Greenwood Colliery, Minooka

Greenwood Colliery, Minooka

Monday, June 11, 2012

Obituary of Professor Anthony F. O'Boyle - MInooka Schoolmaster


Death of Professor Anthony O’Boyle - A Native of Keel, Achill
Saturday, May 10, 1913

Scranton Mourns the loss of one of its most foremost citizens
A schoolmaster that gave it the spirit that made it great
Gave up the chance to become famed at sea to go to the help of his native land
A tribute from one of his many schoolboys

Scranton, PA. - April 19 – Today at noon, all that was mortal of the late Professor A.F. O’Boyle was laid to rest by the side of the ashes of his wife who preceded him nine years ago in Cathedral Cemetery.

Anthony F. O'Boyle
Sixty-three years ago there was born in the little town of Keel, Achill, a boy, and as he grew, he evinced a desire for the sea, and as a youth, his one great ambition was to be a navigator. That boy was A.F. O’Boyle, whose funeral so many of us attended this morning. The boy was sent to the Dublin University where he pursued his study in navigation and was graduated for that position. But while in Dublin and, indeed, as he advanced in life, the young man came to the conclusion that it was nobler to serve the people than the Government that enslaved them. As Emmet and other Irishman of heroic blood drifted, so did young O’Boyle.

The man, qualified to navigate the high seas for England, became a Fenian, and he went back to the town of Achill to teach and spread the cause of the Irish patriots. In this town, young O’Boyle taught school and spread Fenianism. In 1867 he came to this country with his gospel and found a position as a public school teacher in Minooka.

The young Irish school teacher was not long in this country until he made his influence felt and became a factor. He was of fine physique, of warm, red blood with an intellect that was quick and sharp, and tongue well attuned to the King’s English. Nature fortified the young man in many ways. He could stand among men and express himself. There was elegance in his attire, in his speech, and in his manner. For thirteen or fourteen years before he came, Minooka was a small mining town with little opportunity for educating the young. The teacher that now and then came to the school was just an ordinary sort of fellow with nothing strong or potent in his character. Professor O’Boyle was a different kind of teacher—something new to the town. He had a vitality that made itself manifest. He possessed a vigor that was forceful. He had a spirit—now called ginger. He was a dynamo of mental, physical and of patriotic energy. He had a manliness that stood out boldly and cowered before no self-constituted authority.