This blog is by Josie Darkins, an intern studying MA Public History at Queen’s University Belfast.
Civil War General, St Clair Mulholland (1839-1910) was born in Lisburn to canal-barge owning father, Henry Mulholland (1796-1856), and merchant’s daughter, Georgina Hester Agnes Sinclaire (b.1803). His family emigrated to Philadelphia in 1850 where St Clair found a talent for painting – and for soldiership.
He had a glittering career during the Civil War, being rapidly promoted and highly decorated. He survived the Civil War despite multiple serious injuries to explore yet another one of his talents: writing. General Mulholland’s book, Story of the 116th Regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry: War of Secession, 1862-1865 documented his own experience of the war in an engaging manner while also conveying the violence and horror of the battles he survived when so many did not.
St Clair Mulholland had gained celebrity status back in Lisburn, with his exploits and promotions reported in local newspapers. In 1892, he returned to Lisburn to give a lecture entitled, ‘A two hour trip through the United Sates and the American Civil War’, at St. Joseph’s Hall, Chapel Hill. Introducing General Mulholland, Father McCashin told the large, assembled crowd that he was someone they should be proud of as he was ‘not only an Irishman, but a distinguished townsman of their own’. Mulholland expressed satisfaction at returning to his birthplace after so long overseas and voiced his happiness at seeing some friends still living in the town.
The General began his lecture with a description of the geography of the US, from its vast lakes and prairies to its sprawling cities. He also asserted that there were many notable people from Ulster who had gone on to great achievements in the America, citing A. T. Stewart (1803-1876) as one such person. Mulholland then recounted the Civil War to his listeners, told ‘in the simple yet fascinating manner which Gen. Mulholland so well knows how to do’. The Lisburn Herald also praised Mulholland for the ‘ripple of anecdote’ throughout the lecture which ‘kept the audience in humour throughout’.
Public speaking, another one of General Mulholland’s many talents!