Chess Master Paul Morphy

Chess Master Paul Morphy

By Adrian McGrath

Paul Morphy
(Wikimedia Commons)

Born in New Orleans in 1837, his mother, Therese, was from a distinguished French Creole family. His father, Alonzo, was from Charleston, SC and had a multicultural background -- Spanish, in part, and Portuguese. But he was also Irish.

Alonzo, was a distinguished lawyer who became the Attorney General of the state of Louisiana and later served on the Louisiana Supreme Court. The son would also study law and obtain a law degree. But he is not known to history for his legal skills nor for his academic accomplishments, which were indeed excellent. He is remembered for one thing only: He was the greatest chess player in the world and arguably the greatest chess player of all time. And then he suddenly went mad.

Therese and Alonzo's son was Paul Morphy, a child prodigy and a chess genius, perhaps on the same level with the more modern-day chess genius Bobby Fischer. Or maybe greater?

Although often seen as a Creole -- an elite descendant of colonial French and Spanish heritage in old New Orleans, Morphy's Irish background could not be denied. The name “Morphy” is a variation of one of the most commonly held names in Ireland today, Murphy, derived from the Irish “Murchadha” or "Murchadh."

In ancient Irish history, Murchadh was the name of the son of the greatest High King of Ireland, Brian Boru. Both Brian and Murchadh fought at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014 AD against the invading Vikings at what is now a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. Interestingly enough, in this great battle, Murchadh and Brian were victorious, defeating the Vikings (often referred to as "Danes"). Despite this great victory, both King Brian and Murchadh died in the battle. In a sense this would be the fate of Paul Morphy too -- extraordinary success and glory and then a sudden, tragic loss.

The word "Murchadh" or Murphy or Morphy comes from two Irish words: "Muir" which means "sea" and "cath" which means "battle." So, Morphy means in the Irish Gaelic language a warrior or a "sea warrior." And indeed Paul Morphy did travel across the sea, the Atlantic Ocean, to Europe to achieve his greatest victories in London and Paris.

In Paul Morphy's case, his Irish ancestry may have also been connected to the "Wild Geese," Irish soldiers who left British occupied Ireland to join the armies of major European countries such as France or Spain. Morphy most likely had an ancestor who was an Irish soldier in the Spanish army. It is said that Paul's ancestor Michael Murphy left Ireland for Spain in 1753 and joined the Spanish army becoming an officer. Michael Murphy then changed his name to Miguel Morphy to better adjust to Spanish society. The Morphy family, over time, became prominent in the Spanish government, to some extent, and eventually went to the Caribbean -- San Domingue -- and then to the United States.

In many ways Paul Morphy had no equals. He defeated all serious competition while he traveled through America and Europe. He learned to play chess by watching his father and uncle play the game; and his parents, recognizing his talents, encouraged him to develop his chess skills while preparing for his education in law.

Morphy was educated by the Jesuits at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama. By all accounts he was an outstanding student studying mathematics and philosophy. He obtained a bachelor's degree. Later he studied law at the University of Louisiana (which became Tulane University).

Although he obtained his law degree, he did so when he was still too young to actually practice law. So, he spent his time pursuing his career in chess. In 1857 he won the American chess championship in New York defeating Louis Paulsen. In 1858 he was in London and defeated Johann Loewenthal. Morphy then went to Paris, France and defeated Adolf Anderssen, a highly respected German chess master who was considered to be the best in the world at that time. Morphy also defeated, while still in Paris, Daniel Harrwitz and Rev. John Owen, an English clergyman.

Three very noteworthy things happened during Morphy’s European tour which showed his absolute dominance. First, when Morphy was in London, the English champion Howard Staunton -- considered one of the greatest players of all time -- successfully avoided playing Morphy despite attempts to arrange a game. No one really knows why the match did not take place. Some people say Staunton greatly feared Morphy, and others speculate that Staunton was in ill health or otherwise busy. (By the way, perhaps the most traditional style of chess pieces used today are named after Staunton.)

Second, Morphy became famous for the expression in chess “a pawn and a move.” This came about because Morphy gave his opponent, Rev. John Owen, an advantage of an extra pawn and allowed him to always move first. Morphy, of course, still won. And third, Paul Morphy destroyed all the serious competition in the ”civilized world” at that time in a period of one single year -- something unheard of. He was simply sensational.

