Rossa's Final Years

On 19 May 1894 O’Donovan Rossa left New York returning to Ireland for the first time since his trial in 1865. He was met by a huge crowd that had assembled in anticipation of his arrival in Cobh harbour. His return was stage-managed by the IRB and amongst the crowd were armed men for his protection in case an attempt was made to arrest him. He set off on a lecturing tour of Ireland and travelled throughout the country discussing his experiences in prison and unveiled a monument to Manchester martyrs in Birr, Co. Offaly on 22 July. He returned again in 1905 with his wife Mary Jane. They intended to settle in Cork but Mary Jane’s health declined and they were forced to return to New York. While his wife’s health improved, Rossa increasingly displayed a marked deterioration and was plagued with muscular spasm and degeneration. Diagnosed with chronic neuritis, he was confined to bed. In his final years he displayed signs of dementia and believed himself to be back in prison. Moved to St. Vincent’s Hospital Staten Island, he was confined to a wheelchair being ‘wheeled around the halls and wards’, where he spoke nothing but Irish and regressed into his childhood. Dying on 29 June 1915 his wife, Mary Jane recalled ‘there was no struggle. There was no pain. He simply stopped breathing and lay perfectly still with a large, conscious solemn gaze as if he saw grand visions of the future that satisfied his heart and soul.’