MANY Protestants have played a key role in the struggle for justice and liberty over the past two centuries. These would include Robert Emmett, Wolfe Tone and Henry Joy McCracken, Grattan and Parnell, as well as Cochran and Lowans, John Mitchel and John Martin from the Newry region.

As the son of a Protestant minister, married in the now-famous Drumcree parish church at Portadown, and having a solicitor’s practice in Portadown, John Mitchel must have seemed an unlikely Irish revolutionary. On the agenda were conviction for treason felony, and sent into exile in a far-off penal colony.

Meanwhile, John Martin had followed in the footsteps of his old school-friend as a TCD graduate; leading member of the Young Irelanders, editor of a radical anti-British newspaper, accused of sedition; and also sentenced to transportation to Van Diemans Land. The main differences were that Mitchel escaped from the island, later known as Tasmania, made his way to the United States and fought on the Confederate side in the Civil War.

Meanwhile, John Martin had gained a pardon, and spent some time at home before residing in Paris, later becoming an MP at Westminster, just like his brother-in-law. And he died in the same house at Dromalane in Newry as his brother-in-law, having caught a cold at John Mitchel’s funeral, five days earlier.

`The Belfast Morning News` explained why the young Presbyterian lawyer had abandoned a secure legal career for the uncertain and perilous role of an Irish. He had gone into the Dublin Castle Yard to see the starving people being fed during the Great Famine. There was “a band of well-fed, gaudily-dressed officials, mocking the hungry crowd.

“That horror of degradation and hunger was not what struck Mitchel most, - it was the remarks of the flunkeys in military and other livery. He heard their jests and sneers abut the hunger-maddened creatures, - about how wild the Irish were. Mitchel could not stand it; he hurried home entered his closet, fell on his knees and clasped his hands.

“And he swore to God that such a scene would never be seen again in Ireland. He kept his word, - he turned rebel, wrote and talked treason. But, being a lawyer and a man of supreme ability, he acted in such a way that the law could not take hold of him. The government consulted its law officers, - but they could do nothing about it. There was no law which could catch John Mitchel.

“So the government passed the Treason Felony Act, for the purpose of catching Mitchel. He was put on trial, and convicted of offences committed against a law, which had not been passed at the time,” stated the Belfast newspaper.

Writing in support of John Mitchel during his trial, John Martin stated: “With destruction approaching our people, we are told that Mr Mitchel’s stern language will repel or alarm our fellow countrymen. Never did our native land so despairingly call upon the aid of her patriots as now. For want of national independence, famine and plague have been slaughtering our people by hundreds of thousands.

“An impression of sacred grief and rage has been burned into the soul of some Irishmen about the Great Famine. Some have endeavoured to induce survivors to adopt effective measures for the overthrow of the tyrant, - to take up arms and stand upon their inalienable rights. The chief of those has been John Mitchel.

“The new policy has changed powerless agitation into a formidable weapon, so the enemies of Ireland are obliged to active measures, in order to maintain their usurped power. Occupying the courts with agents, the government will get its will. John Mitchel, champion of Ireland, will be branded a felon, have his goods confiscated and exiled, because he exhorted his countrymen to assert their rights.”

The article by John Martin, which caused his conviction under the Treason Felony Act, appeared in `the Irish Felon.` It stated: “What we want is to get the majority of our countrymen to aim for the establishment of national freedom. Our national independence can be vindicated without firing a musket. But I regard the right of the citizen to bear arms as inalienable, fostering a bold, free spirit.

“Because of the present anarchy, and the ruinous influence of foreign misgovernment, a volunteer national militia is the only means of preserving social order. Because the exhibition of our national will might produce a painful altercation from the foreign tyrant, I desire that my countrymen of all classes should have arms, and be prepared to use them.”

When the Donaghmore editor went on trial, his lawyer told the jury: “John Martin has discharged what he conceived to be his duty by what he wrote. He is a Northerner, a native of Co Down, and a Presbyterian by religion. Perhaps it was from the people among whom he lived that he imbibed the principle of liberty.

“He is not a penniless adventurer, seeking the spoils of lands belonging to others. He has land of his own, and has discharged his duties as landlord and gentleman, with benefit to his tenants and neighbours. My client saw the starvation and destitution of people in his country, and knew the extent of the misery and suffering which resulted from want of food.

“If a man looks upon the starving spectres of people, and gives way to an impulse, he could not be guilty of felony. As for English domination of our country, - is Irish opinion respected by the Imperial legislature? You cannot judge a man in such a case, without considering the state of the country.”

However, the verdict was guilty, and John Martin followed his erstwhile school friend en route for Van Diemans’ Land. On arrival at Hobart town, almost two years later, Mitchel accepted the `ticket of leave,` which gave him a cottage with land to till and animals to rear for food. He and John Martin shared the same dwelling until Mrs Mitchel and the family arrived.

When Jenny saw her husband for the first time since he had appeared in the dock, she was shocked to find him looking so ill. The last letter she had received from John Martin before leaving Newry had described his “fine health, riding and grooming his horse. Not only free from asthma, but straight as a lance.”

John Mitchel recounted in the `Jail Journal`, how it had been over two years since he had last seen his three sons, and now he “could teach them how to ride and shoot, and survive in the bush, as well as Greek and history. Hetty (Henrietta) still a dreamer, was glad to have me safely with her once more. At night we would take it in turns, including John Martin, to read the books aloud.”

This was the familiar routine that John Mitchel needed. He was not the usual image of a revolutionary on the edge of society, but a man who enjoyed the life-style of his class, who needed a family circle to sustain him. Beyond his secret wish to be a farmer, was the need to make his own way.

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