One of the most incredible acts Morphy performed in chess, besides playing blind against multiple opponents and defeating them, was known as "the Opera Game." In 1858 in Paris, France, an avid chess player named the Duke of Brunswick invited Morphy to the opera. Knowing that Morphy was an opera fan, the German duke thought this would be a good chance to play chess with him. The Duke had his own private box near the stage and always kept a chess set there. Morphy went along and agreed to play chess so long as he could watch the opera, which was his real reason for going out that night. Furthermore, a French aristocrat friend of the Duke's, Comte Isouard de Vauvenargues, would help the Duke as a partner, discussing moves and giving advice.

The scene reached the point of near comedy as Morphy attempted to watch the opera, while the Duke and the French count frantically and sometimes loudly debated what move to make and how to respond to Morphy's brilliance, while the actors and performers on the stage, being aware of the commotion in the Duke's box, tried to see what Morphy, the Duke, and the Count were doing. Morphy played white; the Duke and the Count played black. The Duke and the Count used the Philidor Defense as their opening; Morphy used the traditional P-K4, pawn to king four. Morphy sacrificed his Queen on move 16 for positional advantage and checkmated his two opponents on move 17 ... while watching the opera.

It was a stunning and spectacular performance on the chess board in an incredible setting at the opera house in Paris.

 "Opera Game" End Position, Move 17
R-Q8 mate by Morphy's white (silver) rook
despite a Queen and Knight advantage for the
Duke of Brunswick and the Comte
(Photo by Adrian McGrath)

Paul Morphy was now clearly the greatest chess master on planet Earth and maybe the greatest chess player in all of human history. It all worked like clockwork: He started playing competitive chess in 1857, becoming the finest player in America. He conquered the European world of chess in 1858. In 1859 he returned to the United States in glory!

But then, much to everyone’s surprise and dismay, Morphy proceeded to distance himself from serious competition and then abandoned competitive chess altogether. He openly rejected chess and even began to openly despise it. He attempted to practice law, but he could never make a success of it. He was able to live, luckily, from a family inheritance.

Part of his life was  disrupted, of course, by the American Civil War, 1861 to 1865. Morphy, however, traveled outside of America during the war and did not participate in it. It appears that Morphy’s main problem was mental illness.

We do not know why Paul Morphy lost his mind. We do know that he died in 1884 in New Orleans -- probably from a stroke at the young age of 47. He is buried in one of the most famous cemeteries in New Orleans, St. Louis Cemetery Number One, not far from the French Quarter where his family home was located.

He always considered himself to be an “amateur” chess player, not playing for money. He was fortunate that his family had some degree of independent wealth. But although his talents at chess were impressive in the chess world, people who did not really appreciate chess just felt this was a useless and meaningless accomplishment. Perhaps this upset him? But perhaps not? And after all being a chess genius seemed to make a person a bit odd, always lost in distant thought about chess with its countless number of possible moves, always detached from the real world, living only on a flat board of 64 squares, while dreaming of glory and destroying the opponent and fearing defeat, that your own king could be checkmated. It is enough to drive a person mad.

Bobby Fischer in 1960,
admired and studied Paul Morphy
(Wikimedia Commons)

Was Paul Morphy the greatest chess player ever? It is, of course, impossible to say. Bobby Fischer, whom some people believe was the greatest player of all time, held Morphy in very high esteem. Fischer certainly appreciated Morphy's profound contribution to chess. Fischer certainly studied the games of Morphy and analyzed them in depth, learning from them.

Surely there were other great chess players too -- many, for example, from the Soviet Union or Russia. The Communist Soviets had an obsession with being superior at chess and dominated the game for years ... until they met Bobby Fischer. And surely there will be other chess players in the future who will be called “the greatest of all time.”

But Paul Morphy was the Bobby Fischer of his day and a legend for all time. He was also a descendant of the Irish diaspora, which brought the Irish people to the distant parts of the world, leaving their marks, and the marks of their descendants’, in many different ways. In this case, the Irish diaspora left its mark producing America’s first world champion in chess ... and maybe the greatest chess master of all time.

