Charles Kickham

Charles Joseph Kickham (9 May 1828 – 22 August 1882) was an Irish revolutionary, novelist, poet, journalist and one of the most prominent members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood.

Early life Charles Kickham was born at Mullinahone, County Tipperary, on 9 May 1828. His father John Kickham was the proprietor of the principal drapery in the locality and was held in high esteem for his patriotic spirit. His mother, Anne O'Mahony, was related to the Fenian leader John O'Mahony. Charles Kickham grew up largely deaf and almost blind, the result of an explosion with a powder flask when he was 13. He was educated locally, where it was intended he study for the medical profession. During his boyhood the Repeal agitation was at its height, and he soon became versed in its arguments and was inspired by its principles. He often heard the issues discussed in his father's shop and at home amongst all his friends and acquaintances. He became acquainted with the teaching of the Young Irelanders through their newspaper The Nation from its foundation in October 1842. Kickham's father used to read the paper aloud every week for the family. This reading would include the speeches in Reconciliation Hall (home of the Repeal Association) and reports on Repeal meetings in the provinces. Also of interest were the lead articles and literary pages, including, the "Poet’s Corner." At O’Brien's request, he rang the chapel bell to summon the people and before midnight a Brigade had answered the summons.

Irish Republican Brotherhood After the failed 1848 uprising at Ballingarry he had to hide for some time, as a result of the part he had played in rousing the people of his native village to action. In the autumn of 1857, a messenger, Owen Considine arrived from New York with a message for James Stephens from members of the Emmet Monument Association, calling on him to get up an organization in Ireland. On 23 December, Stephens dispatched Joseph Denieffe to America with his reply and outlined his conditions and his requirements from the organisation in America. Denieffe returned on 17 March (St. Patrick's Day) 1858 with the acceptance of Stephens' terms and £80. That evening the Irish Republican Brotherhood commenced. Those present in Langan's, lathe-maker and timber merchant, 16 Lombard Street, for that first meeting were Stephens, Kickham, Thomas Clarke Luby, Peter Langan, Denieffe and Garrett O'Shaughnessy. Later it would include members of the Phoenix National and Literary Society, which was formed in 1856 by Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa in Skibbereen.

Irish People

In mid-1863, Stephens informed his colleagues he wished to start a newspaper, with financial aid from O’Mahony and the Fenian Brotherhood in America. The offices were established at 12 Parliament Street, almost at the gates of Dublin Castle. The first number of The Irish People appeared on 28 November 1863. The staff of the paper along with Kickham were Luby and Denis Dowling Mulcahy as the editorial staff. O’Donovan Rossa and James O’Connor had charge of the business office, with John Haltigan being the printer. John O'Leary was brought from London to take charge in the role of Editor. Shortly after the establishment of the paper, Stephens departed on an America tour, and to attend to organizational matters. Before leaving, he entrusted to Luby a document containing secret resolutions on the Committee of Organization or Executive of the IRB. Though Luby intimated its existence to O’Leary, he did not inform Kickham as there seemed no necessity. This document would later form the basis of the prosecution against the staff of the Irish People. The document read:

Kickham's first contribution to The Irish People appeared in the third number titled, “Leaves from a Journal,” based on a journal kept by Kickham on his way to America in 1863. This article left no doubt as to his literary capacity according to O’Leary. The third edition also saw the last article by Stephens titled "Felon-setting", a much-used phrase now to the Irish political vocabulary. It would fall to Kickham, as a good Catholic, to tackle the priests, though not exclusively with articles such as "Two Sets of Principles", a rebuff to the doctrines laid down by Lord Carlisle, and "A Retrospect", dealing with the tenant-right movement chiefly but also the events of the recent past and their bearing on the present. Kickham articulated the attitude held by the IRB in relation to priests, or more particularly in politics:

On 15 July 1865, American-made plans for a rising in Ireland were discovered when the emissary lost them at Kingstown railway station. They found their way to Dublin Castle and to Superintendent Daniel Ryan head of G Division. Ryan had an informer within the offices of The Irish People named Pierce Nagle. He supplied Ryan with an "action this year" message on its way to the IRB unit in Tipperary. With this information, Ryan raided the offices of The Irish People on Thursday 15 September, followed by the arrests of O’Leary, Luby, and O’Donovan Rossa. Kickham was caught after a month on the run. Stephens would also be caught but with the support of Fenian prison warders, John J. Breslin and Daniel Byrne was less than a fortnight in Richmond Bridewell when he vanished and escaped to France. The last number of the paper is dated 16 September 1865.

Trial and sentence On 11 November 1865, Kickham was convicted of treason and sentenced to fourteen years' penal servitude. The prisoners' refusal to disown their opposition to British rule in any way, even when facing charges of life-imprisonment, earned them the nickname of 'the bold Fenian men'. In the course of his speech from the Dock Kickham was to say:

Quoting then from Thomas Davis, Kickham continued:

The judge William Keogh, before passing sentence, asked him if he had any further remarks to make in reference to his case. Mr. Kickham briefly replied: "I believe, my lords, I have said enough already. I will only add that I am convicted for doing nothing but my duty. I have endeavoured to serve Ireland, and now I am prepared to suffer for Ireland." Then the judge with many expressions of sympathy for the prisoner, and many compliments in reference to his intellectual attainments, sentenced him to be kept in penal servitude for fourteen years.

Owing to ill-health, Kickham was released from prison on "compassionate grounds" in March 1869. Upon his release, he was made Chairman of the Supreme Council of the I.R.B. and, according to Devoy, 'the unchallenged leader' of the reorganized movement. According to Desmond Ryan, Kickham was an effective orator and chairman of meetings despite his physical handicaps. He wore an ear trumpet, and could only read when he held books or papers within a few inches of his eyes. Kickham, for many years, carried on conversations by means of the deaf and dumb alphabet. The novel centres around the land owner Sir Garrett Butler's agent, Isaac Pender, who refuses new leases to tenants. This and other injustices are received by the peasantry with restraint appropriate to contemporary respectable standards but they also illustrate a divided society. The novel also provides a contrasting vision of a harmonious community, symbolically expressed in music. James H. Murphy argues that this was the key to Knocknagow'''s popularity: "It presents Ireland both as a society riven with conflict and oppression...and as a society of harmony and celebration".

For fifty years after its publication, Knocknagow was one of the most popular books in Ireland. The young Michael Collins was once found weeping over the sufferings of the peasantry in the novel. Aodh de Blácam called Knocknagow "the national Irish novel" and claimed "Knocknagow will never die, unless the Irish nation dies".

Death and legacy

Charles Kickham was the author of three well-known stories, dealing sympathetically with Irish life and manners and the simple faith, the joys and sorrows, the quaint customs and the insuppressible humour of the peasantry. “Knocknagow,” or “The Homes of Tipperary,” one of the finest tales of peasant life ever written, suggests O’Sullivan. “Sally Cavanagh,” or “The Untenanted Graves,” a touching story illustrating the evils of landlordism and emigration; and “For the Old Land,” dealing with the fortunes of a small farmer's family, with its lights and shades. John Devoy called him "the finest intellect in the Fenian movement, either in Ireland or in America."