Hardly had the
insurgents left their homes when the clear March weather gave place to
the hail and snow of mid-winter. The howling storm, edged by the frost
and hail, swept over mountain and valley, rendering life in the open air
all but impossible to man. The weather in itself would have been
sufficient to dispose of the Fenian insurgents. Jaded and exhausted they
returned to their homes, and twenty-four hours after the flag of revolt
had been unfurled the Fenian insurrection was at an end.
Amongst the Irish officers who left America to share in the expected
battle for Irish rights, a conspicuous place must be assigned Thomas F.
Burke. He was born at Fethard, county Tipperary, on the 10th of
December, 1840, and twelve years later sailed away towards the setting
sun, his parents having resolved on seeking a home in the far West. In
New York, young Burke attended the seminary established by the late
Archbishop Hughes, where he received an excellent education, after which
he was brought up to his father's trade--that of house painter. For many
years he worked steadily at his trade, contributing largely to the
support of his family. The outbreak of the war, however, acted in the
same manner on Burke's temperament as on thousands of his
fellow-countrymen.
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