The wordFenian (/ˈfiːniən/) served as an umbrella term for theIrish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) and their affiliate in the United States, theFenian Brotherhood. They were secret political organisations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries dedicated to the establishment of an independentIrish Republic. In 1867, they sought to coordinateraids into Canada from the United States with arising in Ireland.[1][2] In the1916 Easter Rising and the 1919–1921Irish War of Independence, the IRB led the republican struggle.
Fenianism (Irish:Fíníneachas), according to O'Mahony, embodied two principles: firstly, that Ireland had a natural right to independence, and secondly, that this right could be won only by an armed revolution.[3] The name originated with theFianna ofIrish mythology—groups of legendary warrior-bands associated withFionn mac Cumhail. Mythological tales of the Fianna became known as theFenian Cycle.[4]
In the 1860s, opponents of Irish nationalism within the Britishpolitical establishment sometimes used the term "Fenianism" to refer to any form of mobilisation among the Irish or to those who expressed any Irish nationalist sentiments, or questioned theProtestant Ascendancy (such as by advocating for the rights oftenant farmers). The political establishment often applied the term in this sense—inaccurately—to the unrelatedTenant Right League, theIrish National Land League and theIrish Parliamentary Party, who did not advocate explicitly for an independent Irish Republic or for the use of force.[5][need quotation to verify]
James Stephens, one of the "Men of 1848" (a participant in the1848 revolt), had established himself in Paris, and was in correspondence withJohn O'Mahony in the United States and other advanced nationalists at home and abroad. This would include thePhoenix National and Literary Society, with Jeremiah O'Donovan (afterwards known asO'Donovan Rossa) among its more prominent members, which had been formed recently atSkibbereen.
Along withThomas Clarke Luby,John O'Leary andCharles Kickham he founded the Irish Republican Brotherhood on 17 March 1858 in Lombard Street,Dublin.
TheFenian Rising in 1867 proved to be a "doomed rebellion", poorly organised and with minimal public support. Most of the Irish-American officers who landed atCork, in the expectation of commanding an army against the British, were imprisoned; sporadic disturbances around the country were easily suppressed by the police,army and local militias. In the aftermath, Fenian assassination circles were active in Cork and in Dublin and were responsible for shooting two officers of theDublin Metropolitan Police on duty in October 1867.[6]
In 1882, a breakaway IRB faction calling itself theIrish National Invincibles assassinated the BritishChief Secretary for IrelandLord Frederick Cavendish and his Permanent Under-secretary (chief civil servant), in an incident known as thePhoenix Park Murders.
TheFenian Brotherhood, the Irish Republican Brotherhood's US branch, was founded by John O'Mahony andMichael Doheny, both of whom had been "out" (participating in theYoung Ireland rebellion) in 1848.[7] In the face ofnativist suspicion, it quickly established an independent existence, although it still worked to gain Irish American support for armed rebellion in Ireland. Initially, O'Mahony ran operations in the US, sending funds to Stephens and the IRB in Ireland.
In 1865, O'Mahony's leadership was challenged and the movement was split by a faction led by William B. Roberts, a wealthy New York City dry-goods merchant, more closely allied with the Democratic-Party machine. It was Roberts' faction that sponsored the plan to invade Canada and hold it hostage for the liberation of Ireland.[8] In 1867 there was a further challenge to O'Mahony from the new IRB exileDavid Bell, and his weekly theIrish Republic. In contrast to Roberts, Bell, committed to black suffrage and to Reconstruction, was allied to the Republicans and was calling a "cleansing" of the spirits of the Irish in America: "Let our people fling off the scales of bigotry and declare that all men are entitled to 'life, liberty, and happiness.'"[9]
John Devoy records that, in the course of 1866, various conferences to reunite the various factions were held. Their efforts were to electJames Stephens as president of a united organisation. Stephens had escaped the round-up of the IRB leadership in Dublin the previous year, but still promised that "The Irish flag—the flag of the Irish Republic—will float in an Irish breeze before New Year's Day, 1867." At the close of 1866, a conference of the refugees of the IRB and many of the American officers who had been in Ireland was held in New York and presided over by Stephens, at which the decision was taken that the fight should be made early in 1867. Some thousands of rifles were afterwards sent to Ireland, but arrived too late to be of any use in the Rising.[10]
In Canada,Fenian is used to designate a group of Irish radicals, a.k.a. the American branch of the Fenian Brotherhood in the 1860s. They made several attempts to invade some parts of the British colonies ofNew Brunswick (i.e.,Campobello Island) andCanada (present-daySouthern Ontario andMissisquoi County[11]), with the raids continuing after these colonies had beenconfederated. The ultimate goal of the Fenian raids was to hold Canada hostage and therefore be in a position to blackmail the United Kingdom to give Ireland its independence. Because of the invasion attempts, support or collaboration for the Fenians in Canada became very rare even among theIrish.
