Captain's Hill
Leixlip, Co. Kildare
Ireland
“Brothers in Arms” The remarkable story of William and James Roantree, from Leixlip, Co. Kildare by Michael Kenny
William Francis Roantree famously shook his fist at the British Empire when he made his way, aged 87, to the G.P.O. on Easter Monday 1916 to encourage the new generation of rebels in their fight for freedom. Regarded by his contemporaries like John Devoy as one of the best organisers and finest figures in the Fenian movement, Roantree was indeed one of the most colourful characters of the period. A seaman, military adventurer, Fenian organiser, prisoner and political exile, he ended his days as an employee of Dublin Corporation.
His brother U.S. Marine Sergeant, James Roantree, won the Medal of Honour during the American Civil War, for his part in the Battle of Mobile Bay.
Now for the first time the story of these two ‘Brothers in Arms’ is told in one unique, bi-lingual volume by Michael Kenny, historian and former Keeper, Art and Industry Division, at the National Museum of Ireland. The book will be launched by the Chair of the Co. Kildare Decade of Commemorations Committee, Cllr. Pádraig McEvoy, on the 100th anniversary of William Francis Roantree’s death on 20 February 1918.