Joe McGarrity could just be one of the most important Irish Philadelphians that other Irish Philadelphians have never heard of. But in certain circles, McGarrity is still quite well known and revered more than 65 years after his death.

Born in Ireland's County Tyrone in 1874, he came to America as a 16-year-old. He became a wealthy businessman and a force to be reckoned with in the secret society Clan-na-Gael. His organizational and fund-raising prowess, and no small part of is personal wealth, paid for the guns and bombs employed in the effort to wrest control of his native land from the hands of the British Empire. The German Mauser rifles employed by Irish Volunteers in the Easter Rising of 1916 were placed in their hands as a result of the determined efforts of Joe McGarrity.

Following partition in May 1921, McGarrity remained an ardent "physical force" republican, determined that the fractured island nation would one day be united. He used the power of the press, too, in his campaign—in particular, the Irish Press, which he funded.

This friend and patron of Irish patriots from Pearse to DeValera to Collins remained an unrepentant, single-minded believer in the power of arms over diplomacy until his death of cancer in 1940. Yet this hard-nosed Irish patriot was also a devoted father, a devout Catholic ... and even a poet. And like so many of the Fenian lions of the time, this complex man was not wthout his flaws.

On April 23, 2006, two of McGarrity's daughters, Deirdre and Betty, joined about 40 members of Philadelphia-area republican organizations for a service commemorating the Easter Rising. Led by pipers playing patriotic tunes they marched to McGarrity's grave, where they laid wreaths, and vowed to continue the struggle. Their goal is the same as McGarrity's—nothing less than a nation once again.

We offer a photographic record of that event.

• View the photo essay
• Read the McGarrity timeline
• View a copy of McGarrity's Irish Press
• Read McGarrity's poem, "Old Days"