Saints of the Yellow Fever

In the summer of 1878, in Memphis in Tennessee,
There walked through the streets of the city a demon no eyes could see.
It brought with it desolation; full five thousand lives were cut short.
In the guise of the Yellow Fever, King Death held a gruesome court.

Nobody knew where it came from, and nothing could hold it back.
Its shadow fell further than Memphis, this plague they called “Yellow Jack”.
It ravaged through New Orleans, St. Louis, and Vicksburg, too
And twice ten thousand pitiful souls it swiftly, painfully slew.

Whoever could leave the cities had left, whoever could flee had fled,
And only the poor were left behind, to tremble among the dead.
And yet, in this Valley of Darkness, one fellowship chose to toil:
All valiant priests of the Catholic faith, and many from Erin’s Isle.

O’Brien and Fahey and Kelly, McGarvey and Mooney and Ryan,
All names of the Christian soldiers who fell on this dread battle-line.
When one had died of the deadly plague, another would take his place.
The Saints of the Yellow Fever, the infantry of God’s grace.

When all had abandoned the dying, God’s ministers still came near
To give them the precious Viaticum, their last confessions to hear,
To take from the arms of dead mothers the poor infant left all alone,
To hold a last drink to burning lips, to witness a dying groan.

In the city of Chattanooga they still speak of Patrick Ryan
From Nenagh in Tipperary, a young priest as brave a lion.
His tomb lies in the Basilica. The valiant path that he trod
Has won him the love of its people, the title of Servant of God.

So hail to the martyrs of Memphis, their brothers wherever they fell,
A beacon to burn for the ages, a breathtaking story to tell.
McGarvey and Mooney and Kelly, names bright with an unfading gloss.
The saints of the Yellow Fever, who fell at the foot of the Cross.

All of the details in this "ballad" can be found in the book Heroes and Heroines of Memphis by Father D.A. Quinn, which is freely available to read on the Internet Archive.

You can read about Fr. Patrick Ryan in many places, including my article in the Summer Special of Ireland's Own, which is in the shops as I write this.

I've long had the plan of writing a series of poems and ballads glorifying Irish Catholic history. My aspiration is for these poems to get into general circulation. So if you like this "ballad", please feel free to share it on social media or anywhere else.