The Gaelic League of Pittsburgh
Conradh na Gaeilge Craobh Bhaile Phitt
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The Gaelic League of Pittsburgh
Conradh na Gaeilge Craobh Bhaile Phitt
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Gaeilge: Aiste le Peter Gilmore...................
Daniel Morgan? Cérbh é — i ndáiríre?
Bhí clú ar Dhaniel Morgan (1736-1802) mar shaighdiúir le linn Cogadh na Saoirse i Meiriceá. Pictiúr an cheannródaí a bhí ann, fear callánach coillte cúil a stiúir aimsitheoirí ag Cath Saratoga agus Cath Cowpens le linn an cogaidh. De réir staraithe rugadh i bPennsylvania nó New Jersey é agus gurbh imircigh Breathnaigh a bhunadh. Ach de réir leabhar úr foilsithe in Éirinn, gurbh Éireannach Dónal Ó Muireagáin — agus cainteoir dúchais Gaeilge chomh maith. Is bean-rialta Dhoiminiceach Anne Patricia Morgan a scríobh an leabhar The Morgan Legacy. Rugadh Daniel Morgan i mBaile na Scríne i gContae Dhoire, dar léi. Is de shlíocht an Ghinearáil Uí Mhuireagáin í, a rugadh láimh le teach an Ghinearáil i mBaile na Scríne. De réir an tSiúr Anne, thug tráchtairí éagsúla le fios nach raibh líofacht ag an Mhuireagánach sa Bhéarla cionn is gur le Gaeilge a tógadh é. Tá orm a rá nar chuala mé an scéal roimhe seo gurbh Éireannach ó dhúchas an laoch réabhlóideach Meiriceánach siúd nó go raibh sé ina Ghaeilgeoir. De réir cosúlachta níor chuala staraithe i SAM an scéal ach oiread. Ar na mallaibh bhreathnaigh mé ar tagairtí don Mhuireagánach i leabhair staire éagsúla. De réir tromlach na staraithe rugadh Dónal dâna i Meiriceâ in aice leis an teorann idir New Jersey is Pennsylvania. Dúradh chomh maith gur mhac de bhunadh Breathnach é; de réir saineolaí amháin bhí a athair (James) ina bhainisteoir leis an Durham Iron Works cois abhann Delaware. D’imigh leis féin go Virginia mar dhéagóir tar éis troda lena athair agus d’éirgh ina fhear vaigín roimh seirbhís míleata. Tagraíonn an staraí Éireannach David Noel Doyle dó mar fear "Scotch-Irish" ach níl tagairt eile ann don ghinearál as Baile na Scríne mar Éirennach. Cóir a bheith. Cé a thugann tacaíocht don tSiúr Anne Patricia ach údar Aontachtaí. Bhreathnaigh mé chomh maith ar Land of the Free: Ulster and the American Revolution le Ronnie Hanna. (Is leabhar i sraith é seo atá foilsithe leis an Ulster Society; is ea The Easter Rebellion of 1916 le David Trimble teideal eile.) "Ultach" a thugtar ar an Mhuireagánach sa leabhar seo. Áfach, ní bhfuair mé eolas ar Dhan Morgan mar chainteoir dúchais in âit ar bith. Scéal ceilte go deimhin!
Bearla: Daniel Morgan? Who was he — really? Daniel Morgan is famous for his military role in the American Revolution. The very image of a frontiersman, he led Virginia sharpshooters in key battles such as Saratoga and Cowpens. Historians generally say he was born in Pennsylvania or New Jersey and that he was of Welsh extraction. (Morgan is usually a Welsh name, although there are Gaelic sources from Ireland and the Scottish Highlands with the same Celtic roots as the Welsh name.) A new book, recently published in Ireland, offers a dramatically different view of Morgan’s origins. According to the author, Dominican Sister Anne Patricia Morgan, General Morgan was born in Ballynascreen (Draperstown), County Derry — and was a native speaker of Irish! A retired Belfast school teacher, Sister Anne Patricia hails herself from the old Morgan homestead in County Derry. Her book, The Morgan Legacy, describes the Revolutionary hero life in Ireland and America. According to Sister Anne Patricia, various contemporary commentators said of Morgan that he did not have a good command of English — a result of his having been raised with Irish. An article in the Belfast Irish-language newspaper Lá (which this article is based on, in part) sent me running to my own bookshelf and the Carnegie Library. All the authorities I consulted agreed — Morgan was born either in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, or across the river/border in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. One authority had Morgan’s father listed as James, the manager of the Durham Iron Works outside of Philadelphia. The story goes that Morgan and his father quarreled and the teenaged Dan went off on his own to Virginia. He found work as a laborer and teamster, eventually setting himself up in business as a wagoner. In that capacity he hauled supplies on General Braddock’s ill-fated trip to Fort Duquesne. Most of the American-based stories about Morgan have him quarreling with, and striking, a British officer, which earned him hundreds of lashes. Enough to make anyone — never mind an Ulsterman — rebel. According to Sister Anne Patricia, Morgan left Ireland because of assistance he gave a priest when the Penal Laws were still very much in force. The American historians I consulted regard Morgan as American, with only the Irish historian David Noel Doyle referring to Morgan as "Scotch-Irish." Well, almost. In my personal collection is the entertaining little volume Land of the Free: Ulster and the American Revolution by Ronnie Hanna. It’s published by the Ulster Society, one of a series that includes David Trimble’s The Easter Rebellion of 1916. A seemingly unlikely source, this Unionist tract gives support to Sister Anne Patricia. In the author’s view, Morgan is most definitely "an Ulstersman." Still no word on Morgan as Irish speaker, however. I’m hopeful to get a copy of The Morgan Legacy, if not be directly in contact with the author. More to come!
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