Between 1865 and 1867, British authorities arrested dozens of members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. These men belonged to a group called the Fenians, who fought for Irish independence from Great Britain. The government decided to transport sixty-two of these political prisoners to the penal colony of Western Australia. They traveled on a convict ship named the Hougoumont. This vessel arrived at Fremantle in January 1868, marking the final time Britain sent convicts to Australia. The prisoners were immediately moved into the Convict Establishment, which is known today as Fremantle Prison.
The prison system kept detailed records of every man who entered its walls. Officials took mugshots to identify the prisoners and prevent them from escaping. These photographs show men with weathered faces and thick beards wearing heavy, dark prison jackets. The images were meant to track criminals, but they now serve as the primary visual record of these Irish revolutionaries. One of the most famous men in the group was John Boyle O’Reilly. He did not intend to serve his full sentence in the harsh Australian landscape.
In 1869, O’Reilly managed a successful escape with the assistance of a local Catholic priest, Father Patrick McCabe. He boarded a whaling ship called the Gazelle and sailed across the ocean to reach the United States. Once he settled in Boston, O’Reilly found work at a newspaper called The Pilot. He eventually became the editor and used his position to advocate for Irish freedom. He never forgot the men he left behind in the cells at Fremantle.
Another Fenian named John Devoy joined the cause in America. He had been granted amnesty in England in 1871 on the condition that he live outside of Ireland. Devoy settled in New York City and worked for the New York Herald. He joined a secret organization called Clan na Gael, which supported armed rebellion in Ireland. Devoy and O’Reilly worked together to plan a rescue mission for the six Fenians still trapped in the Western Australian prison.
They purchased a whaling ship named the Catalpa to carry out the plan. The ship reached the coast of Australia in 1876. On April 17, the six Fenian prisoners walked away from their work details and met a small boat at the shore. They rowed through rough water to reach the Catalpa. A British police ship chased them and fired a cannon shot across the whaler’s bow. The captain of the Catalpa pointed to the American flag and refused to stop. The rescue was successful, and the six men arrived safely in New York to a hero’s welcome.
