The Fenian Memorial Committee of America will host are set to host a fundraiser this Saturday, April 6 at 2 pm to raise fund for a memorial for Father Patrick McCabe. 

The Fenian Memorial Committee of America has its roots in Central Falls, RI, almost two decades ago.

Its development is intertwined with the story of the voyage of the Catalpa, a whaling vessel which sailed from New Bedford, Massachusetts with the intent of rescuing a small group of Fenians who had been sentenced to a life of penal servitude in the infamous Fremantle prison in Western Australia for treason against the crown.

Six men were indeed rescued and brought to America in 1876. They eventually distributed themselves, with the help of supporters, throughout different states, including Rhode Island, where James McNally Wilson settled, lived out his life and was buried.

Read more: The Irish Fenian invasion of Canada began 152 years ago today

The grave of Father Patrick McCabe.
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The grave of Father Patrick McCabe.

Many "secret" heroes helped all of this come true, but Father Patrick McCabe was an essential one for these six men, as he had been for John Boyle O'Reilly, who had earlier escaped from the same prison.

After the Catalpa escape, McCabe had to flee Australia and eventually he found a home in the wilds of southern Minnesota tending to mainly Irish immigrant farmers.

The Fenian Memorial Committee of America has placed markers and tombstones at the graves of four of the Catalpa Six and is now raising funds to do the same for Father Patrick McCabe, of Gowna, Co. Cavan, who is buried in St. Mary's Cemetery, outside Waseca, Minnesota.

Donations gladly accepted at door OR via PayPal at http://fenianmca.org/contribute.html

All proceeds to the Fenian Memorial Committee of America for the purchase and erection of a memorial marker for Fr. Patrick McCabe of Gowna, Co.Cavan, buried in Waseca, Minnesota.

For more information contact George McLaughlin at 401-688-2463.    

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