Francis Bernard McNamee, the man who started the Fenian movement in Montreal (and who was later suspected of being a government spy), was a case in point. In public, he proclaimed his loyalty to the queen and called for an Irish militia company to defend Canada against the Fenians. In private, he wrote that the real purpose of an Irish militia company would be to assist the Fenian invasion, adding for good measure that if the government denied his request he would raise the cry of anti-Irish Catholic discrimination and bring more of his aggrieved countrymen into the Fenian Brotherhood.[12]
A suspected Fenian,Patrick J. Whelan, was hanged inOttawa for the assassination ofIrish Canadian politicianThomas D'Arcy McGee in 1868, who had been a member of theIrish Confederation in the 1840s.
The danger posed by the Fenian raids was an important element in motivating the British North America colonies to consider a more centralised defence for mutual protection, ultimately realised throughCanadian Confederation.
The Fenians in England and the British Empire were a major threat to political stability. In the late 1860s, the IRB control centre was in Lancashire. In 1868, the Supreme Council of the IRB, the provisional government of the Irish Republic, was restructured. The four Irish provinces (Connacht, Leinster, Ulster and Munster), along with Scotland, the north and south of England and London, had representatives on the council. Later four honorary members were co-opted. The Council elected three members to the executive. The President was chairman, the Treasurer managed recruitment and finance, and the Secretary was director of operations. There were IRB Circles in every major city in England.[13]
On 23 November 1867,[14] three Fenians, William Philip Allen, Michael O'Brian, and Michael Larkin,[15] known as theManchester Martyrs, were executed inSalford for their attack on a police van to release Fenians held captive earlier that year.[16]
On 13 December 1867, the Feniansexploded a bomb in an attempt to free one of their members being held on remand at Clerkenwell Prison in London. The explosion damaged nearby houses, killed 12 people and caused 120 injuries. None of the prisoners escaped. The bombing was later described as the most infamous action carried out by the Fenians in Great Britain in the 19th century. It enraged the public, causing a backlash of hostility in Britain which undermined efforts to establishhome rule or independence for Ireland. The IRB Supreme Council condemned the bombing.[17]
The Fenians also exploded three bombs on theLondon Underground in 1883–1885 and were also believed to be responsible for a bomb on 26 April 1897 atAldersgate Street station which fatally injured two people.[18]
In 1868, an Irishman,Henry James O'Farrell, attempted to assassinate theDuke of Edinburgh, second son ofQueen Victoria, who was visiting Sydney. O'Farrell claimed to be a Fenian but was probably a lone actor. He was hanged on 21 April 1868. The Duke recovered but the attack was used by politicianHenry Parkes to wage a sectarian campaign against Catholics and people of Irish origin.[19]
Later in 1868, theHougoumont, the last convict ship to Australia, arrived in Western Australia carrying 62 Fenian prisoners convicted in England. Over the next decade, most were released and many chose to go to America. By 1876 only six remained in custody, and in that year they were freed in a daring rescue mission organised by the IRB in the United States. The shipCatalpa was sailed from New Bedford, Massachusetts, to Fremantle, Western Australia, a distance of some 12,000 miles, and took the men back to the United States. Therescue caused a worldwide sensation and sparked several ballads.[20]
In Northern Ireland,Fenian is used by some as a derogatory word for Irish Catholics;[21][22] in 2012,British National Party leaderNick Griffin was criticised by Unionists and Republicans fortweeting the term while attending anUlster Covenant event atStormont,Belfast; Griffin referred toLambeg drums, saying "thebodran [sic] can't match the lambeg, you Fenian bastards".[23][24]
The termFenian is used similarly in Scotland. During Scottishfootball matches, it is often aimed in a sectarian manner at supporters ofCeltic F.C.[25] Celtic has its roots inGlasgow's immigrant CatholicIrish population and the club has thus been associated with Irish nationalism, symbolised by the almost universal flying of the Irish Tricolour during matches. Other Scottish clubs that have Irish roots, such asHibernian andDundee United, do not tend to have the term applied to them, however.[26] The term is now firmly rooted within theOld Firm rivalry between Celtic andRangers.[27] Use of the term as a religious slur carried criminal penalties in some contexts under theOffensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012, before its repeal in January 2018.
The use ofFenian as a term of abuse has also been documented when Celtic play outside Scotland. In 2013,AFC Ajax was fined €25,000 byUEFA when its supporters displayed a banner reading "Fenian Bastards" at a match between the sides at theAmsterdam Arena on 6 November that year.[28] The term was also used in an anti-Irish banner unfurled byLazio supporters at aChampions League match against Celtic on 28 November 2023.[29]
In Australia,Fenian is used as a pejorative term for those members of theAustralian Labor Party (ALP) who haveAustralian Republican views similar to those who supportIrish unification. In a speech given at the ALP Convention inAdelaide on 15 October 2006,Michael Atkinson,Attorney-General of South Australia, spoke of those members of the ALP who wished to remove the titleQueen's Counsel and other references to the crown as "Fenians andBolsheviks". Atkinson made a further mention of Fenianism when the title of Queen's Counsel was abolished. The title of Queen's Counsel was re-instated by the South Australian government in 2019.[30]
The divide between Orange and Green has been increasingly transformed into a divide between Blue and Green
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