An historic American flag will be displayed in Kilkenny this Friday and Saturday.
The “Catalpa Flag” was used to help six fenian prisoners escape from Australia aboard the Catalpa whaling ship in 1876. The prisoners set off on a small rowboat from Rockingham Pier on the morning of April 17th 1876 to meet the awaiting ship, which had dropped anchor in international waters.
It was a letter home from Kilkenny man, John O’Reilly that broke news of the event to Ireland. O’Reilly’s grandnephew donated the flag to the Kilkenny Archaeological Society over 40 years ago, though it has not been on public display until now. The flag will be displayed at the Society’s headquarters in Rothe House and Garden in Kilkenny City, marking 150 years since the escape.
Mary Ann Vaughan from Rothe House and Garden, spoke to KCLR this morning about how the prisoners used the flag to deter colonial forces and make their escape.
“It wasn’t an easy journey to get from the Rockingham Pier out to the Catalpa”.
The crew were pursued by an armed steamer but as Mary Ann described, the flag helped them to slip away and make their escape to the States.
“The captain hoists the American flag… points at that flag and says any attack on this ship is going to be considered an attack on the United States of America. With that, the steamer eventually has no choice but to head back to shore and the Catalpa sails off into the Indian Ocean… and the prisoners are free”.
The historic flag will be on display on Friday and Saturday, July 3rd and 4th in Rothe House & Garden, Parliament Street, Kilkenny City.
