Thomas Henry Hassett (1841-1893)

Thomas Hassett was born in Doneraile, County Cork. Little is known of his early life, but we can safely assume he saw firsthand the evictions and state-imposed starvation in the “Famine” years. He was a carpenter by trade. He joined the Young Irelanders’ Phoenix Literary Society in 1859 and left Ireland to serve in the Irish Papal Brigade in 1860; he was wounded at the Battle of Perugia. Upon returning, he joined the British Army in 1861 and was sworn into the Irish Republican Brotherhood in 1864.

 Hassett was an extraordinary organizer —it is believed he swore about 270 members of his regiment into the Irish Republican Brotherhood. He wanted to organize a raid of a munitions storehouse where he had sworn in two-thirds of the guards, but this plan was turned down by the Fenian leadership who believed they were not ready for outright warfare.

When he was made aware that the British planned on arresting him for his seditious activities, he deserted his post in the Twenty-Fourth Foot Regiment and marched straight to Thames Street in Dublin, where he knew a Fenian meeting was underway. John Boyle O’Reilly recalled a tense scene when Hassett arrived at that Fenian meeting in a British uniform— “The rebels sat in council upstairs; faces grew dark, teeth were set close, and revolvers grasped when they heard the steady stamp on the stairs and the ‘round arms’ at their door.

A moment after, the door opened and the man in scarlet walked into the room; all there knew him well. With full equipment’s (sic), knapsack, rifle and bayonet, and sixty rounds of ammunition, Hassett had deserted from his post and walked straight into the ranks of rebellion… The red coat was voted to the fire, and the belt and arms were stored away with a religious hope in the coming fight for an Irish republic.” Presenting himself to John Devoy, he remarked, “Most of the fellows who desert for Ireland’s sake come to you empty-handed, but here am I, ready for work.”

Hassett was one of many Fenians arrested based on information from an informer and pleaded guilty to treason in August 1866. He served time in English prisons, where he was branded with a “D” for “deserter,” sentenced to death, which was commuted to life imprisonment and then sent to the penal colony of Fremantle, Western Australia

Contributed by the Fenian Memorial Committee of America

For additional details click on the following link

Grave Markers Installed for Two Fenian Rebels: Michael Harrington and Thomas Hassett | Irish America

Posted 09/02/2023