817 and 1819, the loss of three ships between
1820 and 1823 and the decline of the Waterford-St.
John's trade route. While still dealing with the Newfoundland
cod oil trade as late at 1831, the Meaghers' eventually
concentrated on the bacon trade with England. They
eventually abandoned maritime trade altogether, renting
out their extensive premises to other merchants.
Thomas
Meagher and Thomas Meagher Jr. became involved in
the land market, and his sons and grandsons in the
fields of law, politics the military and the church.
Thomas Jr. and his wife moved into a Gregorian mansion
on the quay (now the Granville
Hotel) and was joined in 1829 by Thomas Sr. and
his wife. Thomas Meagher died in Waterford, Ireland
the 26 January 1837 at the age of 73.
Thomas
Meagher Jr. emerged as an active public figure in
Waterford. Shortly after settling in Waterford he
became involved in the struggle for reform in the
city. He was elected to the mostly Protestant chamber
of commerce in 1823, was a secretary of the Catholic
association and a noted speaker in the fight for Catholic
rights and the repeal of anti-Catholic punitive laws.
Meagher Jr, was also treasurer of the Orphan Society,
a leading Catholic charity in Waterford. In 1843 he
became the first Catholic Mayor of Waterford since
the seventeenth century, holding the post until 1845.
The
direct connection between Thomas F. Meagher and Newfoundland
is one of family - Thomas F. Meagher is the son of
Thomas Meagher Jr, born in Newfoundland in 1795. What
then, of the connection between the Irish tricolour
and the Newfoundland tricolour?
In
a recollection of his return to Waterford in 1843,
Thomas F. Meagher speaks of his fondness for Waterford:
The William Penn stopped
her paddles, let off her steam, hauled in close to
the hulk, and made fast. I was at home once more.
Twelve months had passed since I bid good-bye to it.
Everything was just as I had left it. The same policeman,
chewing a straw, was dawdling up and down the flag-way
opposite where the steamer came to anchor. The same
old Tramore jingle was lazily jingling by. The good
old Dean of the Protestant Cathedral, in his black
knee-breeches and long black gaiters, his episcopal
hat and ebony cane, was still pattering and puffing
along the smooth broad side-walk from the Mayor's
office to Mrs. M'Cormac's confectionery, and back
again. The same casks, the same bales of soft goods,
the same baulks of timber I had seen there ten years
ago, were still lying on the Quay, between the river
and the iron chains and the pillars. The same rueful,
wild haggard face seemed to be pressed against the
rusty bars of the second window from the basement
of the Ring Tower - the same I had seen as I drove
past in her Majesty's mail coach on my way to Dublin
the summer before. And there was the spire of the
cathedral right up against me; and there was Cromwell's
Rock right behind me; and the Abbey church; and Grubb's
steam-mills; and White's dockyard; and the glorious
wooden bridge, built by Cox, of Boston, a mile up
the river from where I stood; and the shipping; and
the big butter market; and the shops, and stores along
the Quay - an awkward squad of various heights and
uniforms, several hundred yards in length. Waterford
never appeared to me to change. For a century at least,
it has not gained a wrinkle nor lost a smile. (http://members.tripod.com/waterfordhistory/recollections_of_waterford.htm)
He
remained in Waterford, likely living in his Father's
mansion on the quay for the next five years till his
1848 creation of the Irish tricolour and his exile
from Ireland.
There
are several factors which lead one to reasonably conclude
that Thomas F. Meagher saw the Newfoundland tricolour
on a regular basis and was familiar with it. First,
he had a Newfoundland connection. He owned property
in St. John's, willed in trust to him by his grandfather.
They were recorded as landowners there in 1849.
Second,
his family was closely connected to other Newfoundland
merchants who had relocated to Waterford and were
active politically. Thomas Fogarty, Partick Morris
and James Kent were close to the Meagher family. Their
ships would regularly arrive and dock at the quay
outside his home - flying the tricolour. Other Newfoundland
merchant ships flying the tricolour also docked in
Waterford, including Lawrence O'Brien's.
The
original flag created by Meagher is very close in
design to the tricolour of Newfoundland. In Meagher's
flag, the orange band replaced the pink of the native
Newfoundland flag. The orange band was placed closest
to the flagpole until the revival of the Irish tricolour
in 1916, when the design was reversed.
So
if one looks at these disparate events, a pattern
seems to emerge. A series of ships from Talamh-an-Éisc
dock in front of your house for five years
of your adult life. They often fly a tricolour of
the Protestant and Catholic banners and incorporate
a white band in the centre representing peace between
the two. If you were designing an Irish flag where
would you get your ideas?
The
influence of the French tricolour should not be dismissed.
It republician roots was no doubt an important factor
in the design of the Irish tricolour. But given the
extensive Newfoundland links of the Meagher family
and the prominent placement of the Newfoundland tricolour
in front of Meagher's home during his time there,
there is an excellent case to be made for a common
link between the two and the infulence of the pink
white and green in the design of the Irish tricolour.
The shared themes of the flag as a banner of peace
between Protestant and Catholic is a common feature
of both, and perhaps the inspiration for the Irish
tricolour. Of course, neither relationship can be
definitively proven, but it remains an interesting
link between Newfoundland and Ireland.
(Comments? I would
enjoy hearing them. I can be reached at brian.lake@brianlake.ca,
or via other means - see the "about"
section in the top menu)
Source:
Mannion, John. "Migration and Upward Mobility;
the Meagher Family in Ireland and Newfoundland, 1730-1830,"
Irish Economic and Social History XV(1988):
54-70.
Source:
O'Neill, Paul. "Around and About" The Monitor
July 1976. pp. 11-12)
Source:
Harrington, Michael Francis. "The Native Flag
of Newfoundland" Atlantic Advocate November,
1959.
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