Sources and further reading:

See the article at chess.com on Morphy’s Obituary (Charles de Maurian’s Obituary of Paul Morphy) at https://www.chess.com/blog/batgirl/charles-de-maurians-obituary-of-paul-morphy and its main article on Paul Morphy at https://www.chess.com/article/view/paul-morphy ; Wikipedia article on Paul Morphy at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Morphy ; Fischer v. Spassky by C.H.O.D Alexander, Vintage Books, 1972; The World’s Great Chess Games by Reuben Fine, Dover Publications, 1976; The photo of Paul Morphy is from Wikimedia Commons at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paul_Morphy.jpg; Wikipedia's article on the History of Chess at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chess; Wikipedia's article on the name "Murphy" at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murphy; Wikipedia's article on "the Opera Game" (Morphy vs the Duke of Brunswick) at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morphy_versus_the_Duke_of_Brunswick_and_Count_Isouard ; The photo of Bobby Fischer is from Wikimedia Commons, Bobby Fischer 1960 in Leipzig, at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bobby_Fischer_1960_in_Leipzig.jpg ; a youtube educational video which discusses Morphy's life and games by Center64.com, "The Life and Chess of Paul Morphy" by Lucas Anderson, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy6NLy7I1z8 ; also see "The Life and Chess of Paul Morphy" at http://www.edochess.ca/batgirl/morphybio1.html from a chess website called "Edo Historical Chess Ratings" at http://www.edochess.ca/index.html

PT 59: John F. Kennedy’s Other Command

PT 59
(National Park Service
United States Navy Archives)

By Adrian McGrath

"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."

John F. Kennedy from his inauguration speech, 1961

The dramatic story of survival that involved John F. Kennedy and the famous PT 109 is well known. The young man, who would one day become president of the United States, rescued his crew from almost certain death or capture by the Japanese during World War II after their boat was crushed and cut in two by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri. The story of Kennedy’s daring and courage would aid him in his campaign for president in 1960. He became the first Irish Catholic president of the United States.

The Kennedy family’s connection to Ireland is well known. His paternal great grandfather was a refugee from Ireland, coming to America in the 1840s; and on his mother’s side, the Fitzgeralds, over time, became deeply involved in Irish Catholic politics in Boston, Massachusetts. In fact, all of John F. Kennedy's grandparents were the children of Irish immigrants.

The Fitzgeralds were originally from County Limerick in the west of Ireland; in the 1840s part of the family emigrated to America. On the Kennedy side, Patrick Kennedy left Wexford, also during the Potato Famine (Great Hunger) years, and came to the United States. Both families, the Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys, settled in Boston where they had to struggle to find work and fight against anti-Irish Catholic prejudice which existed at that time. They had to start out at the bottom of the social structure, but they worked their way up. The families worked as laborers, coopers, clerks, merchants, and operated pubs or taverns. Eventually, they went into politics. (For more on JFK and Ireland, see the website for the JFK Library at https://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/John-F-Kennedy-and-Ireland.aspx .

Lt JG Kennedy, aboard PT 109, 1943
(Wikipedia) 

During World War II John Kennedy had another boat and another command besides PT 109. He acquired it like this: After a skipper lost a boat, it was customary for him to be allowed to go back home to the USA. JFK, however, requested another combat assignment after losing the PT 109; and he got command of another Motor Torpedo Boat, the PT 59.

Interestingly enough, JFK had command of three PT boats in his naval career during World War II. His first boat was PT 101 (made by Higgins) which was just for his training as a new PT skipper when he was at Melville, Rhode Island with Motor Torpedo Squadron Four and later for training in Panama in weather conditions more like the Pacific. His second boat was, of course, the PT 109. And his final boat was the PT 59.

Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron
Training Center, Portsmouth, RI, 1942
Back row, 7th from right is JFK
(Wikimedia)

This boat, the 59, was redesigned to be a gunboat, not a torpedo boat. Its torpedoes and racks were removed and more guns and artillery were added. It added two anti-aircraft guns and .30 caliber and .50 caliber machine guns for a total of two twin .50 caliber machine guns, two 40 mm cannons, and several individual .30 and .50 caliber machine guns. PT 59 had a technical name now called PTGB1 or Patrol Torpedo Gunboat 1. Its purpose was to provide firepower and to attack enemy barges which usually transported Japanese troops and military supplies in fairly shallow and narrow waters.

