Today a requiem mass was held for the famous Australian bushranger, Ned Kelly. Ned will finally be laid to rest in Greta cemetery next to his mother on Sunday, more than 130 years after his execution on November 10th, 1880. (ABC news.)
Gallows at Old Melbourne Gaol, where Ned Kelly was executed.
I was interested to hear that death threats were made to Monsignor White, the priest who was to officiate over the service. (The Age.)
It just shows that Ned’s story is still polarizing the people after all this time.
Poor old Ned is not going to lie too restfully for now; the part of Gippsland where he is to be buried is a little to close to a large bushfire for there to be much peace for him for a while yet.
Oh well, it has been over 100 years already, I think he can wait just a little longer….
Update: Here is a link to a report about the funeral on the Sunday.
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Other Ned Kelly posts I have done in the past are:
Amazing after so long that people still get so … Het up about it. I’m glad he’s finally being laid to rest.
It is, isn’t it. I can imagine that the families of the people he killed are not fans of his but it was a very long time ago, and, really, being executed for your crimes and waiting over 100 years to be reunited with your family is probably quite punishment enough.
While I can understand some people may be dismayed about this re-burial it seems ridiculous to make threats to a priest for doing his job. Maybe it would have been more sensible not to mention there would be a Christian service over the grave though considering Ned Kelly didn’t prove himself too Christian at the time.
I agree, it is ridiculous to threaten the priest when he is doing his job. Ned did come from a religious Irish family though, so I doubt burying him next to his mum would have been appropriate without the proper ceremony. I guess that many people considered themselves to be strong believers back then regardless of how badly they behaved.
Sending death threats to a priest – that has to get you some extra time in purgatory. In all seriousness, it seems rather cowardly to threaten a man of the cloth for, in effect, doing his job.
I bet that the kind of people who would send death threats over such a thing probably aren’t already on the short list at the Pearly Gates! I can’t imagine what anyone would gain in doing so either.
If they are a descendant of one of his victims surely there could be better ways of sharing their feelings with the world. If they are just a random hater well, maybe they need to find a better way to express themselves too. We all know Ned was a bad guy, but this kind of behaviour only amplifies the legend.
I’ve never been a huge Ned Kelly fan but I’ve always loved what he represents – that anit-authoritarian streak in all aussies. It’s nice to know he’s finally got a permanent resting place. Let’s just hope it doesn’t get burned out.