|
See also:FENIANS, or FENIAN BROTHERHOOD , the name of a See also:modern Irish-See also:American revolutionary See also:secret society, founded in See also:America by See also:John O'See also:Mahony (1816–1877) in 1858. The name was 'derived from an anglicized version of fiann, feinne, the legendary See also:band of warriors in See also:Ireland led by the See also:hero Find Mac Cumaill (see FINN MAC COOL; and See also:CELT: See also:Celtic Literature: Irish); and it was given to his organization of conspirators by O'Mahony, who was a Celtic See also:scholar and had translated Keating's See also:History of Ireland in 1857. After the collapse of See also:- WILLIAM
- WILLIAM (1143-1214)
- WILLIAM (1227-1256)
- WILLIAM (1J33-1584)
- WILLIAM (A.S. Wilhelm, O. Norse Vilhidlmr; O. H. Ger. Willahelm, Willahalm, M. H. Ger. Willehelm, Willehalm, Mod.Ger. Wilhelm; Du. Willem; O. Fr. Villalme, Mod. Fr. Guillaume; from " will," Goth. vilja, and " helm," Goth. hilms, Old Norse hidlmr, meaning
- WILLIAM (c. 1130-C. 1190)
- WILLIAM, 13TH
William See also:- SMITH
- SMITH, ADAM (1723–1790)
- SMITH, ALEXANDER (183o-1867)
- SMITH, ANDREW JACKSON (1815-1897)
- SMITH, CHARLES EMORY (1842–1908)
- SMITH, CHARLES FERGUSON (1807–1862)
- SMITH, CHARLOTTE (1749-1806)
- SMITH, COLVIN (1795—1875)
- SMITH, EDMUND KIRBY (1824-1893)
- SMITH, G
- SMITH, GEORGE (1789-1846)
- SMITH, GEORGE (184o-1876)
- SMITH, GEORGE ADAM (1856- )
- SMITH, GERRIT (1797–1874)
- SMITH, GOLDWIN (1823-191o)
- SMITH, HENRY BOYNTON (1815-1877)
- SMITH, HENRY JOHN STEPHEN (1826-1883)
- SMITH, HENRY PRESERVED (1847– )
- SMITH, JAMES (1775–1839)
- SMITH, JOHN (1579-1631)
- SMITH, JOHN RAPHAEL (1752–1812)
- SMITH, JOSEPH, JR
- SMITH, MORGAN LEWIS (1822–1874)
- SMITH, RICHARD BAIRD (1818-1861)
- SMITH, ROBERT (1689-1768)
- SMITH, SIR HENRY GEORGE WAKELYN
- SMITH, SIR THOMAS (1513-1577)
- SMITH, SIR WILLIAM (1813-1893)
- SMITH, SIR WILLIAM SIDNEY (1764-1840)
- SMITH, SYDNEY (1771-1845)
- SMITH, THOMAS SOUTHWOOD (1788-1861)
- SMITH, WILLIAM (1769-1839)
- SMITH, WILLIAM (c. 1730-1819)
- SMITH, WILLIAM (fl. 1596)
- SMITH, WILLIAM FARRAR (1824—1903)
- SMITH, WILLIAM HENRY (1808—1872)
- SMITH, WILLIAM HENRY (1825—1891)
- SMITH, WILLIAM ROBERTSON (1846-'894)
Smith O'Brien's attempted rising in 1848, O'Mahony, who was concerned in it, escaped abroad, and since 1852 had been living in New See also:York. See also:- JAMES
- JAMES (Gr. 'IlrKw,l3or, the Heb. Ya`akob or Jacob)
- JAMES (JAMES FRANCIS EDWARD STUART) (1688-1766)
- JAMES, 2ND EARL OF DOUGLAS AND MAR(c. 1358–1388)
- JAMES, DAVID (1839-1893)
- JAMES, EPISTLE OF
- JAMES, GEORGE PAYNE RAINSFOP
- JAMES, HENRY (1843— )
- JAMES, JOHN ANGELL (1785-1859)
- JAMES, THOMAS (c. 1573–1629)
- JAMES, WILLIAM (1842–1910)
- JAMES, WILLIAM (d. 1827)
James See also:Stephens, another of the "men of 1848," had established himself in See also:Paris, and was in See also:correspondence with O'Mahony and other disaffected Irishmen at See also:home and abroad. A See also:club called the See also:Phoenix See also:National and See also:Literary Society, with See also:Jeremiah See also:Donovan (afterwards known as O'Donovan Rossa) among its more prominent members, had recently been formed at See also:Skibbereen; and under the See also:influence of Stephens, who visited it in May 1858, it became the centre of preparations for armed See also:rebellion. About the same See also:- TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
- TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
- TIME, STANDARD
time O'Mahony in the See also:United States established the " Fenian Brotherhood," whose members See also:bound themselves by an See also:oath of " See also:allegiance to the Irish See also:Republic, now virtually established," and swore to take up arms when called upon and to yield implicit obedience to the commands of their See also:superior See also:officers. The See also:object of Stephens, O'Mahony and other leaders of the See also:movement was to See also:form a See also:great See also:league of Irishmen in all parts of the See also:world against See also:British See also:rule in Ireland. The organization was modelled on that of the See also:French See also:Jacobins at the Revolution; there was a " See also:Committee of Public Safety " in Paris, with a number of subsidiary committees, and