The Fenian Movement

The Fenians were a broad movement of IrishRadicalism which used violent tactics to achieve its ends, ultimately supporting IrishHomeRule and the like.

A Very Broad Overview

In Ireland the movement was led by JamesStephens^? (1825–1901), who founded the party organ, the Irish People, in Dublin in 1863. The movement made its chief appeal to artisans and shop assistants rather than to the agrarian population. The opposition of the Roman Catholic Church to the society doubtless kept many potential members from joining its ranks. As the movement became stronger and rumors of actual plots arose, the British government took steps to crush it. In 1865 the Irish People was suppressed and Stephens was arrested, although he escaped to America. In 1866 the Habeas Corpus Act was suspended in Ireland, and many Fenians were imprisoned. Initiative shifted to America, where a huge store of arms and money had been accumulated by the Fenians, and where many Irish-American Civil War veterans were eager to strike a blow against England. In 1867 a ship, renamed Erin's Hope, was outfitted and sailed to Ireland, but the Fenians aboard were captured in their attempt to land. In the same year there were several small-scale risings in Ireland. Repeated attempts by the revolutionists to free their imprisoned comrades by force resulted in the execution of several Fenians. Agitation continued, and terrorism was condoned by many as a result of the anger aroused by the executions. The long-range effect of the Fenian movement was to draw the attention of the English Parliament to Irish problems. The Fenian movement continued until World War I, but its influence was largely drawn off into new organizations, notably Sinn Féin, founded by Arthur Griffith, a former Fenian.

• Factmonster

Basic History

The Fenian Movement [© 1999-2004 Irelandseye.com and contributors]

IN 1848, a small group of revolutionaries known as Young Ireland launched an ill-prepared uprising which was quickly quelled. Among them were JamesStephens^? and John O'Mahony^?, who both sought refuge in Paris, a city which harboured plotters exiled from many countries. In 1853, O'Mahony sailed to America in the hope of encouraging Irish emigrants to support a new rising. Stephens returned to Ireland in 1856, tramping throughout the country to assess the people's mood. On 17 March 1858, he formed in Dublin the secret society which became known as the IrishRepublicanBrotherhood^?. Later in the year he sailed to America, where O'Mahony became leader of a new organisation called the FenianBrotherhood^?. It took its name from band of warriors led by the legendary Gaelic hero, Finn Mac Cool, and the name Fenians came to be used for the whole body of revolutionary conspirators.

The Fenian movement, which sought a revolution "sooner or never", quickly attracted thousands of young supporters. When one of the 1848 rebels, Terence Bellew McManus, died in America in 1861, his enormous funeral procession through Cork and Dublin showed how widespread was the sympathy for the Young Ireland ideas which Fenianism now embodied. However, Stephens came in conflict with other nationalist organisations which sought to end the Union by constitutional methods, and the Catholic Church was generally hostile. In 1863 his decision to found a weekly newspaper, the Irish People, was criticised by O'Mahony, who preferred secrecy.

Fenianism was strongly supported by Irish emigrants in America. Many gained military experience in the American Civil War, and when this ended in April 1865 Stephens promised an Irish rising later in the year. However, the government had been alerted by its spies, and in September the Irish People was suppressed. Stephens and his closest associates were arrested, but he escaped from prison and reached America. The government quickly took the offensive, arresting suspects and confiscating arms. Some army units, thought to include Fenian sympathisers, were moved from Ireland.

Stephens had now lost influence, and it was left to civil war veterans, notably Thomas Kelly, to instigate a rising in March 1867. It was no more effective than the 1848 fiasco. Kelly had made his headquarters in England, where Fenianism had strong support among Irish emigrants, and had earlier failed in an attack on Chester Castle to capture arms and ammunition. He and another Fenian were arrested in Manchester on 11 September. A week later, they were rescued while being taken from court to gaol. A police officer was shot dead, and three Fenians were subsequently hanged for his murder. They became known as the Manchester martyrs, and their words from the dock, "God save Ireland", were soon embodied in a popular patriotic ballad.

Other Fenian prisoners were treated more leniently, with death sentences being commuted. However, the execution of the Manchester martyrs, for what was perceived as an accidental killing, aroused great anger among Irish people at home and abroad. Equally, there was a growth of anti-lrish feeling in England, particularly in December 1867, when a number of Londoners were killed or severely injured when a Fenian bomb exploded during a rescue attempt at ClerkenwellPrison^? [See ClerkenwellBombing^?].

Almost fifty years would pass before the next rising in Ireland, and during this period the main thrust of Irish nationalism was provided by a parliamentary campaign for home rule. However, the Irish Republican Brotherhood preserved the ideal of total separation from Great Britain, and some Fenians were active in new organisations like the Land League and the Gaelic League. Of more immediate importance, though, the Fenian rising had further persuaded some British politicians that the Irish problem called for radical measures. Among them was a future prime minister, WilliamEwartGladstone.

• From G.A.Hayes-McCoy, Irish Battles: A Military History of Ireland; Martin Wallace, A Little History of Ireland. This text from Ireland's Eye.

After this period, the Fenian movement largely developed from the United States, in particular with the group ClanNaGael [properly Clan na Gael, but here ClanNaGael for wiki purposes]. The Clan was central to the development of the 1880s DynamiteWar.

The Dynamite War

The DynamiteWar of the 1880s was essentially a series of battles between agents of various IrishFenian organizations, mostly based in the United States, and the MetropolitanPolice. The Fenians hoped to do enough damage and occasion enough expense and trouble within London and elsewhere that the British government would become overtaxed and would need to retract some of its grip on Ireland itself. This would then permit a general rising to succeed in that country. At the same time, there were a great many different theories, plans, organizations, and individuals involved, and it's not possible simply to explain the whole thing with one view.

The Main Events

Organizations and People

References

• Short, K.R.M. The Dynamite War: Irish-American Bombers in Victorian Britain. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press, 1979. Excellent and extremely readable.

Organizations

• ClanNaGael
• FenianBrotherhood^? (FB)
• IrishRepublicanBrotherhood^? (IRB)

References

Apart from what's already listed, that is...

-- ChrisLehrich^? - 19 Jan 2005