Weekend Roundup

Welcome to The Weekend Roundup...hosted by Tom The Back Roads Traveler

ABC Wednesday

1. Starts with "N"
2. A Favorite
3. NUMBER - chosen by Tom

Starts with N

Naughty Neighbour by Nickel Brook.

FAVOURITE

John's favourite type of beer, dark or negra.

NUMBER

Photo was taken in Stirling Scotland.

LAST CALL

This one is all thanks to John, I couldn't believe how hard it was to find a pub/hotel/bar starting with the letter N. 

And to end the evening (and sticking with Number) we can have a Newcastle ale in the Nine Fine Irishmen Pub in New York New York Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

                                            ↘↘↘↘↘↘      

In 1848, nine fervent Irish nationalists-Thomas Francis Meagher, John Mitchel, Patrick O’Donoghue, Terence Bellew McManus, William O’Brien, Charles Gavan Duffy, John Dillon, Thomas D’Arcy McGee, and Richard O’Gorman-valiantly fought for Irish independence. They lost. Later tried, convicted and sentenced to death, the Nine Fine found themselves ripe for political martyrdom-and the British monarchy knew it.

As a result, their death sentences were commuted and most were exiled all the way to Tasmania-not a nice place to visit or live. This is where their epic tale of redemption begins.

Five of the men, Meagher, Mitchel, O’Donoghue, McManus, and O’Brien were forcefully sent to Satan’s vacationland. The sixth, Duffy-who was tried but acquitted due to lack of evidence-voluntarily made the trip to Tasmania. The other three men-Dillon, McGee and O’Gorman-escaped to America.

As I went to D'Arcy McGee High School in Montreal, I have a particular interest in him.

Thomas D'Arcy Etienne Grace Hughes McGee, (13 April 1825 – 7 April 1868) was an Irish-Canadian politician, Catholic spokesman, journalist, poet, and a Father of Canadian Confederation. The young McGee was a Catholic Irishman who opposed British rule of Ireland, and worked for a peasant revolution to overthrow British rule and secure Irish independence. He escaped arrest and fled to the United States in 1848, where he reversed his political beliefs. He became disgusted with American republicanism and democracy, and became intensely conservative in his politics and in his religious support for the Pope. He moved to Canada in 1857 and worked hard to convince the Irish Catholics to cooperate with the Protestant British (members of the church) in forming a Confederation that would make for a strong Canada in close alliance with Britain. His passion for Confederation garnered him the title: 'Canada's first nationalist'. He fought the Fenians in Canada, who were Irish Catholics that opposed the British and resembled his younger self politically. McGee succeeded in helping create the Canadian Confederation in 1867, but was assassinated by Patrick J. Whelan in 1868.