Colonel Patrick Kelly

Patrick Kelly, the son of Patrick and Mary Kelly, was born in 1822 in Castlehacket at the foot of Knockma. Patrick had a younger sister Mary. At the age of 9 his father passed away and Patrick supplemented the family income by taking labouring work (Ó Domhnaill, 2016). Patrick married Elizabeth Burke, and in 1850, along with her and her two brothers, they emigrated to New York City (Loski, 2025). It is not known if Patrick and Elizabeth had children before her death in 1858. Patrick established a merchant store on Eight Street and joined the local militia and was well known amongst the Irish community in New York, with Thomas Meagher, the Young Irelander the most notable of his acquaintances (Ibid, 2025).

When the American Civil War commenced in 1861, both men already in the militia, signed up for service with the Union Army, later joining the Irish Brigade with Kelly rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel of the 88th New York Infantry, which along with the 63^rd and the 69^th New York regiments made up the new Irish Regiment (Ó Domhnaill, 2016). Kelly saw action at White Oak Swamp, Gaines’s Mill, Savage Station, Glendale, Malvern Hill and Fredericksburg where the Irish Brigade lost half of their men (Loski, 2025). After Meagher’s resignation, Kelly assumed command of the Irish Brigade by the time of the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863 (Ibid, 2025).

In early 1864, Kelly was relieved of his command and replaced by Colonel Thomas A. Smyth, with Kelly taking a regimental command, however, with Smyth killed in action at Cold Harbor, Colonel Kelly was reinstated as commander of the Irish Brigade (Ibid, 2025). During the siege of Petersburg, Virginia on 16 June 1864, Kelly led the Irish Brigade on a charge of a breastworks fortification where he was shot through the head and killed instantly (Ó Domhnaill, 2016). His funeral was held at the house of Patrick Burke, his brother-in-law, in New York City and was buried beside his wife in Calvary Cemetery, New York City (Loski, 2025).

The inscription on his gravestone reads as follows:

Killed while gallantly leading the Irish Brigade on the enemy’s works at Petersburg…Faithful to us here, we loved him to the last…mowed down by the pitiless scythe of Death, far from the green hills and loved home of his nativity…he no doubt regretted that his gushing life blood was not shed for Ireland (Ibid, 2025).

On June 16th 2014, a memorial stone to Colonel Patrick Kelly, commissioned by local historian Anna McHugh, was unveiled at Knockma by Lt. Col.Sean Cosden, US Attache, US Embassy, Dublin. (Castlehackett NS, 2014)

 

References

Ó Domhnaill, R. G. (2016) Gone the Way of Truth: Historic Graves of Galway. The History Press, Dublin

Loski, D. (2025) The Gettysburg Experience. Available online at https://www.thegettysburgexperience.com/colonelpatrickkelly Accessed 11/06/2026

Castlehackett National School – https://castlehackettns.ie/2014/06/13/colonel-patrick-kelly-memorial-on-june-16th/