affiliated clubs; its operations were conducted secretly by unknown and irresponsible leaders; and it had ramifications in every See also:part of the world, the " Fenians," as they soon came to be generally called, being found in See also:Australia, See also:South America, See also:Canada, and above all in the United States, as well as in the large centres of See also:population in Great See also:Britain such as See also:London, See also:Manchester and See also:Glasgow. It is, however, noteworthy that Fenianism never gained much hold on the See also:tenant-farmers or agricultural labourers in Ireland, although the scurrilous See also:press by which it
was supported preached a See also:savage See also:vendetta against the See also:land-owners, who were to be shot down " as we shoot robbers and rats."' The movement was denounced by the priests of the See also:Catholic See also:- CHURCH
- CHURCH (according to most authorities derived from the Gr. Kvpcaxov [&wµa], " the Lord's [house]," and common to many Teutonic, Slavonic and other languages under various forms—Scottish kirk, Ger. Kirche, Swed. kirka, Dan. kirke, Russ. tserkov, Buig. cerk
- CHURCH, FREDERICK EDWIN (1826-1900)
- CHURCH, GEORGE EARL (1835–1910)
- CHURCH, RICHARD WILLIAM (1815–189o)
- CHURCH, SIR RICHARD (1784–1873)
Church.
It was, however, some few years after the See also:foundation of the Fenian Brotherhood before it made much headway, or at all events before much was heard of it outside the organization itself, though it is probable that large See also:numbers of recruits had enrolled themselves in its " circles." The Phoenix Club See also:conspiracy in See also:Kerry was easily crushed by the See also:government, who had accurate knowledge from an informer of what was going on. Some twenty ringleaders were put on trial, including Donovan, and when they pleaded guilty were, with a single exception, treated with conspicuous leniency. But after a See also:convention held at See also:Chicago under O'Mahony's See also:presidency in See also:November 1863 the movement began to show signs of See also:life. About the same time the Irish See also:People, a revolutionary See also:journal of extreme violence, was started in See also:Dublin by Stephens, and for two years was allowed without molestation by the government to See also:advocate armed rebellion, and to See also:appeal for aid to Irishmen who had had military training in the American See also:Civil See also:War. At the See also:close of that war in 1865 numbers of Irish who had See also:borne arms flocked to Ireland, and the plans for a rising matured. The government, well served as usual by informers, now took See also:action. In See also:September 1865 the Irish People was suppressed, and several of the more prominent Fenians were sentenced to terms of penal See also:servitude; Stephens, through the connivance of a See also:prison warder, escaped to See also:France. The Habeas Corpus See also:Act was suspended in the beginning of 1866, and a considerable number of persons were arrested. Stephens issued a bombastic See also:proclamation in America announcing an imminent See also:general rising in Ireland; but he was himself soon afterwards deposed by his confederates, among whom dissension had broken out. A few Irish-American officers, who landed at See also:Cork in the expectation of commanding an See also:army against See also:England, were locked up in See also:gaol; some See also:petty disturbances in See also:Limerick and Kerry were easily suppressed by the See also:police.
In the United States, however, the Fenian Brotherhood, now under the presidency of W. R. See also:Roberts, continued plotting. They raised See also:money by the issue of bonds in the name of the " Irish Republic," which were bought by the credulous in the expectation of their being honoured when Ireland should be " a nation once again." A large quantity of arms was See also:purchased, and preparations were openly made for a See also:raid into Canada, which the United States government took no steps to prevent. It was indeed believed that See also:President See also:Andrew See also:- JOHNSON, ANDREW
- JOHNSON, ANDREW (1808–1875)
- JOHNSON, BENJAMIN (c. 1665-1742)
- JOHNSON, EASTMAN (1824–1906)
- JOHNSON, REVERDY (1796–1876)
- JOHNSON, RICHARD (1573–1659 ?)