The Solomon Islands, where Kennedy was stationed, had a series of small and medium size islands strung out for many, many miles. The PT boats were very useful in navigating these waters, but they were only made of wood and thus highly vulnerable to enemy fire. Their main defense was speed, maneuverability, and maybe a good offense. (Get the enemy before he gets you.)

Lt. JG Kennedy, 1943
In the South Pacific
(Wikimedia)

Although Lieutenant JG Kennedy would see action for a few months in PT 59, one incident stands out and may have had a profound impact upon him physically and psychologically. This was a rescue mission where Kennedy was sent to Choiseul Island to help US Marines who were stranded on the beach and about to be overrun by enemy Japanese. He and his crew saved about 40 US Marines of the 1st Marine Parachute Regiment from almost certain death or capture. (Capture might have been a worse fate than death at that time.)

In a diversionary action in November, 1943 known as Operation Blissful, US Marines went to Choiseul Island to trick the Japanese into thinking this was a full invasion. In fact it was a decoy for the real invasion which was on Bougainville, a large island which had a vital airfield. From this airfield, the US could use medium bombers and fighter planes to attack the major Japanese base at Rabaul in the Solomon Islands.

The Marines, who were on Choiseul for about a week, would be greatly outnumbered and low on supplies especially food, but would cause so much damage as to convince the enemy they had a larger force. Indeed, the Japanese were fooled and sent reinforcements to Choiseul. This significantly assisted the American invasion of Bougainville.

Higgins boat landing craft were sent to pick up the Marines, and Kennedy’s boat was to provide firepower and cover the evacuation. The Japanese soldiers were firing small arms, machine guns, and even mortar shells at the American landing craft and at PT 59. Some of the LCVP Higgins boats were damaged or hit by enemy fire, so the PT 59, while under enemy fire and while firing its own guns at the enemy positions, came in close to shore and picked up the stranded Marines. Some of the Marines were badly injured, and tragically one seriously wounded Marine actually died in Kennedy’s bunk where the Marine was placed.

Kennedy’s boat had set out on the mission in incredible haste and was without sufficient fuel. PT 59 itself then became stranded off the beach just out of the range of enemy fire. Fortunately, another PT boat (PT 236) sent as support towed the PT 59 back to safety.

The combat at Choiseul and Kennedy’s rescue mission were depicted in the popular film called “PT 109” in which Cliff Robertson played John Kennedy. With artistic license, possibly to make the film flow easier, the PT 109 was used instead of the PT 59 in the Choiseul rescue scene. At the end of the film, however, we do see that Kennedy is reassigned to PT 59. Some of his old crew members from the shipwrecked PT 109 joined Kennedy on the PT 59.

JFK at Tulagi (near Guadalcanal) with
other PT boat officers, 1943
(Wikimedia Commons)

After the Choiseul mission, Kennedy led PT 59 on missions searching for and attacking Japanese supply and troop barges. But the strain of the difficult missions of both PT 109 and PT 59 eventually took a toll on JFK who became physically and psychologically exhausted. (He had seriously injured his back earlier during the PT 109 mission.) He was sent to a doctor who sent him to a hospital on Tulagi, the American military base near Guadalcanal. In December of 1943 he was determined to be physically disabled and sent back to the USA.

John F. Kennedy's service to his country during the war was dramatic and dangerous. It is almost a miracle that he survived the war years. But his service to the United States of America was only just beginning.

Sources and further reading:

The film “PT 109,” Warner Brothers Pictures, 1963, based on the book PT 109 by Robert Donovan; Wikipedia article on PT 59 at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_Torpedo_Boat_PT-59#Under_Kennedy.27s_command; An article from the National Archives called “Operation Blissful” by Greg Bradsher at https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2010/fall/blissful.html ; Wikipedia article on John F. Kennedy at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy; Article on Kennedy at the National Park Service at https://www.nps.gov/articles/kennedyww2.htm ; The photo of PT 59 is in pubic domain from the National Park Service article which states the photo is from the United States Navy Archives at https://www.nps.gov/articles/kennedyww2.htm ; Photo of JFK at Portsmouth, RI Training Center is in public domain at https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JFK_at_the_MTBS_Training_Center,_Oct._1942.jpg#mw-jump-to-license; Source on PT 59 at Navsource.org http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/05059.htm; Wikipedia article on Bougainville Campaign at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bougainville_Campaign#Choice_of_Bougainville; Photo of Kennedy in the South Pacific is from Wikipedia in public domain at https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lt._John_F._Kennedy_in_the_South_Pacific,_circa_1943.jpg; JFK photo at Tulagi is in public domain from wikimedia at https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JFK_and_PC_96_Officers.jpg#mw-jump-to-license; The photo of Kennedy on the PT 109 is in public domain from Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lt._John_F._Kennedy_aboard_the_PT-109.jpg; The article called John F. Kennedy and PT Boat 59 by Dr. Greg Bradsher at https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2012/09/24/john-f-kennedy-and-pt-boat-59/ ; The website for the JFK Library in Boston at https://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/John-F-Kennedy-and-Ireland.aspx .

