Irish Republican Brotherhood

The IRB was organised into circles, a "circle" was analogous to a regiment, that the "centre" or A, who might be considered equivalent to a colonel, who chose nine B's, or captains, who in their turn chose nine C's, or sergeants, who in their turn chose nine D's, who constituted the rank and file. In theory an A should only be known to the B's; a B, to his C's: and a C, to his D's; but this rule was often violated.[25]

Thomas Clarke Luby was one of the founding members of the IRB

Dublin Castle was the seat of government administration in Ireland and was appointed by the British cabinet and was accountable only to the cabinet, not to the House of Commons and not to the Irish people or their political representatives. Irish MPs could speak at Westminster in protest about the actions of the administration, but its privileges were unchallengeable as Irish representation in the House of Commons was only one sixth of the total and far too small.[26]

Fenianism therefore, according to O'Mahony was symbolised by two principles: Firstly, that Ireland had a natural right to independence, and secondly, that that right could be won only by an armed revolution.[27] Because of their belief in republicanism, that is, the "common people are the rightful rulers of their own destiny", the founding members saw themselves as "furious democrats in theory" and declared their movement to be "wholly and unequivocally democratic".[28] Being a democrat and egalitarian in the mid 19th century was tantamount to being a revolutionary, and was something to be feared by political establishments.[29]

It was Stephens "firm resolution to establish a democratic republic in Ireland; that is, a republic for the weal of the toiler",[30] and that this would require a complete social revolution before the people could possibly become republicans.[1] In propagating republican principles, they felt, the organisation would create this virtual democracy within the country, which would form the basis of an independence movement.[31]

The Fenians soon established themselves in Australia, South America, Canada and, above all, in the United States, as well as in the large cities of England, such as London, Manchester, Liverpool, and Glasgow, in Scotland.

Part of a series on
Irish republicanism
Concepts Abstentionism Anti-imperialism Armalite and ballot box strategy Dissident republican Éire Nua Irish nationalism Irish republican legitimism New Departure Radicalism Republicanism United Ireland
History Irish Rebellion of 1798 Acts of Union 1800 Irish rebellion of 1803 Young Ireland rebellion Fenian Rising Fenian raids Fenian dynamite campaign Easter Rising 1918 general election Irish revolutionary period Irish War of Independence Irish Civil War 1932 general election S-Plan Border Campaign The Troubles Arms Crisis 1981 Irish hunger strike Good Friday Agreement Dissident Irish republican campaign
People Gerry Adams Cathal Brugha Neil Blaney Tom Clarke James Connolly Seamus Costello Éamon de Valera Robert Emmet Cathal Goulding Thomas J. Kelly Seán Mac Stíofáin Seán MacBride Terence MacSwiney Constance Markievicz Bernadette Devlin Martin McGuinness Ruairí Ó Brádaigh Dáithí Ó Conaill Peadar O'Donnell John O'Mahony Patrick Pearse Seán Russell Bobby Sands James Stephens Wolfe Tone Moss Twomey
Active parties Aontú Éirígí Fianna Fáil Irish Republican Socialist Party Republican Network for Unity Republican Sinn Féin Saoradh Sinn Féin
Defunct parties All Ireland Anti-Partition League Anti H-Block Aontacht Éireann Clann na Poblachta Clann Éireann Communist Party of Ireland (Marxist–Leninist) Córas na Poblachta Cumann na Poblachta Cumann Poblachta na hÉireann Fianna Uladh Independent Fianna Fáil Irish Anti-Partition League Irish Independence Party Irish Socialist Republican Party Irish Workers' Group (1976) National Corporate Party Northern Council for Unity Republican Congress Republican Labour Party Republican Socialist Collective Saor Éire SLISO Socialist Republican Party
Militant groups Active Arm na Poblachta Continuity IRA Cumann na mBan‎ Fianna Éireann Irish Republican Liberation Army Irish Republican Movement New IRA Inactive Irish National Liberation Army Óglaigh na hÉireann (Real IRA splinter group) Defunct Connolly Column Irish Brigade Irish Citizen Army Irish National Invincibles Irish People's Liberation Organisation Irish Republican Army (1919–1922) Irish Republican Army (1922–1969) Irish Republican Brotherhood Irish Revolutionary Forces Irish Volunteers Official IRA Provisional IRA Real IRA Republican Action Against Drugs Republican Defence Army Saor Éire (1967–1975) Saor Uladh Society of United Irishmen South Armagh Republican Action Force Young Ireland
Active Organisations 32 County Sovereignty Movement Anti-Imperialist Action Ireland Cabhair Connolly Association Connolly Youth Movement IRPWA Irish National Congress IRSCNA NORAID National Graves Association, Belfast National Graves Association Revolutionary Housing League Wolfe Tone Societies Ógra Fianna Fáil Ógra Shinn Féin
Defunct Organisations Clan na Gael Clann na hÉireann Comhairle na Poblachta Dungannon Clubs Emmet Monument Association Fenian Brotherhood Friends of Irish Freedom Irish Republican Voice Irish Socialist Federation League of Communist Republicans Northern Resistance Movement People's Democracy Phoenix National and Literary Society Republican Congress Saor Éire Troops Out Movement
Media An Phoblacht Evening Press Guerrilla Days in Ireland IRIS Magazine Irish Freedom Republican News Saoirse Irish Freedom Sinn Féin The Gaelic American The Hibernia Magazine The Irish Felon The Irish People The Irish Press The Nation The Phoenix The Starry Plough The Sunday Press United Irishman (1848 newspaper) United Irishman (1948 newspaper)
Politics portal  Ireland portal