- JOHNSON, RICHARD MENTOR (1781–1850)
- JOHNSON, SAMUEL (1709-1784)
- JOHNSON, SIR THOMAS (1664-1729)
- JOHNSON, SIR WILLIAM (1715–1774)
- JOHNSON, THOMAS
Johnson was not indisposed to turn the movement to See also:account in the See also:settlement of the See also:Alabama claims. The Fenian " secretary for war " was General T. W. Sweeny (1820-1892), who temporarily (See also:Jan. 1865-Nov. 1.166) was struck off the American army See also:list. The command of the expedition was entrusted to John O'See also:Neill, who crossed the See also:Niagara See also:river at the See also:head of some 800 men on the 1st of See also:June 1866, and captured Fort See also:Erie. But large numbers of his men deserted, and at Ridgeway the Fenians were routed by a See also:battalion of See also:Canadian See also:volunteers. On the 3rd of June the remnant surrendered to the American warship " See also:Michigan "; and the tardy issue of President Johnson's proclamation enforcing the See also:laws of See also:neutrality brought the raid to an ignominious end; the prisoners were released, and the arms taken from the raiders were, according to See also:Henri Le Caron, " returned to the Fenian organization, only to be used for the same purpose some four years later." In See also:December 1867, John O'Neill became president of the Brotherhood in America, which in the following See also:year held a great convention in See also:Philadelphia attended by over 400 properly accredited delegates, while 6000 Fenian soldiers, armed and in See also:uniform, paraded the streets. At this convention a second invasion of Canada was determined upon; while the See also:news of the See also:Clerkenwell See also:explosion in London (see below) was a strong incentive to a vigorous policy. Le Caron (q.v.), who, while acting as a secret See also:agent of the See also:English government, held the position of " inspector-general of the Irish Republican Army," asserts that he " distributed fifteen thousand stands of arms and almost
1 William O'See also:Connor See also:Morris, Ireland 1798-1898, p. 195.
255
three million rounds of See also:ammunition in the care of the many trusted men stationed between See also:Ogdensburg and St Albans," in preparation for the intended raid.
It took See also:place in See also:April 1870, and proved a failure not less rapid or See also:complete than the See also:attempt of 1866. The Fenians under O'Neill's command crossed the Canadian frontier near See also:Franklin, Vt., but were dispersed by a single volley from Canadian volunteers; while O'Neill himself was promptly arrested by the United States authorities acting under the orders of President See also:- GRANT (from A.-Fr. graunter, O. Fr. greanter for creanter, popular Lat. creantare, for credentare, to entrust, Lat. credere, to believe, trust)
- GRANT, ANNE (1755-1838)
- GRANT, CHARLES (1746-1823)
- GRANT, GEORGE MONRO (1835–1902)
- GRANT, JAMES (1822–1887)
- GRANT, JAMES AUGUSTUS (1827–1892)
- GRANT, ROBERT (1814-1892)
- GRANT, SIR ALEXANDER
- GRANT, SIR FRANCIS (1803-1878)
- GRANT, SIR JAMES HOPE (1808–1895)
- GRANT, SIR PATRICK (1804-1895)
- GRANT, U
- GRANT, ULYSSES SIMPSON (1822-1885)
Grant.
Meantime in Ireland, after the suppression of the Irish People, disaffection had continued to smoulder, and during the latter part of 1866 Stephens endeavoured to raise funds in America for a fresh rising planned for the following year. A bold move on the part of the Fenian " circles " in See also:Lancashire had been concerted in co-operation with the movement in Ireland. An attack was to be made on See also:Chester, the arms stored in the See also:castle were to be seized, the See also:telegraph wires cut, the See also:rolling stock on the railway to be appropriated for transport to See also:Holyhead, where See also:shipping was to be seized and a descent made on Dublin before the authorities should have time to interfere. This See also:- SCHEME (Lat. schema, Gr. oxfjya, figure, form, from the root axe, seen in exeiv, to have, hold, to be of such shape, form, &c.)
