ON St Patrick’s Day 1858, a small group of Irish republicans met in Lombard Street in Dublin to establish a new revolutionary organisation.
ON St Patrick’s Day 1858, a small group of Irish republicans met in Lombard Street in Dublin to establish a new revolutionary organisation.
The meeting was presided over by James Stephens, a veteran of the Young Ireland Rebellion.
Injured in that uprising, Stephens was presumed dead by the British and had spent nine years in political exile in France and America.
Returning to Ireland in 1857, he immediately began making links with old comrades and found that despite the defeat of Young Ireland, some remained ready to strike another blow for Ireland.
The organisation established by this small group of patriots, soon become known as the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB).
The IRB were not acting in isolation. Stephens and his comrades were in close communication with a network of Young Ireland political exiles based in America. Following the formation of the IRB, this group, led by John O’Mahony, launched an American based sister organisation, known as the Fenian Brotherhood. O’Mahony, a Gaelic scholar, chose the name of the organisation in honour of the ancient Fianna of Fionn Mac Cumhaill. Members of the movement on both sides of the Atlantic soon became known as
‘Fenians’ and before long that name would strike fear into the heart of the British establishment.
The Fenian movement gained a considerable boost shortly after its establishment, through the involvement of O’Donovan Rossa and his Cork based
‘Phoenix National and Literary Society’.
Officially, this group met once a week to discuss national issues, but secretly, its members also learned military drill and prepared for the next round of Ireland’s long fight for freedom.
In 1863, Stephens announced plans to launch a new republican newspaper to help spread the Fenian gospel. The driving forces behind the paper were Charles Kickham and Thomas Clarke Luby, both founding members of the IRB along with O’Donovan Rossa, Denis Dowling Mulcahy and John O’Leary. In an inspiring act of defiance
‘The Irish People’ opened its offices at 12 Parliament Street, across the road from Dublin Castle, the seat of British rule in Ireland. The first edition of the paper appeared on November 28, 1863.
By the early 1860s the Fenians had grown in strength and had established a considerable presence across Ireland. The organisation had also been successful in recruiting Irish soldiers in the British Army to secretly join the republican cause.
This task had been entrusted by Stephens to the leader of the IRB Circle in Kildare, John Devoy.
Devoy was one of the most able members of the movement and began this recruitment work in 1865. By the end of the year Devoy had recruited soldiers from every regiment of the British Army in Ireland, into the ranks of the revolutionary organisation.
The movement had grown in confidence and many believed that the time had come to act.
However, Stephens delayed the launch of an Uprising, which proved a fatal mistake.
Spies and informers acting within the organisation allowed the British to learn of plans for the Rising, and crucially about the Fenian
‘honeycombing’ of the British Army.
In September 1865
‘The Irish People’ was suppressed and many of the Fenian leaders were arrested. A revolutionary opportunity had been lost.
Despite this setback, the Fenians remained determined to strike another blow for freedom.
Over the course of the next 20 years the organisation would stage two uprisings against British rule. Although both were unsuccessful, the Fenians continued to reorganise.
By the early 20th century, the IRB had perfected the art of revolution and became a driving force behind the 1916 Rising.