John Savage (Fenian)

John Savage (13 December 1828 – 9 October 1888) was a poet, journalist and author. He was a member of both the Young Irelanders and the Fenians.

John Savage, who was born in Dublin on 13 December 1828. As a young Art student in Dublin he was drawn into the insurrectionary movement in ‘48. On the 11 March 1848 he wrote a letter which appeared in The Nation newspaper stating: "A the period, I trust, is rapidly approaching when the skill and valour of our citizen soldiers will be put to the test, I am induced, on the part of a large number of students of the different professions, to suggest the immediate organisation in Dublin of a society on the basis of the Ecole Polytechnique of Paris." A Students’ Club was later formed as a direct result of this letter.

In April, 1848, Savage and John de Courcey Young produced a provocative publication called The Patriot, which was at once suppressed and seized by the British Government. In the same month, at a meeting of the Students’ Club, with Savage presiding, at their rooms, No. 27 Eden Quay, it was decided to appoint a subcommittee of five " to ascertain and report on the best method of the members of the Club arming themselves individually." This followed on from a proposition by Richard Dalton Williams, one of the most popular of all The Nations poets.

Savage wrote poems for the Irish Tribune, the first number of which appeared on 10 June 1848, and which was suppressed after the fifth issue. It was his association with the Irish Tribune which would become largely responsible for developing his poetic and literary’ talents. The opening stanza of his first poem, "Up! Up! Brothers All," was described as a "National Anthem of Freedom"

Up! Up! Brothers all
For Liberty dear!
From Dark Donegal
To sea-beat Cape Clear,
From Achill’s west isles
To Ben Heder’s head
A young nation smiles
Round Liberty’s bed.

Because of his activities in the School of Art, the Royal Dublin Society suggested that he could not remain a student in the Academy and on the arrest of Kevin Izod O'Doherty and Dalton Williams, the registered proprietors of the Tribune in July, Savage, in order to avoid arrest left Dublin. He went to County Tipperary in search of William Smith O'Brien and the other Irish Confederation leaders. Meeting John O'Mahony, the two organised an attack on the barracks at Portlaw, County Waterford, but were not successful and had to withdraw for want of adequate forces.

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