Thomas Francis Meagher

“It is an honor to be an Irishman, but it is a greater honor to be a fighting Irishman.”

“My country, if I am to have a country, must be in all things a free land.”

“The Irish people have a right to a country of their own, and to govern themselves.”

“Never was there a cause more sacred than that which summons us to the field.”

“I do not despair of my old country. I do not despair of Ireland. She will be a nation yet.”

“I now bid farewell to the country of my birth, of my passions, and of my death... a country whose misfortunes have invoked my sympathies.”

“We are citizens of the great Republic, and our duty is to stand by the flag which has given us a home and a refuge.”

“I do not despair of my country... There is a future for it.”

“A new soul has entered into the people. It is the soul of a free nation.”

“Judged by the law of England, I know that this crime entails upon me the penalty of death; but the history of Ireland explains this crime and justifies it.”

“To my native country I can only say, 'God save Ireland!'”

“I have no desire to see the Union dissolved, but if it is to be dissolved, I shall stand by the flag of my country.”

“When it comes to the charge, let the word be 'Fág an Bealach'.”

“Abhor the sword—stigmatize the sword? No, my lord, for it is the sacred sword that defends the rights of the weak against the aggressions of the strong.”

“The sword of the Republic should never be drawn except to vindicate its honor, or to maintain its rights.”

“We have been accused of being mercenaries. We are not. We are fighting for a principle, and that principle is the preservation of the Union.”

“Abhor the sword and stigmatise the sword? No, my lord, for in the holy temples of the nation it has been consecrated by the blood of the martyr, and until now it has been the only weapon in the hand of the patriot.”

“Be it for the defence, or be it for the assertion of a nation's liberty, I look upon the sword as a sacred weapon.”

“The sword is the last resort of a nation, but it is a resort which a free nation should never be afraid to grasp.”

“Gentlemen, you have a country.”