Drogheda and the Curse of Cromwell

Drogheda and the Curse of Cromwell

By Adrian McGrath

A statue honoring a bigot and mass murderer stands next to the House of Commons in Westminster in London, England. The fact that this criminal (who was never brought to justice or even officially charged with a crime) still has a place of high regard -- standing next to the very seat of government of Britain, placed there in 1899 during the Victorian Era -- shows us why this story of mindless hatred and atrocities must be told again and again. Never forget his crimes.

Massacre at Drogheda, Ireland, 1649
(Wikipedia)

Although his brutality and war crimes occurred 400 years ago, they had a profound and lasting impact on the Irish -- especially Irish Catholics whom he hated -- and affected the history of the Irish who eventually came to America. Beyond this, the story of his prejudice and injustice should serve as a warning to people everywhere and in all times of the terrible consequences for humanity of pseudo-religious fanaticism, blatant bigotry, and hate.

And can anyone honestly answer this question: Why does this statue to Oliver Cromwell, such a morally depraved and grotesquely intolerant killer, still stand next to the very house of government often referred to as the “mother of parliaments?”

The story begins during the English Civil War when the monarchy of England was at war with the Parliament of England. In this struggle which consisted of a series of wars with many players from 1642 to 1651, the Parliamentary side prevailed. Oliver Cromwell, who began as a fairly unknown member of Parliament ended up as virtual dictator -- called Lord Protector -- of Britain.

His highly trained and well equipped fighting force, called the New Model Army, was successful in battle time and again.

Cromwell began his political/military career in response to the tragic deaths of Protestants in Ireland at the hands of some misguided Irish Catholics during the Rebellion of 1641 where about 5,000 Protestants died either directly from war or even deliberate massacre or indirectly from homelessness or starvation.  An infamous mass killing occurred in the north of Ireland at Portadown in Armagh in November of 1641. About 300 or fewer Protestant civilians were murdered, many forcibly drowned in the cold River Bann. One witness put the number at 100, however. Whatever the number, it was clearly a case of murder and an atrocity.

The Irish were rebelling against something called “The Plantation.” This was a land-grab process which King Henry VIII began, confiscating land owned by Irish Catholics and giving it to Protestants loyal to the British. The stealing of the Catholic lands continued with other English rulers including Queen Elizabeth and on and on to Oliver Cromwell. Land was given to English and later Scottish Protestants, and the Irish Catholics were driven away.

Land in those days was not merely where one lived but also was the means to survival in an agrarian or agricultural society. Land was everything.

Cromwell took the news of the deaths from the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and greatly exaggerated them to the English people, claiming that the Irish Catholics had murdered 150,000 or more. Such a claim was completely false. He then used this exaggeration as an excuse to lay waste to Catholic Ireland in his invasion of 1649 to 1650. (He, of course, did not mention the number of Irish Catholics who had been killed or who suffered under English tyranny over centuries.)

The forces opposing Cromwell in Ireland in 1649 were a mixed bag. There were rebelling Irish Catholic gentry and Irish Catholic peasants, and elite English Loyalists, who were often Catholic, who supported the British monarchy, and Protestants who were loyal to the monarchy. As the old saying goes: An enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Some of the Irish peasants would probably have even favored Cromwell’s views on protecting the rights of commoners; but his religious intolerance, racism, and brutality against the Irish would quickly change their minds.

