Fenian Raids on Canada Timothy John Deasy[1] (20 February 1839 - 18 December 1880) was an Irish survivor of the Great Famine who emigrated with his family to Massachusetts in the United States.

Timothy Deasy was born in 1839 and was therefore old enough to experience, alongside his family and community, the devastating impact of the Great Famine in Ireland, which ravaged the land between 1845 and 1852.

At the height of the famine in 1847, following the death of Timothy's younger sister Hanora, the Deasy family elected to immigrate to the United States in order to escape.

Timothy's younger brother Cornelius was likewise influenced towards Irish Nationalism, and while in the United States became involved in numerous Irish-American political and civic societies.

He attended a mass convention of the Irish Republican Brotherhood in Cincinnati, Ohio in January 1865 and in August was one of 300 delegates to be selected by the organisation to be sent to Ireland to prepare the country for a rebellion.

[2] Kelly seemed suitably impressed enough with Deasy that he elected to bring him into the "Secret Circle", a cell within the IRB dedicated to the eradication of spies, informers and traitors within the movement.

[2] On 4 November 1865 Deasy, alongside Kelly and John Devoy, was amongst a rescue party who broke the leader of the IRB, James Stephens, out of Richmond Gaol.

On 11 February 1867 Deasy and Captain McCafferty were part of a Fenian raid on Chester Castle in England, which had the objective of securing weapons for a rebellion in Ireland.

Tensions were rising amongst the Fenians as the failure to secure weapons meant that plans to launch a rebellion in Ireland by February had to be pushed back to March.

[2] Preceded by some skirmishes in February, the Fenian Rising had "properly" begun in March 1867, which Deasy sent to Millstreet in County Cork, where he was told to gather recruits and attack military and police buildings.

Kelly also made clear he wanted to move the IRB away from the Fenian Brotherhood, which he viewed as having become too divided by infighting, and towards Clan na Gael, a new organisation also based in New York City.

[2] The historical author Joseph O’Neill wrote of the situation “Deasy was Kelly’s ideal second in command, and the Fenian leader was delighted with his appointment.

Kelly and Deasy gave their names as "Mr. Wright" and "Mr. Williams" but they were eventually identified after a number of days, at which point they were charged with their involvement with the Fenian Rising.

During the scuffle, police sergeant Charles Brett, who was seated inside the van, was accidentally shot dead – the leaders of the 30-plus Fenian force called on him to open the door and he refused.

Deasy and Kelly were sheltered by the network of revolutionaries in Manchester, reputedly including Frederick Engels and his Irish partner Lizzie Burns.

The escape of the Fenian leaders and the death of a police officer caused outrage and mass embarrassment amongst the British authorities, and they turned to scapegoats for retribution.

[2] In June 1878 the end of July 1878, Deasy was a patient at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston suffering from excruciating pain caused by rheumatoid arthritis.

[6][7] He was given an elaborate funeral that was attended en masse by Lawrence's Irish community, Fenians and veterans of the Union Army, with members of the 9th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment particularly in force.

Deasy received a new green granite headstone on his grave on 23 November 1992, the dedication organized by Bob Bateman, great-grandson of Timothy’s brother Cornelius.

As a member of the Lawrence City Council and Massachusetts House of Reperesentatives, he was a man to whom the Irish looked for leadership, action and direction as a soldier, statesman, businessman.