The Fenians & the IRB

1858 - 1867 — A secret, oath-bound brotherhood pledged to win an Irish republic by force — and to keep that idea alive across the world.

In 1858 a new and enduring force was born: the Irish Republican Brotherhood, whose members became known as the Fenians. It was a secret, oath-bound society dedicated to establishing an independent Irish republic by armed revolution — and, crucially, it drew huge strength from the Irish who had emigrated after the Famine, especially in the United States.

Their attempted rising in 1867 failed, and dramatic actions in Britain led to arrests and executions; the "Manchester Martyrs," hanged that year, became rallying figures. But the Fenians' real achievement was to carry the flame of physical-force republicanism forward. The IRB endured underground for decades and, half a century later, its members would plan and lead the 1916 Easter Rising — the direct line from the Fenians to Irish independence.