Figure 1.-- The Funeral procession for Fenian Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa drew huge crowds. Here trams came to a halt and crowds lined the streets of Dublin as the coffin passed. O’Rossa had died in America on New York's Staten Island (June 29, 1915). His body was brought back to Ireland for burial in Glasnevin Cemetery. We constantly here that it was British supression of the Easter Rebellion that turned the Irish agains them, but clearly there was real support even before the rebellion..

The Fianna was mytholoical groups of legendary warriors. It is unclear to what extent there was a suignificant historical basis. The bands were associated with Fionn mac Cumhail. These mythological tales weere popular as the Fenian Cycle and a form of early Irish litrature. 【O'Grady】 Fenian became an umbrella term for like-minded people comprising the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) in Britain and their supportive groups in the United States -- the Fenian Brotherhood. As a result of the Potato Famine and British policies in Ireland, The Irish emigated in large numbers. And most came to America. A very large and anti-British Irish community developed in America and gave considerable support to Fenian groups. While these groups are all refered to as Fenian, it should not be seen as a tightly orgazized centrally controlled group. there were many different organizations with varied ideas with leadership issues and no central control. While their motivatiions varied, there were three core ideas. First, they were secret organizations, necessary because the British Gioverment intended to maintain control of Ireland. Second, the goal was to stablish an independent Irish Republic. Hone rule was not acceptable. Third, convinced that the British would never accept Irish independence, thus there would have to be an armed rebellion. 【Ryan, p. 318.】 The British press an British politicans often used the term somewhat differently. Rather than just those seeking independence, many in Britain applied the term to any form of anti-British expression in Ireland, especially criticism of the Protestant Ascendancy. The rights of Irish tenant farmers beame a major issue. Groups like the Tenant Right League, the Irish National Land League and the Irish Parliamentary Party were not advocating for independence and the use of force. Many in Britain, however, saw the Irish agitation as an effort to change the existing social order in Britain. 【McGee, pp. 13–14.】

Sources

McGee, Owen. The IRB: The Irish Republican Brotherhood from The Land League to Sinn Féin (Four Courts Press: 2005).

O'Grady, Standish H., ed. "The Colloquy with the Ancients," Acallam na Senórach Silva Gadelica, translation and notes, (Williams and Norgate: 1892), pp. 101–265.

Ryan, Desmond. The Fenian Chief: A Biography of James Stephens (Hely Thom Ltd., Dublin, 1967).

Created: 4:54 AM 11/27/2023
Last updated: 4:55 AM 11/27/2023