Mortimer ("Morty") Moynahan (1833-1881)

Police arrived at the tenement house No. 445 Cherry Street in New York City in July 1874 and inside they discovered Mortimer Moynahan "in a dying state while the dead body of his wife lay in an adjoining apartment". 

The initial headlines of the day reported "Husband and Wife Commit Suicide As A Relief From Poverty"

Source: Clipped from Boston Post Boston, Massachusetts 14 Jul 1874, Tue  •  P

Something did not seem right to me about this story. As I dug deeper, and with the help of William Casey at the Skibbereen Historical Society, I came to learn that Mortimer Moynahan was a dominant leader in the Fenian Uprising in 1867.

Despite O’Donovan Rossa’s words, today Mortimer Moynahan is largely forgotten in all of the history books.  

I am so thankful that William Casey has examined Morty Moynahan's life and work in the hopes that it "will go a small way to redressing that ‘treason’" and I am happy to include Morty Moynahan's story in the Moynahan Scrapbook. section of my blog

 

"Tenement Building, 38 Cherry Street, New York City, sectional view, July 1865, artist's impression, detail.," Dickinson College, http://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/44111.

 

One month prior to the tragedy, Morty Moynahan, his wife and five children (three girls and two boys) had just moved into the first floor of the tenement building on Cherry St.

Neighbours described Morty as a "man of courteously gentlemanly demeanor very much attached to his family and of aesthetic tastes." Their home in the tenement house was "handsomely and tastefully decorated - a well furnished, judiciously selected library forming one of the features in the principal room."

It was known that Morty (born Carriganima, Clondrohid, Cork) had recently arrived in New York from Skibbereen, Ireland and had engaged in journalism after arriving in America.

Cork, Ireland: Distance from Clondrohid to Skibbereen

Morty's income from journalism had declined so much that it no longer provided the financial resources necessary and three weeks prior to the tragedy, having not enough money to feed the family, his three young girls were sent to the Catholic Protectory.

"In the days leading up to the tragedy, the people in the tenement house, noticing the absence of Mrs. Moynahan, questioned her boy and he answered that his mother was in bed. They were obliged to be satisfied with this as the Moynahans had not admitted them to an intimacy that would admit of a more direct inquiry."

Eventually, "fancying a strange, unpleasant odor issued from her room, they notified the police of the fact."  Enter Sergeant Groo and Officer King of the Thirteenth Precinct:

Clipped from The Philadelphia Inquirer Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 13 Jul 1874, Mon  •  Page 3

O'Donovan Rossa Himself Arrives At The Hospital

In the days that followed, it became clear that Morty Moynahan was connected to the Fenian movement in Ireland and was well acquaited with O'Donovan Rossa (in NYC) who arrived at the hospital with a letter (containing money) from Morty's brother in Portland, Oregon.

Clipped from The Philadelphia Inquirer Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 13 Jul 1874, Mon  •  Page 3

The two Moynahan boys living in the tenement at the time of the tragedy (James and Daniel) fell under the care of the tenement landlord for a time.

Clipped from The New York Times New York, New York 14 Jul 1874, Tue  •  Page 5

This Tragic Tale All Began In Ireland - Skibbereen

Those familiar with Irish history will have no trouble imagining Morty's early life in post-famine Cork.

William Casey writes, 

"Mortimer Moynahan was born in Carriganima, north of Macroom, in the early 1830s. We know for certain that he had a brother Michael. Otherwise,little is known about his family or their circumstances, though one source stated that his father, Daniel, was a lime-kiln worker.

Like others of his generation, Moynahan witnessed the devastation of the Great Famine (1845-52) at first hand. The population of his native parish of Clondrohid decreased by 29.2 per cent between 1841 and 1851."

Mortimer was very well-educated (a beneficiary of the national school system that was introduced to Ireland in the 1830s) He attended the national school in Carriganima and later became a teacher himself and then later moved to Skibbereen (1856) where he first met O'Donovan Rossa.

 Phoenix National and Literary Society 1857

The Phoenix National and Literary Society "was ostensibly a literary society similar, in most respects, to those for mutual instruction and debate which were so common"

Source: The Irish Republic

Source:  "Mortimer Moynahan: the forgotten Fenian leader" by William Casey

Recruitment to the organization was undertaken by many including Morty's brother according to the article below.

Clipped from Belfast News-Letter Belfast, Antrim, Northern Ireland 16 Dec 1869, Thu  •  Page 4

Members were largely middle-class Catholics from Skibbereen and "represented a new generation; the majority were young men in their twenties and, by the standards of the time, they were well educated. (Source:  "Mortimer Moynahan: the forgotten Fenian leader" by William Casey)

The Catholic Church and the State React  

The church threatened excommunication for whoever joined the Phoenix Society and the State sent extra police (and spies) to Skibbereen. The organization was infiltrated and on the 8th of December1858, twelve men were arrested including Morty.

