Mitchel, John

Related Category: British and Irish History: Biographies

1815–75, Irish revolutionist and journalist. A practicing lawyer, Mitchel contributed articles to the Nation (Dublin) and the United Irishman, which he founded in 1848, calling for rebellion against Britain. He was transported to Australia for sedition before the abortive Young Ireland revolt of 1848, which he had helped prepare, was carried out. He escaped to the United States in 1853, where he led a turbulent and contentious career as a journalist, editing the proslavery journal Citizen (1854–55) in New York City, and during the Civil War, the Richmond Enquirer. After a short imprisonment (1865) for his Confederate activities, he became acknowledged leader of the Irish-American nationalists, and as such edited the Irish Citizen. He returned to Ireland and was elected (1875) to Parliament shortly before his death. His Jail Journal (1854; new ed., with intro. by Arthur Griffith, 1945) is an Irish revolutionary classic.