The original IRB oath, as quoted by Thomas Clarke Luby and John O'Leary, and which is among several versions in James Stephens's own papers, ran:

I, AB., do solemnly swear, in the presence of Almighty God, that I will do my utmost, at every risk, while life lasts, to make [other versions, according to Luby, 'establish in'] Ireland an independent Democratic Republic; that I will yield implicit obedience, in all things not contrary to the law of God ['laws of morality'] to the commands of my superior officers; and that I shall preserve inviolable secrecy regarding all the transactions [ 'affairs'] of this secret society that may be confided in me. So help me God! Amen.[32]

This oath was significantly revised by Stephens in Paris in the summer of 1859. He asked Luby to draw up a new text, omitting the secrecy clause. The omitting of the secrecy clause was outlined in a letter from Stephens to John O'Mahony on 6 April 1859 and the reasons for it.[33] 'Henceforth,’ wrote Luby to O’Leary "we denied that we were technically a secret body. We called ourselves a military organization; with, so to speak, a legionary oath like all soldiers."[34]

The revised oath ran:

I, A.B, in the presence of Almighty God, do solemnly swear allegiance to the Irish Republic, now virtually established; and that I will do my very utmost, at every risk, while life lasts, to defend its independence and integrity; and, finally, that I will yield implicit obedience in all things, not contrary to the laws of God [or 'the laws of morality'], to the commands of my superior officers. So help me God. Amen'.[35]

In yet a later version it read:

In the presence of God, I, ..., do solemnly swear that I will do my utmost to establish the independence of Ireland, and that I will bear true allegiance to the Supreme Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and the Government of the Irish Republic and implicitly obey the constitution of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and all my superior officers and that I will preserve inviolable the secrets of the organisation.[36]

The IRB was re-organised at a convention in Manchester in July 1867. An 11-man Supreme Council was elected to govern the movement.[37] They would eventually be representatives from the seven districts in which the organisation was organised: the Irish provinces of Ulster, Munster, Leinster and Connacht, as well as Scotland, North England, and South England. The remaining four members were co-opted. The Supreme Council elected three of its members to the executive, which consisted of a president, secretary, and a treasurer. The Council met twice a year, usually in the spring and the summer. In Manchester August 1867 Thomas Kelly was declared Chief Organiser of the Irish Republic (COIR), in succession to Stephens. The arrest and subsequent rescue of Kelly with Timothy Deasy in September 1867 resulted in the execution of the Manchester Martyrs. Kelly escaped to USA and remained associated with the IRB.

