The Struggles of Ireland: The Fenian Movement :: Essays Papers

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 (â€Å"Fenian Movement†). This revolt was led by the former leaders of the Young Ireland Uprising, John O’Mahony and James Stephens. O’Mahony and Stephens had left Ireland because they were persecuted by the British authorities for their seditious ideals. After fleeing to Paris together, they later separated and took different journeys. John O’Mahony arrived to America in the year 1853, searching for civilians who would band with him and his standards for another insurrection. At the same time, James Ste phens in 1856 came back to Ireland moving from location to location because of the situations that were happening during that time. In March of 1858 he formed a secret society in Dublin. This society was known as the Irish Republican Brotherhood. Simultaneously, in America, John O’Mahony formed a secret society that was called the Fenian Brotherhood. The name of this group came from the famous Irish hero, Finn Mc Cumhail (Fin Mc Cool). One of the goals that these groups had in mind was to obtain independence from the British government. There were many reasons for the formation of this troupe. Ranging from the British oppression to the Famine, from emigration and the Young Ireland Uprising to the Civil War, these events were fundamental in the formation of said revolutionaries. All these events cemented a feeling of nationality in the Irish people’s hearts that allowed them to join such an organization. With the purpose to â€Å"defend the Irish Republic, now virtually established† (qtd. in Gwynn 269) the Fenians strived to do what others had tried before them. One of the reasons for the Fenian Movement was the emigration that seemed to sweep the citizens. â€Å"The peasantry believed that their poverty and the need to emigrate was caused by misgovernment.†(Broin 14) They moved to South America, Canada and Australia, but they mostly immigrated to the United States.