The Royal Cornwall Gazette, Falmouth Packet, and General Advertiser Truro, Cornwall, England 31 Dec 1858, Fri  •  Page 8

According to William Casey's research, "Moynahan and O’Donovan Rossa spent seven months in jail awaiting trial. In July1859, a compromise was reached and in return for pleading guilty the remaining prisoners were immediately released on an understanding of future good behaviour."

1861 Moynahan-Cunningham Marriage

Following his release, Mortimer returned to Skibbereen where he met and married  Mary  Cunningham and they had four children: Mary-Kate, born 1862, Julia, born 1863, Anne, born 1864 and James, born 1866.

Moynahan Arrested Again in 1865

In September 1865, the authorities moved against the newspaper "The Irish People" (1863-1865) which was an Irish nationalist paper published in Dublin and arrested many associated with it including Moynahan.

Clipped from The Guardian London, Greater London, England 17 Oct 1865, Tue  •  Page 5

1866 - The Moynahans Move To America

This is where the story of our Fenian hero takes a turn for the worse. On the 23rd of October 1866, Mortimer Moynahan signed Naturalization papers in New York City to become a citizen. A son Daniel was born in 1868 and the family is on the 1870 census although Morty is now going by the forename "John" and working as a bookkeeper.

National Archives and Records Administration; Washington, DC; NAI Title: Index to Petitions for Naturalizations Filed in Federal, State, and Local Courts in New York City, 1792-1906; NAI Number: 5700802; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts

Year: 1870; Census Place: New York Ward 7 District 13 (2nd Enum), New York, New York; Roll: M593_1019; Page: 461B; Family History Library Film: 552518

Morty had in no way abandoned the Fenian cause after arriving in America. On the 6th of January1867, Mortimer Moynahan was appointed leader of the Fenian Brotherhood in America.

William Casey has done excellent research on Morty's Fenian activities in America in his in: "Mortimer Moynahan: the forgotten Fenian leader" in 2017 for the Skibbereen Historical Journal Vol 13.

Sequel to the Cherry Street Tragedy

After the death of his wife in July 1874, Morty spent some time in Bellevue Hospital where O'Donovan Rossa visited him. 

 Evening Star Washington, District of Columbia 18 Jul 1874, Sat  •  Page 1

Mrs Moynahan was buried on Sunday July 12, 1874 with O'Donovan Rossa, Gen. Bourke and many friends accompanying the remains. Thankfully, some time after, Mortimer eventually made a good recovery and was released from hospital.

William Casey's research confirmed the fact that Mortimer was also reunited with all of his children according to a letter from his brother (12 Apr 1876)

Casey also reported that Mortimer returned to Ireland sometime in 1876 and sadly "life did not improve for him. In June 1879, someone from his native Carriganima enquired after him via a letter to the Irishman newspaper." A doctor from the Cork District Lunatic Asylum stated that Morty had been a patient there for the last two years. He died May 10, 1881 without even a mention in any of the newspapers.

Unfortunately, William Casey has not been able to determine where Mortimer Moynahan was buried in Ireland.

I continue to search for the whereabouts of the Moynahan's five children and brother in Oregon.

Mortimer Moynahan's achievements were never recognized in the way they deserve until William Casey wrote about him in: "Mortimer Moynahan: the forgotten Fenian leader" in 2017 for the Skibbereen Historical Journal Vol 13.

I am so grateful for William Casey's research and I have relied upon it heavily here. I believe that he has done a great deal to "redress the ‘treason" of Morty's absence from the history books.

In O'Donovan Rossa's Own Words

Morty's friend O'Donovan Rossa died 29 June 1915 on Staten Island, New York and Hiberians everywhere payed tribute to the great Irish patriot.

Clipped from The Times London, Greater London, England 30 Jun 1915, Wed  •  Page 25

Funeral procession of Fenian Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa. Trams drew to a halt and crowds lined the streets as the coffin passed. O'Rossa had died on Staten Island on 29 June 1915, but his body was sent back to Ireland for burial in Glasnevin Cemetery. This photo was taken at Parnell Square East, or Rutland Square East as it was then known..Source: Wikipedia

In his book "Irish Rebels in English Prisons: A Record of Prison Life", O'Donovan Rossa reminisced about his friend Morty "He who did the most in extending our work through the district was a young man named Mortimer Moynahan who is now battling the world in the great city of New York."

In the book, O'Donovan Rossa also joked about the ominous appropriateness of a song sung by Mortimer which ends,

"... Perhaps some dark cloud gathers o'er us, 

Then let us be glad while we may."

Irish Rebels in English Prisons: A Record of Prison Life By Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa

Irish Rebels in English Prisons: A Record of Prison Life By Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa