Denis Cashman
| Denis Cashman | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1842 Dungarvan, County Waterford, Ireland |
| Died | January 8, 1897 (aged 54–55) Boston, Massachusetts, USA |
| Known for | Writing diary of experiences on the Hougoumont |
| Spouse(s) | Catherine Veale |
Denis Cashman (1842 – January 8, 1897) was a Fenian who was transported to Western Australia as a political prisoner and wrote of his experiences in a diary .
Cashman was enlisted as a Fenian in 1858 aged just 16. By the age of 25 he was working as a Law Clerk in Waterford when he was arrested and convicted of Fenian membership and transported to Fremantle aboard the Hougoumont.
During the journey Cashman kept a diary detailing the day-to-day activities aboard ship and proving a detailed account of the feelings of the convicts and prisoners on the ship. Cashman was also involved in the production of The Wild Goose, the onboard newspaper.
Like most of the civilian Fenians, Cashman was pardoned on the 15 May 1869. In late October 1869, Denis B. Cashman and 14 other Fenians boarded the ship Baringa and sailed from Sydney Australia to San Francisco. Cashman took the Central Pacific Railroad out of California and headed to Boston to meet up with his wife Catherine, his son William P., and good friend and fellow Fenian John Boyle O'Reilly. While in Boston, he worked in the book and publishing department, and later as the business manager of the Boston Pilot. He also worked as a top salesman of Donahoe's Magazine, and later as the superintendent of Waste Water Department in Boston.
A true Irish patriot, Denis Cashman was involved in the initial stages of planning the Catalpa rescue of 6 Fenians from Western Australia. After hatching the scheme with Thomas McCarthy Fennell, John Devoy, the well known leader of the Clan na Gael traveled to Boston to meet with John Boyle O'Reilly and Cashman. As former prisoners, the two Boston Fenians had intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the Fremantle Prison and their contributions helped lead to the success of the rescue mission.
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