The Immortal Irishman: Timothy Egan's Unforgettable Story

Larry Kloth: This is the story of the dramatic and adventurous life of Thomas Francis Meagher, 1840's Irish revolutionary who escaped execution to be exiled to the British penal colony of Tasmania, and who escaped from there to wind up in the United States, where he became a leader of the Irish immigrant community and, in the Civil War, a general in the storied Irish Brigade. In the year before his mysterious death in 1867, he was Acting Governor of the Montana Territory.

Egan does a great job in relating the details of Meagher's life and the great events of history in which he had a role. I found it interesting without any slow spots. It reads like a good novel.

United States on Aug 01, 2023

James Carton: What an unbelievable read about an extraordinary Irish man. Ireland should be very proud of him & so should his home county of Waterford be extremely proud.

United Kingdom on Apr 17, 2023

Bibi Jones: One of the best books I have read in a long time. Normally a speed reader I read every word as the story wove its way through Irish history from British rule to loosing it culture, language and human rights, through the Famine and the Irish being deported as criminals as a result, to the American Civil War and the role the Irish played in both sides. The author's descriptive ability enabled you to visualize happenings and places as though watching a movie. Thomas Meagher had the most amazing life and his ability to beat the odds is incredible. It also highlights how the American / Irish connection is so strong even until today.

Germany on Aug 25, 2022

I. David: The Immortal Irishman: The Irish Revolutionary Who Became an American Hero, written by Pulitzer Prize winning reporter Timothy Egan, is a beautifully told story of the life of Thomas Meagher, a man who seemed to be everywhere, participating in virtually every major event in the mid-19th century. I knew little of Meagher before reading this book. But after reading the book I feel that I now know and greatly admire him

Thomas Meagher was born in Waterford City, Ireland. His father was a wealthy merchant who sent Meagher to private boarding school where he was something of a rebel who developed extraordinary oratorical skills. In the 1840s, while Meagher’s father entered politics and eventually represented his district in the English Parliament, Meagher advocated for full independence for Ireland as a member of Young Ireland. Meagher’s anti-English militancy peaked during the Great Famine of the late 1840s when the Irish were starving because of the potato blight and the English profited from the export of other crops from their farms in Ireland.

Because of his revolutionary activities Meagher was convicted of sedition and sent, as a prisoner, to Tasmania. Although...

United States on Oct 11, 2021

Barry Izzard: Book arrived on time and in good condition

United Kingdom on Feb 25, 2021

Helen MacCormac: Not a work of fiction! This book takes the reader through oppression, starvation, imprisonment, exile, as well as a conflict that divided a nation.
"Immortal Irishman" is an excellent read and I heartily recommend it to all. Thank Timothy Egan!

Helen MacCormac, Toronto

Canada on May 10, 2017

J. M. Alexander: This is the story of Thomas Francis Meagher (“Mar”), an Irishman born into an affluent and privileged Irish Catholic family on August 3, 1823 in the ancient town of Waterford. In those times the very idea of an “affluent and privileged Irish Catholic family” was most extraordinary in a country where the natives were totally dominated by British overlords. However, Thomas’ grandfather had emigrated to Newfoundland in the late 18th Century and made a relative fortune in business ventures there. He included his son- Thomas’ father- in these businesses and the family returned to Ireland with substantial wealth. But their position was not typical.
Over the years of English rule, the Irish people had been stripped of almost everything. As the author described the situation:
“You knew a town had been built by the hands of your ancestors, the quarry of origin for the stones pressed into those streets, and you were forbidden from inhabiting it. You could not enter a court of law as anything but a criminal or a snitch. You could not worship your God, in a church open to the public, without risking prison or public flogging. You could not attend school, at any level, even...

United States on Jan 28, 2017

William C. Mahaney: Review of the ‘Immortal Irishman’ by Timothy Egan
Thomas Francis Meagher, Irish revolutionary during the famine, magnificent orator and poet, is brought to life in Timothy Egan’s stirring account of his life ‘The Immortal Irishman’ (previous National Book Award winner, 2006, for ‘The Worst Hard Time’). Meagher’s life in Eire under the Penal Laws and great famine, his part in a failed coup (1848) against the British crown, staged trial and banishment to a Tasmanian prison, and ultimate escape to America is the stuff of legend that few know about. His stirring oratory, helpful in forming the Irish Brigade that he led in the Civil War, was also the vehicle that brought attention from Abraham Lincoln hastening his elevation into the senior ranks of the Union Army. Seeing the emancipation of slaves as akin to his belief that his Irish veterans, bloodied in battle, could return to free Ireland from British rule slowly evaporated in the bloody maelstrom of the war to end separation of the North and the South. This is the story of a man, a warrior, with two ideals, ‘two destinies’ as Egan, using masterful prose, unfurls the twists and turns of an Irish legend,...

Canada on Jul 22, 2016