Series 5 Episode 5: The Ribbon Society

I am 54 or 56 years of age.

I was born of Irish parents.

I am a Roman Catholic.

George Hughes' words are taken from his testimony at the later trial of the group, who became known as the Glasgow Dynamitards.

I cannot tell where the prisoners were born, but they go under the name of Irishman.

I've known some of them upwards of two years and some of them upwards of six months.

I've known Patrick Drumm, Patrick McCabe, Peter Callaghan and James Kelly longest.

Kelly rocked with me one time when I was working at my trade.

I've always been very good friends with them.

There was no quarrel among us.

I'm very good friends with them still.

There is no animosity between us in the least.

I took an oath that I would stand by my fellow countrymen when they got into a scrape.

I swore that by Almighty God.

I joined the society about three months before July 1882.

The society went under the name of the Ribbon Society.

The Ribbon Society Hughes had sworn an oath to was formed early in 1882.

It was an offshoot of the Fenian Brotherhood in Dublin, whose aim was to overthrow the government of the day.

Members of the society were mostly natives of Ireland or of Irish extraction, and there was involvement of a number of Irish Americans.

I was asked to join it by Peter Callaghan, one of the prisoners.

He asked me several times to join it before I agreed to do so.

He explained to me that this society would do no harm to me.

That it was like to be in friendly terms with our brethren.

So that if there was anything happened of violence which took to the government or anything of that, we required to take an oath to the effect so that we would be loyal to our brothers.

That we should take part in anything that happened and be loyal.