scheme was frustrated by See also:information given to the government by the in-former John See also:Joseph See also:Corydon, one of Stephens's most trusted agents. Some insignificant outbreaks in the south and See also:west of Ireland brought " the rebellion of 1867 " to an ignominious close. Most of the ringleaders were arrested, but although some of them were sentenced to See also:death none was executed. On the 11th of September 1867, See also:Colonel See also:- THOMAS
- THOMAS (c. 1654-1720)
- THOMAS (d. 110o)
- THOMAS, ARTHUR GORING (1850-1892)
- THOMAS, CHARLES LOUIS AMBROISE (1811-1896)
- THOMAS, GEORGE (c. 1756-1802)
- THOMAS, GEORGE HENRY (1816-187o)
- THOMAS, ISAIAH (1749-1831)
- THOMAS, PIERRE (1634-1698)
- THOMAS, SIDNEY GILCHRIST (1850-1885)
- THOMAS, ST
- THOMAS, THEODORE (1835-1905)
- THOMAS, WILLIAM (d. 1554)
Thomas J. See also:Kelly, " See also:deputy central organizer of the Irish Republic," one of the most dangerous of the Fenian conspirators, was arrested in Manchester, whither he had gone from Dublin to attend a See also:council of the English " centres," together with a See also:companion, See also:Captain Deasy. A See also:plot to effect the See also:- RESCUE (in Middle Eng. rescous, from O. Fr. recousse, Low Lat. rescussa, from reexcussa,reexcutere, to shake off again, re, again, ex, off, quatere, to shake)
rescue of these prisoners was hatched by See also:Edward O'Meaher Condon with other Manchester Fenians; and on the 18th of September, while Kelly and Deasy were being conveyed through the See also:city from the See also:court-See also:house, the prison See also:van was attacked by Fenians armed with revolvers, and in the scuffle police-sergeant Brett, who was seated inside the van, was shot dead. Condon, See also:- ALLEN, BOG OF
- ALLEN, ETHAN (1739–1789)
- ALLEN, GRANT CHARLES GRANT BLAIRFINDIEI, (1848–1899)
- ALLEN, JAMES LANE (1850– )
- ALLEN, JOHN (1476–1534)
- ALLEN, or ALLEYN, THOMAS (1542-1632)
- ALLEN, WILLIAM (1532-1594)
- ALLEN, WILLIAM FRANCIS (183o-1889)
Allen, Larkin, Maguire and O'Brien, who had taken a prominent part in the rescue, were arrested. All five were sentenced to death; but Condon, who was an American See also:citizen, was respited at the See also:request of the United States government, his See also:sentence being commuted to penal servitude for life, and Maguire was granted a See also:pardon. Allen, Larkin, and O'Brien were hanged on the 23rd of November for the See also:murder of Brett. Attempts were made at the time, and have since been repeated, to show that these men were unjustly sentenced, the contention of their sympathizers being, first, that as " See also:political offenders " they should not have been treated as-See also:ordinary murderers; and, secondly, that as they had no deliberate intention to kill the police-sergeant, the shot that caused his death having been fired for the purpose of breaking open the See also:lock of the van, the See also:crime was at worst that of See also:- MANSLAUGHTER (0. Eng., mannslaeht, from mann, man, and slaeht, act of slaying, sledn, to slay, properly to smite; cf. Ger. schlagen, Schlacht, battle)
manslaughter. But even if these pleas See also:rest on a correct statement of the facts they have no legal validity, and they afford no See also:warrant for the See also:title of the " Manchester martyrs " by which these criminals are remembered among the more extreme nationalists in Ireland and America. Kelly and Deasy escaped to the United States, where the former obtained employment in the New York See also:custom-house.
In the same See also:month, November 1867, one See also:Richard See also:Burke, who had been employed by the Fenians to See also:purchase arms in See also:Birmingham, was arrested and lodged in Clerkenwell prison in London. While he was awaiting trial a See also:wall of the prison was blown down by See also:gunpowder, the explosion causing the death of twelve persons, and the See also:maiming of some See also:hundred and twenty others. This See also:outrage, for which See also:Michael See also:Barrett suffered the death See also:penalty, powerfully influenced W. E. See also:Gladstone in deciding that the See also:Protestant Church of Ireland should be disestablished as a See also:con-cession to Irish disaffection. In 1870, Michael See also:Davitt (q.v.) was sentenced to fifteen years' penal servitude for participation in the Fenian conspiracy; and before he was released on See also:ticket of leave the name Fenian had become practically obsolete, though the " Irish Republican Brotherhood " and other organizations
in Ireland and abroad carried on the same tradition and pursued the same policy in later years. In 1879, John Devoy, a member of the Fenian Brotherhood, promoted a " new departure " in America, by which the " See also:physical force party " allied itself with the " constitutional movement " under the leadership of C. S. See also:Parnell (q.v.) ; and the political conspiracy of the Fenians was combined with the agrarian revolution inaugurated by the Land League.
See William O'Connor Morris, Ireland from 1798 to 1898 (London, 1898) ; Two Centuries of Irish History, 1691-187o, edited by R. See also:Barry O'Brien (London, 1907); Henri Le Caron, Twenty-five Years in the Secret Service (London, 1892) ; See also:Patrick J. P. Tynan, The Irish National Invincibles and their Times (London, 1896); See also:Justin M'Carthy, A History of our own Times (4 vols., London, 188o). (R. J.
End of Article: FENIANS, or FENIAN BROTHERHOOD
Additional information and Comments
There are no comments yet for this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.
Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.
|
del.icio.us it!