Statue of Oliver Cromwell
Westminster, London, England
(Wikipedia)

Cromwell landed in Dublin in August of 1649 with 17,000 troops. His first great atrocity occurred at a fortress town 30 miles north of Dublin called Drogheda (pronounced by the Irish with the "g" being silent).On one side was an odd coalition of the Irish Catholic Confederation together with the English Royalists, loyal to the King. On the other side was Oliver Cromwell and his Puritan Army. (The Puritans originally wanted to “purify” Roman Catholic influences from the Church of England. Cromwell wanted to eliminate Catholicism.)

Cromwell demanded the surrender of Drogheda, but the enemy commander, a man named Sir Arthur Ashton, an English Catholic, refused. Cromwell then attacked the fortified town and conquered it believing himself to be an instrument of God. Ashton was killed along with thousands of other soldiers and civilians -- no quarter being given by Cromwell. No serious effort in distinction was made between soldier and civilian.

The historian Seumas MacManus in his authoritative work called The Story of the Irish Race says that Cromwell in effect incited his troops to atrocious violence by placing with them Puritan preachers who openly hated Catholicism. The slaughter in Drogheda went on for three days.

Cromwell himself wrote a report back to Parliament stating, referring to his soldiers,, “I forbade them to spare any that were in arms in the town.” He went on to write, “... and that night they put to the sword about two thousand men.” Cromwell added, “It has pleased God to bless our endeavor at Drogheda … I believe we put to the sword the whole number … and now give me leave to say how this work was wrought. It was set upon … by the spirit of God.” (See MacManus above, p. 425, where Cromwell is quoted.)

Crowell’s men killed some of the enemy who had laid down their arms and surrendered. Cromwell’s men sacked Catholic churches and even burned out the steeple of St. Peter’s Church.

Some prisoners were taken alive and were sent as slave labor to the Barbadoes, the British Caribbean colonies where sugar cane and other spices were grown. Some English Royalist officers were beheaded, and their heads were displayed on pikes. Reportedly, hundreds of civilians died.

Many prisoners were sent as virtual slaves to British colonies in America. Cromwell wrote a letter to John Bradshaw, president of the Council of State (the new executive branch of the English government replacing the king), recorded as September 17, 1649, and said: “I do not think that thirty of the whole number escaped with their lives, those that did are in safe custody for Barbados.” Cromwell added, addressing Parliament, “The soldiers in the other tower [a defensive position in Drogheda] were all spared and shipped likewise for the Barbados.” Some prisoners were most likely sent as slave labor to the Caribbean island called Montserrat, where Irish descendants live to this day.

Part of the reason for Cromwell’s savagery at Drogheda was his racism against the Irish, his pseudo-religious bigotry against Catholics (and even some Anglicans), and his hatred of Royalists. But there was another reason: Cromwell wanted to use the massacre as a warning to other Irish cities and fortifications to surrender quickly or become like Drogheda. Cromwell wrote the following to Parliament: “I am persuaded that this is a righteous judgment of God on these barbarous wretches … it will tend to prevent the effusion of blood for the future, which are satisfactory grounds for such actions …”

After Drogheda Cromwell went on to commit other atrocities in Wexford notably, and across Ireland. Adding to the prejudice against the Irish, wild stories were contrived that the Irish were not really human and were, in effect, animals with tails. MacManus notes in his book (see above at page 426 footnote 6) that Cromwell's soldiers stated upon capturing some of the Irish that they had tails several inches long. Of course, this was totally false and complete nonsense either the result of self-delusion or a deliberate lie to dehumanize the Irish. It is much easier to oppress and kill an enemy who is not really human.

But the destruction did not stop there. While some Irish soldiers, mainly professional soldiers, whom Cromwell could not defeat or capture were given a deal whereby they could leave Ireland and join the armies of certain foreign lands (these Irish were known as the “Wild Geese”), others were driven westward across the Shannon River to to be trapped on the least hospitable lands for agriculture in the province called Connaught (also spelled sometimes as Connacht).

 For Oliver Cromwell, the majority of the Irish could go “To Hell or Connaught.”  And that expression has gone down in infamy in Irish history. Cromwell allowed many of the Irish peasants to remain east of the Shannon to provide labor for the new conquerors. He hoped that with their Catholic Gaelic leaders gone and the Catholic clergy killed or exiled, these simple people would eventually side with him and support his interests, even converting away from Catholicism. Cromwell, of course, was wrong. The Irish -- or most of them -- remained loyal to Ireland and Catholicism and simply hated Cromwell in return.

