The Fenian Movement

The Struggles of Ireland: The Fenian Movement In a time of subordination, there were many a people who felt they had to fight back against the strings of inequality and unfairness. The united people would organize and spread their ideologies to the people so they would join in their beliefs. A group similar to this appeared in 1858 in Ireland with the gathering of the Fenians. The Fenian Movement was a secret society of revolutionaries that wished to gain Ireland’s independence by force (“Fenian Movement”). This revolt was led by the former leaders of the Young Ireland Uprising, John O’Mahony and James Stephens.

The Fenian Movement One has seen numerous times throughout history the dissatisfaction of the people with their government towards their laws, economy, and politics. These people want to make a change in their society, consequently leading them to take action against their government. These actions not necessarily involve the use of force, but the leaders of the Fenian Movement that started in 1848 believed that they needed to apply force to unite themselves to take action against the British government regarding the struggle of the Irish people, separate from them, and become a republic. These groups of leaders were known as the Young Ireland. The leaders of the Young Ireland Uprising in 1848 were led by John O’Mahony and James Stephens.

Work Cited Considine, Bob. It’s the Irish. New York: Doubleday and Company Inc., 1961. D’Arcy, William. The Fenian Movement in the United States 1858-1886.

The stripping of political and human rights by the Protestants and the economic burden, left on the Catholics fuelled the anger of the Native Irish. It can be argued that the Northern Ireland War was the result of Catholic hostility towards their Protestant arrivals. Throughout the history of Ireland, the Irish have been forced to defend their territory, but at times they did it in ways that was most violent. Hostility of the Catholics occurred in the massacre of the Protestant settlers during the early 1600s, which resulted in many Protestant deaths. During the war, the IRA (Irish Republican Army) also did not help their case when they began acts of terrorism on the Protestant population.

This was a long term consequence. The Irish were very angry at the execution of James Connelly and rebelled at the British. Because of this, another long term consequence was created. The British then had less trust in the Irish. Because of the lack of trust between the Irish and the British, the Irish possibly had less chance of persuading the British to release Ireland and allow Nationalists to work with the British.

Ireland, fed up with the Britain’s appalling leadership, asked for division from the United Kingdom. An obvious disagreement stirred up tension which led to multiple rebellions like Easter Rising. Continuous struggles for freedom built passion and nationalism for the Irish people. With all the past turmoil building up, Ireland commenced a war for their freedom. Although an often forgotten war, The Irish War of Independence resulted in rebellions, bloodbaths, and a major split in a nation.

The reasons for the Protestants opposing Home Rule is quite simple, if Home Rule came into place then the Protestants thought that there would be a civil war and they would be crushed by the Roman Catholics who outnumbered them nine to one outside of Ulster. Therefore the Protestants were keen to keep their allegiances with Great Britain. These people were known as the Ulster Unionists, their counterparts in Southern Ireland who were all for independence were dubbed the Irish Republican Brotherhood and were led by Tom Clarke. As the time of the passing of the Home Rule bill came closer the tension became more heated in Ireland. The opposition to the bill was focused mainly in Ulster.

As a result of the Irish having to engage in a difficult and long-fight battle for their independence from England, the people of Ireland began to cause anarchy. This anarchy was known as the Easter Uprising. The Easter Uprising started in April 1916, the day after Easter (Easter Rising) and occurred because Ireland believed the British’s government was devoting sufficient attention to the needs of the people of Ireland (“Easter Rising”). On the other hand, Britain felt the Irish weren’t worthy of becoming self-governing. The British felt superior to the Irish and thought of them as filthy people who needed to be segregated and taught how to behave properly (“Home Rule”).

Byrne, Stephen. Irish Immigration to the United States. New York: Arno Press, 1969. Ernst, Robert. Immigrant Life in New York City, 1825-1863.

From the time of their creation in 1919, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) has always been a fighting force behind the independence from Britain for all of Ireland. The IRA was an organization that was meant to help Ireland in their fight for independence and be the military support going into the future. Nevertheless, did the creation of the IRA really help Ireland in the end, or did it cause more problems than the Irish already had? Although the IRA was created to help aid Ireland in the fight for independence, their brutal tactics and their inability to compromise ultimately led to destruction and problems rather than peace for Ireland. Early on in the Irish kingdom, it was clear that Great Britain wanted to own Ireland.