Late in 1858 Stephens travelled to the United States to secure support and financial backing. He was unsuccessful, however, in winning the support of former Young Irelanders such as John Mitchel and Thomas Francis Meagher. Eventually, he joined with John O'Mahoney and Michael Doheny to form the Fenian Brotherhood, intended as the American sister organisation of the IRB, with O'Mahoney as its president. The precise relationship between the two organisations was never properly set out.[38] In the early 1870s the Fenian Brotherhood was superseded as the main American support organisation by Clan na Gael, of which John Devoy was a leading member. The IRB and Clan na Gael reached a "compact of agreement" in 1875, and in 1877 the two organisations established a joint "revolutionary directory". This effectively gave Devoy control over the Supreme Council in Ireland, which was reliant on Clan na Gael for funds.[39]

Supplement given with the Weekly Freeman of October 1883

The movement was denounced by the British establishment, the press, the Catholic Church and Irish political elite, as had been all Irish Republican movements at that point.[40]

The Tories, disturbed by the increase in republican propaganda, particularly in America, launched a propaganda campaign in the Irish press to discredit the American Fenians. They presented them as enemies of Catholicism quoting negative comments by some American Catholic bishops. As in Irish-America, likewise Ireland and England, the Catholic hierarchy felt the growth of nationalist politics among Irishmen was essentially dangerous. Therefore, during the 1860s and succeeding decades, the upper or middle classes who controlled the Irish press were very apprehensive in the growth of democratic politics in Ireland, which represented to them a threat of anarchy and revolution.[41]

It was feared that if Britain was given any reason to renew coercion, Catholic interests in both Ireland and England would be undermined. In addition, the small class of Irish Catholic merchants, lawyers and gentry who had prospered under the Union felt anxious for the same reasons. By 1864, the Tories had coined the phrase 'Fenianism' to describe all that was considered potentially bothersome among Irishmen on both sides of the Atlantic.[41]

Fenianism as a term was then used by the British political establishment to depict any form of mobilisation among the lower classes and, sometimes, those who expressed any Irish nationalist sentiments. They warned people about this threat to turn decent civilised society on its head such as that posed by trade unionism to the existing social order in England.[42] The same term was taken up by members of the Irish Catholic hierarchy, who also began denouncing "Fenianism" in the name of the Catholic religion.[41] One Irish Bishop, David Moriarty of Kerry, declared that "when we look down into the fathomless depth of this infamy of the heads of the Fenian conspiracy, we must acknowledge that eternity is not long enough, nor hell hot enough to punish such miscreants."[43][44]

Denis Dowling Mulcahy, Thomas Clarke Luby and John O'Leary

In mid-1863 Stephens informed his colleagues he wished to start a newspaper, with financial aid from O’Mahony and the Fenian Brotherhood in America. The offices were established at 12 Parliament Street, almost at the gates of Dublin Castle.[45] The first edition of the Irish People appeared on 28 November 1863.[46] The staff of the paper along with Kickham were Luby and Denis Dowling Mulcahy as the editorial staff. O’Donovan Rossa and James O’Connor were in charge of the business office, with John Haltigan being the printer. John O'Leary was brought from London to take charge in the role of Editor.[47] Shortly after the establishment of the paper, Stephens departed on an American tour, and to attend to organisational matters.[48]

American Fenians made plans for a rising in Ireland, but the plans were discovered on 15 July 1865 when an emissary lost them at Kingstown railway station. They found their way to Dublin Castle and to Superintendent Daniel Ryan head of G Division. Ryan had an informer within the offices of the Irish People named Pierce Nagle, he supplied Ryan with an "action this year" message on its way to the IRB unit in Tipperary. With this information, Ryan raided the offices of the Irish People on Thursday 15 September, followed by the arrests of O’Leary, Luby and O’Donovan Rossa. The last edition of the paper is dated 16 September 1865.[49]

Charles Kickham

Before leaving, Stephens entrusted to Luby a document containing secret resolutions on the Committee of Organization or Executive of the IRB. Though Luby intimated its existence to O’Leary, he did not inform Kickham as there seemed no necessity. This document would later form the basis of the prosecution against the staff of the Irish People. The document read:[50]

EXECUTIVE

I hereby appoint Thomas Clarke Luby, John O’Leary and Charles J. Kickham, a Committee of Organization or Executive, with the same supreme control over the Home Organization (Ireland, England, Scotland, etc.) I have exercised myself. I further empower them to appoint a Committee of Military Inspection, and a Committee of Appeal and Judgment, the functions of which Committee will be made known to each member of them by the Executive.

