How cruel the Penal Laws are which exclude me from a fair trial with men whom I look upon as so much my inferiors.

No person knows better than you do that the domination of England is the sole and blighting curse of this country. It is the incubus that sits on our energies, stops the pulsation of the nation's heart and leaves to Ireland not gay vitality but horrid the convulsions of a troubled dream.

Whoever commits a crime strengthens his enemy.

The poor old Duke [of Wellington]! What shall I say of him? To be sure he was born in Ireland, but being born in a stable does not make a man a horse.

The altar of liberty totters when it is cemented only with blood

I will go on quietly and slowly, but I will go on firmly, and with a certainty of success.

No man was ever a good soldier but the man who goes into the battle determined to conquer, or not to come back from the battle field (cheers). No other principle makes a good soldier.