Jalandhar, December 5
Not many people know that “My Fight for Irish Freedom”, an Irish book penned by Catherine’ Doherty, on the basis of experiences of the Irish revolutionary Dan Brien and still considered the “Bible” of North Ireland, inspired Shaheed Bhagat Singh in his formative years and he translated it into Hindi and Punjabi.
It may be a coincidence that Catherine’ Doherty was the grandmother of Mr Philip Mc Donagh, who is at present serving as Ireland’s Ambassador to India.
As Dan Brien could not write himself, the task was completed in 1920 by Catherine’ Doherty, who also authored another book, “Devalera & America”, said Mr Philip Mc Donagh during an exclusive chat with The Tribune. Mr Donagh, who was visibly moved at the very mention of his grandmother, maintained that there were many similarities between the Irish and Indian freedom struggle.
“I travelled to Calcutta and Dhaka to find those similarities,” said Mr Donagh, who also remembered the Jalandhar Cantonment mutiny by Irish soldiers led by James Daiely, who was executed by the British on November 2, 1902.
“My fight for Irish freedom”, which was written in 1921, was published in 1924. “It inspired Shaheed Bhagat Singh so much that he made up his mind to jump into the freedom struggle after reading it and even translated it into Hindi and Punjabi,” maintained Prof Jagmohan Singh, a nephew of Shaheed Bhagat Singh and son of the martyr’s sister Amar Kaur.
The book was translated first in Hindi and was published in 1925 while Shaheed Bhagat Singh was in Kanpur and was working with “Partap” newspaper. “Actually, it was based on experiences of Dan Brien during the freedom struggle, particularly, pertaining to the 1916 Easter Revolt, said Mr Jagmohan.