Trusting to the patriotism and ability of the Executive, I fully endorse their action beforehand, and call on every man in our ranks to support and be guided by them in all that concerns our military brotherhood.
9 March 1864, Dublin
J. STEPHENS

Kickham was caught after a month on the run.[51] Stephens would also be caught, but with the support of Fenian prison warders, John J. Breslin[52] and Daniel Byrne was less than a fortnight in Richmond Bridewell when he vanished and escaped to France.[53] David Bell evaded arrest, escaping first to Paris and then to New York[54]

During the latter part of 1866, Stephens endeavoured to raise funds in America for a fresh rising planned for the following year. He issued a bombastic proclamation in America announcing an imminent general rising in Ireland; but he was himself soon afterwards deposed by his confederates, among whom dissension had broken out.

The Fenian Rising proved to be a "doomed rebellion", poorly organised and with minimal public support. Most of the Irish-American officers who landed at Cork, in the expectation of commanding an army against England, were imprisoned; sporadic disturbances around the country were easily suppressed by the police, army and local militias.

On 22 November 1867 three Fenians, William Philip Allen, Michael O'Brien, and Michael Larkin known as the Manchester Martyrs, were executed in Salford for their attack on a police van to release Fenians held captive earlier that year.

On 13 December 1867 the Fenians exploded a bomb in attempt to free one of their members being held on remand at Clerkenwell Prison in London. The explosion damaged nearby houses, killed 12 people and caused 120 injuries. None of the prisoners escaped. The bombing was later described as the most infamous action carried out by the Fenians in Great Britain in the 19th century. It enraged the public, causing a backlash of hostility in Britain which undermined efforts to establish home rule or independence for Ireland.

In 1882, a breakaway IRB faction calling itself the Irish National Invincibles assassinated the British Chief Secretary for Ireland Lord Frederick Cavendish and his secretary, in an incident known as the Phoenix Park Murders.

In March 1883 the Metropolitan Police's Special Irish Branch was formed, initially as a small section of the Criminal Investigation Department, to monitor IRB activity.

Following the establishment of the Ulster Volunteers in 1912, whose purpose was to resist Home Rule, by force if necessary, the IRB were behind the initiative which eventually led to the inauguration of the Irish Volunteers in November 1913.[60] Though the Volunteers' stated purpose was not the establishment of a republic, the IRB intended to use the organisation to do just that, recruiting high-ranking members into the IRB, notably Joseph Plunkett, Thomas MacDonagh, and Patrick Pearse, who was co-opted to the Supreme Council in 1915. These men, together with Clarke, MacDermott, Éamonn Ceannt and eventually James Connolly of the Irish Citizen Army, constituted the Military Committee, the sole planners of the Rising.

Following the Rising some republicans—notably Éamon de Valera and Cathal Brugha—left the organization, which they viewed as no longer necessary, since the Irish Volunteers now performed its function.[61] The IRB, during the 1919–21 War of Independence, was under the control of Michael Collins, who was secretary, and subsequently president, of the Supreme Council.[61] Volunteers such as Séumas Robinson said afterwards that the IRB by then was "moribund where not already dead", but there is evidence that it was an important force during the war.[61]

When the Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed on 6 December 1921, it was debated by the Supreme Council, which voted to accept it by eleven votes to four.[62] Those on the Supreme Council who opposed the Treaty included former leader Harry Boland, Austin Stack and Liam Lynch.[63] Anti-Treaty republicans like Ernie O'Malley, who fought during the Civil War against the Treaty, saw the IRB as being used to undermine the Irish Republic.[64] The IRB became quiescent during the Civil War, which ended in May 1923, but it emerged again later that year as a faction within the National Army that supported Minister for Defence Richard Mulcahy against the "Old IRA", which fought against the recruitment of ex-British Army personnel and the demobilization of old IRA men.[65] This came to a head with the Army Mutiny of 1924, in the wake of which Mulcahy resigned and other IRB members of the army were dismissed by acting President of the Executive Council Kevin O'Higgins.[66] The IRB subsequently dissolved itself, although it is not known whether a formal decision was taken, or it simply ceased to function.[67]