Thomas D'Arcy McGee - Carlingford Ireland
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Windsocker
N 54° 02.444 W 006° 11.148
29U E 684266 N 5991717
Thomas D'Arcy McGee was a journalist and poet as well as a politician, as a gifted speaker and strong supporter of Confederation His views regarding Irish republicanism may have resulted in his assassination in 1868.
Waymark Code: WM3B2V
Location: Ireland
Date Posted: 03/08/2008
Views: 42
Taken from Canadian Library:
Thomas D'Arcy McGee was born in Carlingford, Ireland, the son of James McGee and Dorcas Catherine Morgan. While he was still a child, the family moved to Wexford, where he received an informal education. In 1842, McGee left Ireland and travelled to North America where he joined the staff of the Boston Pilot, a Catholic newspaper. Two years later, at the age of 19, he was editor of the paper, using his position to lobby for Irish independence and the rights of Irish Catholic immigrants. He also supported the American annexation of Canada.
In 1845 McGee returned to Ireland to work at the Freeman's Journal, and later the Nation. He married Mary Teresa Caffrey at Dublin on July 13, 1847. He became involved in the Young Ireland movement and the Irish rebellion of 1848, which failed. He was forced to flee to the United States, where he continued to edit newspapers (including his own, the Nation), agitate for Irish independence, and devise projects for the betterment of Irish immigrants. When McGee's projects failed to gain support, he moved to Montréal in 1857 at the invitation of the local Irish community.
McGee's attitudes toward Canada had changed by the time he came to Montréal. He no longer supported American annexation, and in fact he urged new Irish immigrants to choose Canada over the United States. In Montréal, McGee became editor of the New Era, which he used to discuss Irish politics and the future of Canada.
McGee's work at the New Era was a springboard for his start in Canadian politics. In December of 1857, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada. He sat with the Reform government of George Brown in 1858, following it into opposition when Brown was defeated in 1861. Over the next several years, McGee tried various means of giving the reformers a wider base of support. He joined the Cabinet of the John Sandfield Macdonald government in 1862, and chaired that year's Intercolonial Railway conference at Québec City. When the railway plan fell through, McGee was dropped from Cabinet. He eventually broke with the reformers in favour of the Conservatives. When the Conservatives gained power in 1863, McGee became the minister of agriculture, immigration and statistics
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