Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa was born in 1831 in a small village called Reenascreena near Rosscarbery, County Cork. He established the Phoenix National and Literary Society, the aim of which was 'the liberation of Ireland by force of arms'. This organisation would later merge with the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), founded two years later in Dublin.

In December 1858, he was arrested and jailed without trial until July 1859. In 1865, he was charged with plotting a Fenian rising, put on trial for high treason and sentenced to penal servitude for life due to his previous convictions.

From his exiled home in New York, Rossa organised the first ever bombings by Irish Republicans of English cities in what was called the 'dynamite campaign'. Rossa is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery and a monument in St Stephen's Green, designed by Séamus Murphy, is dedicated to him.

The now famous speech delivered by Patrick Pearse at the grave of Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa, on 1st August 1915, is re-enacted by an actor dressed as Pearse in full uniform. This takes place on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays at 2.30pm as part of the General History Tour in Glasnevin Cemetery.