Latest / The History of Ireland: Rebellion, Empire, and Independence — Fexingo History / The Fenian Rising of 1867: Ireland's Failed Rebellion
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about the political movements of the 19th century—O'Connell, Parnell, the Land League—but we haven't yet covered the Fenians. And they're a really interesting bridge between the older tradition of secret societies and the more modern republican movement that would eventually lead to 1916. Luna: The Fenians... that's the Irish Republican Brotherhood, right? Lucas: Exactly. The Irish Republican Brotherhood, or IRB, was founded in Dublin in 1858 by James Stephens. He'd been exiled after the 1848 rising, spent time in Paris, and came back convinced that Ireland needed a secret, oath-bound revolutionary society to overthrow British rule by force. Around the same time, John O'Mahony set up a sister organization in New York called the Fenian Brotherhood—the name comes from the Fianna, the legendary warrior band of Irish myth. Luna: So they were tapping into that ancient heroic imagery. Lucas: Absolutely. The Fenians were incredibly romantic about Irish history and mythology. But they were also practical—they raised money among Irish emigrants, smuggled weapons, and built a network of 'circles' across Ireland and among Irish soldiers in the British army. By the mid-1860s, the IRB claimed tens of thousands of members. They were planning a full-scale insurrection. Lucas: The problem was, the British authorities knew about them. The Fenians had a lot of informers, partly because the organization was so large and loose. The most famous informer was a man named Pierce Nagle, who infiltrated the IRB and passed detailed reports to Dublin Castle. So when the Fenians started stockpiling arms and drilling in the countryside, the authorities were already watching. Luna: That sounds like a recipe for disaster. Lucas: It was. The Fenian leadership was divided, too. James Stephens was cautious—he wanted to wait until they were stronger and coordinate with the American Fenians. But the American wing, led by O'Mahony, was impatient. And then there was a rival faction in the IRB itself, younger and more aggressive, who started pushing for action in 1866. Lucas: The plan that emerged was... ambitious. They decided to launch a rising in Ireland in early 1867, but they also planned a diversionary raid on Chester Castle in England to seize weapons. That raid happened on February 11, 1867—a group of Fenians gathered in Chester, but the plan leaked, and the British troops were waiting. The raid collapsed before it even started. Luna: So the Chester Castle raid was a total failure? Lucas: Complete failure. But the Fenian leadership in Ireland pressed ahead anyway. The rising was scheduled for the night of March 5–6, 1867. It was supposed to be a coordinated uprising across the country, with attacks on police barracks and military posts. But it was a disaster from the start. In many places, the Fenians didn't even show up—the weather was terrible, with heavy snow and rain, and the authorities had arrested many of the key leaders. Luna: So what actually happened? Any fighting at all? Lucas: There were a few skirmishes. The most notable was at Tallaght, south of Dublin, where a group of Fenians attacked a police barracks but were driven off. There was another at Ballyhurst, near Tipperary, where about 300 Fenians clashed with police, but again they were scattered. The biggest engagement was at Killmallock, in County Limerick, where a larger force of Fenians managed to hold their ground for a while before retreating. But overall, it was a fizzle—within a few days, the rising was over. No major battles, no captured towns, just a lot of men going home in the rain. Luna: That's almost anticlimactic after all the buildup. Lucas: It really is. But the Fenian influence didn't end there. The aftermath was actually more dramatic than the rising itself. In September 1867, two Fenian leaders, Thomas J. Kelly and Timothy Deasy, were arrested in Manchester. While being transported to prison, their supporters attacked the prison van to free them. During the rescue, a policeman was shot dead. Three Fenians—William Allen, Michael Larkin, and Michael O'Brien—were arrested, tried, and hanged for the murder. They became known as the Manchester Martyrs, and their executions caused a huge surge of sympathy for the Fenian cause. Luna: Were they actually guilty of the murder? Lucas: It's complicated. They were part of the rescue party, and the policeman was killed, but it's not clear who fired the shot. The trial was rushed, and many believed they were executed more for being Fenians than for murder. Their deaths turned them into martyrs, and the song 'God Save Ireland'—written by T.D. Sullivan—became an unofficial anthem for Irish nationalists. Funerals for Fenians became huge public demonstrations. Lucas: But the rising itself was a military failure. So why does it matter? Well, for one thing, it kept the idea of physical force republicanism alive during a period when constitutional nationalism—Parnell, Home Rule—seemed to be the way forward. The Fenians also had a huge impact on Irish-America, where they built a powerful lobby that would later support the Land League and the Easter Rising. Luna: And I suppose the IRB itself didn't disappear. It eventually became the core of the revolutionary movement that led to 1916. Lucas: Exactly. The IRB continued as a secret society within Irish nationalism. Many of the leaders of the Easter Rising—Padraig Pearse, Joseph Plunkett, Thomas Clarke—were IRB men. So the Fenian Rising of 1867 was a failure, but it planted seeds that would grow for decades. It also showed the British that Irish disaffection wasn't going away, even after the Famine and the land reforms. Luna: What about the leaders? What happened to James Stephens? Lucas: Stephens was arrested before the rising and imprisoned, but he escaped from jail in 1865—a famous escape where he climbed over the wall with the help of a guard. He fled to America, but his reputation was damaged by the rising's failure. He eventually returned to Ireland and died in 1901, a somewhat forgotten figure. John O'Mahony died in America in 1877, impoverished. The more militant wing of the Fenians, like the ones who led the aborted rising, ended up in prison or exile. Luna: So it's a story of noble failure, but failure nonetheless. Lucas: Yes, but failure that mattered. The Fenians forced the British to take Irish nationalism seriously, and they inspired a generation of young Irish people who would later take up the cause. The Manchester Martyrs, in particular, became a rallying point. Their graves in Manchester were a site of pilgrimage for decades, and their memory was invoked by later republicans like Michael Collins. Lucas: It's also worth noting that the Fenian Brotherhood in America, despite its internal divisions, pioneered a model of Irish-American fundraising and political pressure that would be crucial for the independence movement. They even attempted an invasion of Canada in 1866—the Fenian Raids—which failed but showed their reach. Luna: Wait—they tried to invade Canada? From the United States? Lucas: Yes! In 1866, Fenian veterans of the American Civil War crossed the border and attacked British military posts in Ontario and Quebec. They thought that by seizing Canadian territory, they could force Britain to trade it for Irish independence. It was crazy, but they actually fought a battle at Ridgeway, Ontario, where they defeated Canadian militia before retreating back to the US. The US government didn't support them, and eventually the raids petered out. But it's a wild chapter. Luna: I had no idea. So the Fenians were a truly transatlantic movement. Lucas: Absolutely. And that transatlantic connection is part of why the Fenian Rising—even though it failed—remains important. It showed that Irish nationalism wasn't just an Irish issue; it had a global dimension, especially in the United States. And that would only grow stronger over time. Luna: It makes you wonder what would have happened if the rising had succeeded, even a little. Lucas: Maybe not independence, but it could have forced a political settlement earlier. As it was, the Fenian failure reinforced the idea that physical force was a dead end—at least for a while. But the dream didn't die. And that's the really interesting thing about Irish history: every failed rising, every lost battle, every executed martyr seemed to feed the next generation's determination. The Fenians were no exception. Lucas: Next time, we might look at how the Fenian legacy fed into the Home Rule crisis and the rise of Sinn Féin. But for now, I think we've given the Fenians their due. Luna: Absolutely. Thanks for that—I had no idea the 1867 rising was such a pivotal moment. Lucas: Glad to share it. The Fenians are one of those groups that often get overlooked, but they kept the flame alive.