“This gathering, vast in its numbers and intense in its feeling, is the most eloquent tribute to the respect he inspired, to the influence he wielded, to the fame he acquired, to the memory that he left. What can I say of his life, his achievements, of his personal virtues, to you who are his neighbors, the friends before whose edified eyes every day of his life was passed?
“I know of no life that has been fuller of achievement, more vibrant with strenuous effort and which is absolutely without stain, from the very hour, when he first raised his voice in behalf of his country to the period when he was followed to the grave by a long line of mourners who were privileged to assist at his interment. His death was mourned by hundreds of thousands of his countrymen whose cause he had served, and who had admired his virtues during his life.”
MEMORIAL TO JEFFREY ROCHE.
On May 31, 1909, a beautiful tablet was dedicated to Jeffrey Roche and the exercises in connection therewith in Holyhood cemetery, Brookline, Mass., were attended by hundreds who had known and loved the editor, poet and author. The eloquent eulogy was pronounced by Mr. Joseph Smith, one of the founders of our Society, and a devoted admirer of Mr. Roche.
The huge granite memorial was the gift of the John Boyle O’Reilly Club and bore a bronze plate with the following inscription in Gothic capitals:
Beneath This Stone Rests
All that is mortal of
James Jeffrey Roche.
Born Mountmellick, Ireland,
31st May, 1847.