Connaught (in green), the west of Ireland
(Wikimedia Commons/Creative Commons)

The results of this Cromwellian invasion of Ireland were many. The chief physical result was the destruction of the old Gaelic, Irish Catholic rule in Ireland. After Cromwell the power in Ireland was English and Protestant. But … Cromwell failed to eliminate the Irish or their beliefs. And although Ireland would not gain independence until the 1920’s, almost three hundred years after Cromwell, the Curse of Cromwell -- the injustices, murders, and horrors he was responsible for -- instead of suppressing the Irish to nonexistence, backfired, and simply encouraged future Irish rebels to remember and fight harder.

Much like in American history with the expression “Remember the Alamo,” the Curse of Cromwell only provided the impetus for more Irish rebellion and fighting.

Sources and further reading: TV program called “Cromwell: God’s Executioner” by The History Channel and RTE (Ireland), Michael O’Siochru, Tile Films, 2008; Book review of “God’s Executioner” by Michael O’Siochru in The Guardian newspaper, “The face that haunts Ireland’s history” by Finton O’Toole, 2008, at https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/aug/24/history; Wikipedia article on the “Siege of Drogheda” at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Drogheda#Massacre; News article called “To Hell or Barbados” Feb 18, 2009 by Independent.ie (Drogheda Independent, Ireland) http://www.independent.ie/regionals/droghedaindependent/lifestyle/to-hell-or-barbados-27131463.html ; Wikipedia article on the English Civil Wat at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Civil_War#Ireland ; Wikipedia article on Oliver Cromwell https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Cromwell ; The Story of the Irish Race by Seumas MacManus, The Devin-Adair Company, New York, 1921, esp. pp 423 to 427. Ireland: A Terrible Beauty by Jill and Leon Uris, A Bantam Book, 1976. The photo of Oliver Cromwell’s statue is from Wikimedia Commons and can be found at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oliver_Cromwell_statue_Parliament_Square.jpg;

The public domain artwork of the Massacre at Drogheda can be found at Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons) at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Massacre_at_Drogheda.jpeg; Map of Connaught (Locator Map of Connacht) is from Wikimedia Commons/ Creative Commons at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Connacht_locator_map.svg ; Wikimedia article on Portadown Massacre at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portadown_massacre

New Basin Canal of New Orleans

Irish Celtic Cross in New Orleans
New Basin Canal Monument
(Photo by Adrian McGrath)

New Basin Canal of New Orleans

By Adrian McGrath

A monument in the shape of a Celtic Cross, made from Irish marble, stands today on the West End of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. On Pontchartrain Boulevard not far from Lake Pontchartrain on the median (what is called a “neutral ground” in New Orleans), the green grey cross reminds us of a sad story that happened long, long ago. It is a story of prejudice and poverty, struggle and suffering, hope for a better life in a new land, and death. But also remembrance. On this spot between 1832 and 1838, thousands of Irish immigrants, and some German immigrants too, died working under terrible conditions to dig a canal through disease infested swamps to connect Lake Pontchartrain to the commercial area of the city of New Orleans.

The canal was called the New Basin Canal, and it lasted just over 100 years until it was filled in and covered up partly with a modern boulevard. Modern transportation systems made the canal irrelevant and even a nuisance. All memory of the Irish immigrants was in effect lost except to folklore and a few history books until the Irish Cultural Society of New Orleans erected a monument to honor the workers who perished. The laborers, who often toiled in swamps under the burning  south Louisiana sun in severe humidity, died of various diseases like cholera and yellow fever carried by mosquitoes, injuries from working with pick and shovel and bare hands, and probably malnutrition and opportunistic diseases as their food and cooking resources were totally inadequate.

Irish Celtic Cross with rock entrance
(Photo by Adrian McGrath)

But ultimately they died from prejudice because Irish Catholic immigrants were blatantly discriminated against and could only do the most difficult and dangerous jobs no one else wanted.

With the mentality of “No Irish Need Apply” prevalent, thousands of Irish came from Ireland or elsewhere in America, especially from the Philadelphia area, to work, suffer, and die in the bayous and swamps of New Orleans.

