Qualla: Peter O'Neill Crowley

Peter O'Neill Crowley: Introduction

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

He was thirty-four, a farmer's son, a teetotaller, and he carried in his family memory the story of his granduncle, Father Peter O'Neill, the priest who had been flogged for his part in the 1798 Rebellion and transported to Botany Bay. Peter O'Neill Crowley grew up on a farm in Ballymacoda knowing exactly what it cost to stand against the British Crown in Ireland. In March 1867, he did it anyway. The Fenian Rising he joined was over within weeks. The songs about him have been sung for more than a hundred and fifty years.

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Peter O'Neill Crowley: A Family Memory

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The Crowleys of Ballymacoda were ordinary County Cork farmers, but the granduncle's story had marked the family. Father Peter O'Neill had taken part in the 1798 Rebellion against British rule, been flogged for it, and transported to Botany Bay - the convict settlement in New Sout...

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Peter O'Neill Crowley: The Rising That Was Not

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

On 5 March 1867, the Irish Republican Brotherhood launched its long-planned national rising. Under Captain John McClure, O'Neill Crowley led the attack on the Killadoon coastguard station to seize its weapons. The raid succeeded. The Fenians took the weapons and marched towards K...

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Peter O'Neill Crowley: The Ambush at Kilclooney

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

They lasted twenty-six days in the wood. On 31 March 1867, British soldiers tracked them down. The fight in the woodland was sharp and uneven. O'Neill Crowley was hit; the surviving Fenians were captured and marched to Mitchelstown. He died there of his wounds, seven weeks short ...

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Peter O'Neill Crowley: His Name on the Map

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Visit any town in East Cork or its hinterland and you can find Peter O'Neill Crowley's name attached to a piece of public infrastructure. O'Neill Crowley Terrace in Mitchelstown, where he died. O'Neill Crowley Street in Youghal, the town he had hoped would rise to meet him. O'Nei...

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Peter O'Neill Crowley: The Other Song

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

He turns up in another rebel song too. "Erin's Lovely Lee" describes a meeting between two old comrades, one of whom is asked: "Could you tell where Crowley fell, his native land to free?" The reply is plain: "'Tis I can tell where Crowley fell, 'twas in Kilclooney Woods." The po...

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