The 1876 Catalpa Rescue – A Fenian Breakout at the Edge of the Empire | Season 6 – Episode 36
Floats Apr 17, 2026
One of the greatest prison escapes you have likely never heard of took place from 17–19 April 1876, when Clann na nGael resolved to free six life-sentenced Fenian prisoners from a penal colony in Australia at the far edge of the British Empire. The prisoners had been convicted of treason for advocating Irish independence while serving in the British Army. One hundred and fifty years ago, their escape aboard the whaling ship Catalpa to New York became a remarkable success for the cause of Irish independence and a significant embarrassment to the British authorities.
THE FENIANS
Seven Irish Fenians had been convicted of treason: James Wilson, John Kiely, Martin Hogan, Michael Harrington, Robert Cranston, Thomas Darragh and Thomas Hassett. While this story follows the six who escaped to New York, seven men were convicted, a detail that becomes important later.
The life-sentenced men were transported to Western Australia as political prisoners aboard the Hougoumont, an 875-ton teak-built Blackwall frigate launched in 1852. The vessel is notable as the last convict ship to sail to Western Australia, departing London on October 12 1867 and arriving in Fremantle on January 9 1868, carrying 279 convicts, including 62 Irish Fenian political prisoners.
The convicts were unloaded from the Hougoumont and marched to the Convict Establishment, now known as Fremantle Prison. It was a harsh and isolated penal colony, widely regarded at the time as almost impossible to escape from. However, in April 1876 that reputation would be challenged.
**
While Dennison Trailers kindly sponsors the Ireland Made website, all filming and production costs including travel, equipment, editing software, Meta verification, music licensing and long term data storage are completely self-funded by Kevin Reid.
If you enjoy my weekly stories, please subscribe as your support will help me to continue preserving Ireland’s transport heritage.
**
BOYLE O’REILLY ESCAPE
By the late 1860s, if you were planning a breakout from a penal colony on the far side of the world, John Boyle O’Reilly was the acknowledged expert and this author believes his own journey to freedom in 1869 deserves more than a passing mention.
On February 18 1869, he escaped from the Penal Colony and sailed out of Fremantle Harbour aboard the American whaler Gazelle. After 30 days and 3,000 nautical miles at sea, the vessel reached Rodrigues Island in the Indian Ocean, where he narrowly avoided capture by British forces. A further four weeks and 4,000 nautical miles brought the ship to Crown Colony, St Helena in the South Atlantic, where O’Reilly transferred to the American vessel Sapphire.
From there, he endured another six weeks and 5,000 nautical miles to Liverpool. He then joined the Bombay as a deckhand, undertaking a final 45-day voyage of 3,500 nautical miles before arriving in Philadelphia on November 23 1869.
MAKING PLANS
In 1874, prisoner James Wilson smuggled a letter from the Fremantle Penal Colony in Australia to Boston journalist and Clan na Gael leader John Devoy, urging that a rescue of Fenians be organised. Clan na Gael was a powerful and well-resourced Irish republican organisation founded in the United States in the late 19th century and supported by Irish-American funding.
Former Fenian convict and Fremantle escapee, John Boyle O’Reilly, then living in Boston joined forces with Devoy and in planning the rescue of their Fenian comrades, they concluded that any operation at such distance would depend on stealth rather than force if it was to succeed.
In making their escape plans, Boyle O’Reilly proposed contacting a former shipmate, New Bedford Chief of Police Captain Henry C. Hathaway, for guidance on acquiring a whaleship for the rescue. The two had previously shared a stateroom aboard the Gazelle when Hathaway served as third mate. Hathaway, in turn, recommended John T. Richardson as a discreet intermediary.
THE CATALPA
On April 29 1875, Richardson’s son-in-law, Captain George Smith Anthony, sailed the 202-ton, three-masted barque Catalpa from New Bedford, Massachusetts to Boston. The ship had been built in Brooklyn, New York as a screw tug named Conqueror and was commissioned into the United States Navy on July 12 1864. In Boston, she was purchased by Clan na Gael and outfitted as a whaler. The barque’s design proved well suited to the rescue voyage, as its hybrid rigging allowed it to be handled by a smaller crew than a fully square-rigged ship while still maintaining good speed, making it ideal for the mission to Australia.
Only the captain knew the true purpose of the voyage when the Catalpa departed New Bedford, then the world’s leading whaling port, in April 1875, bound for Western Australia. To avoid raising suspicion among British observers, a token whaling voyage was undertaken. The crew later offloaded 210 barrels of oil at Fayal in the Azores in the North Atlantic before setting out on their covert rescue mission to Australia.