New Basin Canal, New Orleans c. 1915
(Wikimedia, public domain)

Because of its location on the Mississippi River and its proximity to a lake to its immediate north -- which is really a bay with access to the Gulf of Mexico and the open sea -- New Orleans was one of the most important ports in America in the 19th century. In fact, it was only surpassed by New York City in importance to international shipping. New Orleans was the last large port coming from the river to the Gulf, and it controlled all the traffic on the Mississippi River and its tributaries seeking access to the sea.

Plaque on the Irish Cross Monument
(Photo by Adrian McGrath)

The city was originally French, beginning in 1718, then went to Spain, then back again to France, then to the United States in 1803. Creoles, the old established class of French and Spanish origins, already had a commercial waterway which connected the city -- which then ran along the river near the Vieux Carre or French Quarter -- to the lake to the north, which in turn had access to the open sea. Bayou St. John was a natural waterway which the Creoles could use together with a small canal which connected to the bayou. Small ships, boats, and barges could use this route as an alternative to the river which was mainly for very large transport ships.

As the city grew and the Americans arrived -- who did not necessarily get along with the Creoles -- American businessmen wanted their own canal which could connect their commercial part of New Orleans to the lake.  The Anglo-Americans mainly resided in the area of the city just upriver from the Creole French Quarter across another “neutral ground” which kept the two groups of mutually-distrusting people apart. So, a new canal was needed for the industrious Americans -- the New Basin Canal. To dig this canal, a difficult and dangerous job, it was decided the labor to be used was Irish immigrants. The Irish were desperate enough to accept such work and do the job.

New Basin Canal at Lake Pontchartrain c. 1948
(From Wikimedia Commons public domain)

Slavery existed at that time in Louisiana, in the South, and in some other parts of the USA; but businessmen and slave owners feared the loss of investment if a slave were injured or perished in the work. The loss of the life of an Irish immigrant, however, was of little or no concern to them. They could always hire another for a very low wage. So, because of prejudice and job discrimination, the Irish came to New Orleans to dig the canal.

When they arrived they discovered the company store which was their source of supply had inflated prices, food supplies were totally inadequate, and medical care was in effect not available. The combination of brutally hot and humid weather most of the year, swampy conditions filled with wild animals including snakes and alligators, and most deadly of all, disease carrying mosquitoes which spread yellow fever, plus difficult and dangerous physical labor without the aid of machines resulted in the deaths of thousands of the Irish over the years of construction.

Irish Cross, New Basin Canal
(Photo by Adrian McGrath)

There was a little ditty or song that was made about the digging of the canal which is quite revealing. Only a part of it, however, now appears in the history books. But the phrase goes as follows:

“Ten thousand Micks, they swung their picks,

To dig the New Canal.

But the choleray was stronger ‘n they.

An twice it killed them awl.”

The ditty probably is not right about the exact number who died or how they died. The number of deaths was likely in the thousands (no one knows for sure), but probably not as high as 20,000. But the poem is an indication that most likely something large-scale and very tragic did occur.

The canal existed until about 1950 but gave way to modernization. All visible memory of the canal today is gone except a very small waterway near the lake. The rest is now filled-in land and paved streets. But on November 4, 1990, the Irish Cultural Society of New Orleans dedicated a monument for the Irish who died. Written at the foot of the Celtic cross  -- which is made of marble from Kilkenny Ireland -- are the following words: “In memory of the Irish immigrants who dug the New Basin Canal 1832-1838.”

Thanks to the Irish Cultural Society of New Orleans, the tragic loss of these Irish will not be forgotten.

Sources and further reading: “The Irish and the New Basin Canal of New Orleans” by Adrian McGrath, Irish Eyes newspaper, Vol.1 No 6, July 1994; How the Irish Became White by Noel Ignatiev, Routledge, 1995, esp. see p. 109; The Irish in New Orleans 1800 -1860 by Fr. Earl F. Niehaus, LSU Press, 1965; Wikipedia article on the New Basin Canal at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Basin_Canal ; My earlier article on the topic at Old NOLA Journal http://oldnolajournal.blogspot.com/2012/07/new-basin-canal-1832-1838.html ; The photo of the New Basin Canal is from 1915 from the Library of Congress and Wikimedia Commons and is in public domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page; The photo of New Basin Canal at Lake Pontchartrain is in public domain at Wikimedia Commons at
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NewBasinCanalAirView1948.jpg