John Devoy

John Devoy (Irish: Seán Ó Dubhuí, IPA: [ˈʃaːnˠ oː ˈdˠʊwiː]; 1842–29 September 1928) was an Irish rebel leader and exile. He was the owner and editor of the Gaelic American, a New York weekly newspaper, 1903-1928. Devoy dedicated over 60 years of his life to the cause of Irish freedom. He is one of the few people to have played a leading role in the rebellion of 1867, the 1916 Rising and the Irish War of Independence (1919 - 1921).

Early life

Devoy was born near Kill, County Kildare. In 1861 he travelled to France with an introduction from Timothy Daniel Sullivan to John Mitchel. Devoy joined the French Foreign Legion and served in Algeria for a year before returning to Ireland to become a Fenian organiser in Naas, Co Kildare.

Nationalist Leader

In 1865, when many Fenians were arrested, James Stephens, founder of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), appointed Devoy Chief Organiser of Fenians in the British Army in Ireland. His duty was to enlist Irish soldiers in the British Army into the IRB.