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The Irish General: the statue of Thomas Meagher

The Irish General: Thomas Meagher's statue
Posted at 10:19 AM, Mar 17, 2022
and last updated 2022-03-17 12:23:03-04

HELENA — One feature that's pretty hard to miss at the capitol in Helena is the statue of former Territorial Governor of Montana Thomas Francis Meagher, which has guarded the lawn since 1905.

A lot of statue-worthy people have come out of Montana over the years, so why immortalize Meagher?

"He was fighting for freedom for all of Montana. Not just a political party, but all of Montana," said Mike O'Connor of the Helena Chapter of the Ancient Order of Hibernians.

Freedom fighting was kind of a common theme for Meagher, first in Meagher’s native Ireland fighting against the British where he is still celebrated.

In Ireland in 1848, a group known as “Young Ireland” attempted a rebellion in the country. They were led by Meagher.

That same year Meagher was presented a tricolor, similar to the French tricolor, by a group of French women who were sympathetic to their cause. The green on the flag symbolizes Roman Catholics, the orange represents the Protestants and the white signified a lasting peace and hope for union between the two. That flag would eventually become the national flag of Ireland.

Meagher statue web extra

Meagher later immigrated to the U.S. and served as a general in the Civil War before making his way to Big Sky Country where he was thrust into the territorial governor position on two occasions.

"He wanted to do good for all of the people, and he would talk to anybody. And he had a lot of enemies, but he was willing to talk to them and I think we’ve lost that [in] this day and age," said O'Connor. "If you oppose somebody you don’t talk to them, Meagher talked to everybody."

Meagher died mysteriously near Fort Benton in 1867. Sometime in the early evening of July 1st, Meagher is said to have gone overboard a steamboat into the Missouri River. There is still much debate whether his death was an accident or foul play. His body was never recovered.

At a St. Patrick’s Day speech by fellow Irishman and Montana U.S. House Rep Martin Maginnis in 1869, Maginnis called for a statue of Meagher to be erected and the state’s large Irish population obliged.

“The people of Montana appreciated that, that there was somebody in government looking out for them,” said O'Connor.

Unveiling of the Thomas F. Meagher statue in 1905
Unveiling of the Thomas F. Meagher statue in 1905

Meagher’s famous equestrian statue on the front lawn of the Montana Capitol was created by Irish-born Chicago sculptor Charles Mulligan. It as designed as much a tribute to the many Irish immigrants who made Montana their home as it is to Meagher himself.

The Meagher Memorial Association raised $20,000 by public subscription to pay for the statue, which was dedicated on July 4, 1905, before a cheering crowd of over 1,500 people.


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