Despite the rejection by the French, the lift of a Paris spring proved lasting in one respect. Meagher conceived an idea for a flag: one third green, one third orange, as a nod to the Protestant north, and a unifying white in the center. He presented it at a gathering in Dublin. On stage was a harpist—the oldest of political prisoners in Ireland—dressed in the musician’s costume that had been outlawed by the Penal Laws. The silken flag of three colors was unveiled. “I present it to my native land,” said Meagher. “And I trust that the old country will not refuse this symbol of new life from one
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