bono=genius
The Fly
can someone tell me what this song is about..i remember reading angela's ashes..and it came up..but i don't remember the whole story behind it..thanks.
When the last of the convict ships, the Hougoumont, arrived in Freemantle, Western Australia in January 1868 with 279 prisoners, sixty of the convicts were Fenians, most prominently John Boyle O'Reilly. One of O'Reilly's comrades, James Wilson, wrote a letter to John Devoy, leader of the Clan na Gael in New York. This letter set in motion the operation which led to the spectacular escape from Australia on the Catalpa.
Devoy had been looking for a project to galvanize the Irish in Ireland and in America, and Wilson's letter sparked the project. Devoy began the rescue effort in 1874 by consulting with Henry Hathaway in Boston. Hathaway had led the rescue of John Boyle O'Reilly from Western Australia. First, a boat was purchased for $5600, the Catalpa. It required a complete overhaul and a crew. By April 1875, the vessel was seaworthy and manned by a crew of Portuguese and African sailors and captained by George Anthony. Captain Anthony understood his mission and its place in the long struggle of Ireland against England. The Catalpa, fitted and ready, sailed out of New Bedford harbor on April 29, 1875 bound for Australia more than 10,000 miles away.
SWlondnr said:whats wrong with tasmania, oh yeah taz lives there.....prisoners from UK/ireland used to be sent over to australia