After the American Civil War, the Fenian movement decided to attack Britain by launching a raid north into Canada in 1866, and again in 1870. If they could not capture Canada, the Fenians hoped at least to provoke an international incident between Britain and the United States; if successful, Canada could be bartered for Irish … Read more
In 1920, six years before Hollywood made the film Beau Geste, Bray and Arklow doubled for North Africa in another, less famous silent film about the French Foreign Legion made by the Celtic Cinema Company, entitled Rosaleen Dhu. Based on a story by John Denvir, the film tells the romantic tale of an exiled Fenian … Read more
Land League posters were emblazoned with bold headings straight from Lalor and Davis: ‘The Land for the People’ and ‘Ireland for the Irish’. At the bottom of most was stated ‘God Save Ireland’. Many of the posters contained revolutionary slogans and rhetoric evoking Tone and French Revolution republicanism denouncing tyranny and slavery. In the remotest … Read more
In June 1880 the Freeman’s Journal published a letter by John Devoy defending his support for the Irish National Land League. Devoy railed against nationalists who might claim that he had betrayed his principles by supporting a partnership with parliamentarians and advocacy of a cause that deviated from the cherished aim of Fenianism, the overthrow … Read more
By the mid-1860s the Fenian movement had experienced both extraordinary growth and frustrating schism. Within a few years of its founding in 1858 it had cells throughout Ireland and the Irish diaspora, with Lancashire a notable stronghold in Britain. But its founder, James Stephens, while a consummate and energetic organiser, was also a congenital conspirator … Read more