Mark F. Ryan

Mark Francis Ryan (10 November 1844 – 17 June 1940), was an Irish revolutionary, a leading Member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and author.

Mark Ryan was born in Uracly in the parish of Kilconly, a few miles from Tuam, County Galway. The eldest son of John Ryan, a native of Kilconly, and Bridget Mullahy, of Seephin, in the parish of Kilcommon, County Mayo. There were eight children, with three of the four boys, (Michael & Paddy) including Mark becoming doctors. John Ryan had farms in three different parts of Kilconly, one which was held from a landlord known as "French of Tirowen," which is near Gort. Mark was three or four, when the family were evicted, which took place during the famine years. This became one of his earliest memories, though he says he did not realise the full tragedy of this at the time.

The second farm was in Umane, land held by a landlord by the name of Dominick Jennings. The family lived here for five or six years, till the landlord died and they were again evicted. They were given shelter for a time from Mark's uncle, Michael Ryan at Bailenagittach. After some time John obtained another holding from Richard Jennings, brother of Dominick in Ironpool. The family lived here for only a few years, until they were "once more thrown on the roadside," according to Ryan. After this, John Ryan took his family and emigrated to England.

His early education was not very satisfactory. In Umane he attended school held in a barn by a teacher named Brannick. The teaching was very poor, spelling being the only subject. The instruction was given entirely in English, a strap being used to punish the boys every time Irish was spoken. The second school he attended was in Kilconly, and was held in the chapel, with the parish priests Father James Gibbons permission. The instruction here was much better and consisted of reading, writing and arithmetic, again entirely in English. The teacher was a one armed man named Mark Roche, who afterwards Ryan believed became a National School teacher.Mark would go on to attend schools at Lisaleen, the teacher being a man named Courtney, and Tubberoe were the teacher was Harry Sweeney. As with the previous schools instruction was entirely in English, though according to Ryan every child in the parish knew Irish.

The National School system at the time was strongly opposed by the Catholic Archbishop MacHale which he regarded as a proselytising agency. This view was given credence by a statement made by the first Commissioner appointed to serve on the National Board, the Protestant Archbishop of Dublin Dr. Whately who said “the education supplied by the National Board was gradually undermining the vast fabric of the Irish Roman Catholic Church.” Ryan was to comment that it was “National” only in name.

Ryan was recruited to the Irish Republican Brotherhood by Michael Davitt in 1865. He joined the Supreme Council of the IRB, was leader of the Irish National Alliance (1895) and was a founder-member of the Irish Literary Society. Ryan composed an autobiography entitled Fenian Memories. Ryan in his Forward to Fenian Memories, was to say next to his religion, Fenianism had been the greatest thing in his life.