AGENTS ON SHORE
To manage the land-based side of the escape, John Devoy recruited and dispatched two Fenian agents, John J. Breslin and Thomas Desmond. They left the United States in September 1875 and arrived in Fremantle in November, posing as American businessmen. Their first task was to inform the prisoners that a rescue was imminent and so Breslin armed with a letter of introduction prevailed upon Sir William Cleaver Robinson, Governor of Western Australia for a tour of the Convict Establishment and while there used the opportunity to secretly alert the men that the Catalpa was on her way.
Meanwhile, Thomas Desmond secured work as a wheelwright and recruited five local Irishmen to cut the telegraph lines linking Perth and Albany on the day of the escape. Disrupting these lines would delay any warning reaching the authorities, as there was no telegraph connection to the eastern colonies at that time.
THE ESCAPE
Delayed by poor weather on the voyage from the Azores, the Catalpa fell behind schedule and, after an arduous eleven months at sea, dropped anchor in international waters off Bunbury on the Western Australian coast on March 28 1876 and waited.
The day chosen for the escape was April 17 1876. At 8:30 am, James Wilson and fellow Fenians Thomas Darragh, Martin Hogan, Michael Harrington, Thomas Hassett and Robert Cranston slipped away from a work detail and were guided by Breslin and Desmond to a small boat on the beach to take them out to the Catalpa. At the same time, the five local Irishmen recruited by Thomas Desmond cut the telegraph lines, delaying any alarm reaching the authorities.
One man, however, was left behind. A seventh Fenian, John Kiely, remained in Fremantle, as his fellow prisoners believed he had previously acted as an informer.
Appalling weather delayed the boat’s departure from the beach, forcing the men to wait for hours at risk of discovery. By the time they finally launched, news of the escape had already begun to spread, despite the telegraph lines being cut.
Despite rowing for hours, the storm prevented the Fenians from reaching the Catalpa, anchored three miles offshore, forcing them and their rescuers to spend a miserable night at sea in an open rowing boat. Reacting to news of the escape, the British authorities dispatched the 337-ton iron screw-steamer Georgette, accompanied by a police cutter carrying thirty armed men, to intercept them.
When the storm subsided, the escapees rowed with urgency and finally reached the Catalpa, which lay just beyond the three-mile Australian territorial limit. Lacking legal authority to board a foreign vessel in international waters, the pursuing officers could only watch as the men climbed aboard and disappeared below deck.
The pursuit, however, was not over. At dawn, the Georgette returned and demanded the prisoners be surrendered. Captain George Anthony stood firm, insisting he was in international waters under the protection of the U.S. flag and would not comply.
When the Georgette fired a warning shot from her deck-mounted 12-pounder, Anthony simply pointed to the Stars and Stripes and ordered sail set. Low on coal and unable to overtake a fully canvassed three-masted barque running before a freshening breeze, the Georgette eventually broke off the pursuit and turned back toward Fremantle, allowing the Catalpa to escape into the open waters of the Indian Ocean.
HEROES WELCOME
The Catalpa arrived in New York on August 19 1876, where the “Fremantle Six” were met with widespread jubilation. The escape was hailed as a major success for the cause of Irish independence and proved a significant embarrassment to the British authorities. Fremantle had been regarded as one of the most secure prisons in the world and its breach by a Fenian-led operation was seen as a serious failure.
FATE OF THE CATALPA
In recognition of the success of the mission, Clan na Gael presented the Catalpa to Captain Anthony. Aware of the humiliation caused to the British authorities, he later left the whaling trade, fearing arrest. The vessel was eventually sold and converted into a coal barge.
Marking the 150th anniversary, the flag of the Catalpa will be on display in the National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, D07 XKV4 on Saturday and Sunday 18–19 April 2026 only. Free admission.
If you have an idea for a story, please email Kevin Reid [email protected]
Sources of Information, Photo, Video & Music Credits:
All music and sound effects used in Ireland Made – Stories of Irish Transport are royalty free and are fully licensed through Epidemic Sound. Ireland Made – Stories of Irish Transport therefore holds the legal right to use this audio material within its productions under the terms of the Epidemic Sound licensing agreement.
2014 Trivia: The Catalpa rescue and Henry C. Hathaway – South Coast Today
Fake History #68 The Catalpa rescue sprang all remaining Fenian prisoners from Freemantle prison in Western Australia? – Myles Dungan website
Fenian Graves Website
Mariners Museum website
National Museum of Ireland
WIKI
