1856 - 1860 AD

1856 AD John O Mahony, the previous leader of the "United Irishmen Society," was now in America also, where he founded the "Fenian Brotherhood / Clann na Gael, while his ally James Stephens had returned to Ireland from France, where he had seen the positive results of the French Revolution on the general population there and he decided to walk 3,000 mile throughout Ireland to also gauge the feelings of the  population of Ireland, but could not see any sign of any hope for a similar mass Uprising occurring at this time in Ireland.

      After the devastation of the "Great Famine" on the population in Ireland, Whatley the Ascendancy Episcopalian Church of England Bishop, proposed to use the new National Schools to wipe out all traces of any chance of Irish National traditions, and the children who knew only Irish were given an English teacher who in their curriculum mentioned Ireland only twice, and that it was conquered by Henry 11, and then taken over by the Immoral Union when it was supposed to become part of the British United Kingdom.      

     Whitely Stokes, was to publish his first Irish work a year after the Irish historian Eugene O Curry, died, and by now the Irish population had suffered much for nearly 700 years under the ethnic, religious and economic repression of the Angevins, the Tudors, the Stewarts and their confiscations, Oliver Cromwell, their Ascendancies, their annihilation tactics, their foreign non - Catholic plantations, their English / British Parliaments, their Immoral Union, their German monarchs and their hangers on, their Pensioners and the consecutuve British Conservative Governments who had all continued to show no Humanity, which was to be their trademark all over the British Empire. They had all tried hard to ensure that the decree of Elizabeth 1st was fulfilled so that, "No Irishmen was to ever know his Grandfather." Despite this the Irish mind had not given in as yet, with men like John O Donovan who continued to follow on from Michael O Cleary's work, The Annals of Ulster - of the 4 Masters, who not only added to it, but included an Irish dictionary, so that future generations would continue to have knowledge of their Irish Celtic Gaelic Culture, their Irish History and their Irish Heritage, despite the previous 700 years of all of their ongoig attempts to obliterate it altogether.  

     John Redmond, who would become the future leader of the "Irish Parliamentary Party" was born this year in Ballytrent in Co. Wexford in the south - east of Southern Leinster, who would try and do his bit also for Ireland, but unfortunately leave behind unfinished business.  

    William Smith - O Brien, who had also made a stand for reform in Ireland, for which he had been arrested , imprisoned and transported to Australia, was pardoned after pressure from his influential Anglo - Irish family, and had returned to Ireland from Australia and was to be a much wiser man now.

   Father Theobold Mathew, died this year, who had also did more then his share to bring some stability back into the lives of the depressed and abandoned families in Ireland, through his Temperance League who had been able to convince half  of the adult population in Ireland to take the pledge. . 

   As a further sign of some progress for the majority in Ireland, the University Catholic Church was constructed at St. Stephen's Green in Dublin. 

   Dr. Daniel Moriarty, became the Catholic Bishop of Kerry, in the south - west of the Munster Province and was to remain in that position until 1877 AD. 

   278 emigrants from Co. Clare, in the north - west of the Munster Province, migrated this year to Victoria in Australia, mainly into the Ballarat and Bendigo region,while another 206 also migrated from Co. Tipperary and 223 from the Leinster Province.

July 26th: George Bernard Shaw, the playwright and sociologist, was born on this date in Synge Street in Dublin.

     Oscar Fingall O Flaherty - Wilde, who was educated at Trinity College and Oxford, was also born in West and Row in Dublin.

    Thomas Wyse (The wise man) had been knighted by the British Imperial Government for his previous public service.  

    The Treaty of Paris, finally brought to an end the Crimean War,

1857 AD Tom Clarke, who would become known as the "Old Republican," was born this year on the Isle of Wight, and in the future he would be the one to keep alive the ongoing spirit of the Irish Republic, by setting up a venue in Dublin City to promote Irish Republicanism, which would lead on to the eventual Proclamation for Irish Freedom, which he too was also to sign in the forthcoming "1916 Irish Easter Uprising." -

     Michael Davitt, who was now only 11 years of age, was to lose an arm, while working in a Cotton Mill in Lancashire in England, and would grow up to become the founder of the "Irish Land League" to bring about Irish Tenant Rights, by the means of anti - British boycotts, for the return of Irish land to the people of Ireland.

   A monument to Daniel O Connell  "The Liberator," which was actually a sculptor by John Hogan, was erected in O Connell Street, Limerick in Co. Limerick in the north - west of the Munster Province, this year. 

July: The Communication Cable began being laid from America to Ireland, but at this time it turned out to be a failure.

     The Encumbered Estates Act, had been passed in 1849 AD, by the British Westminster Parliament to bring about relief for the encumbered "Land Lords," and by now over 3,000 Land Lord Estates in Ireland had been sold up to this date to 7,200 new purchasers, of which only 300 were from England or Scotland, and of the 20,000,000 Pounds paid out to secure them, only 3,000,000 was to be paid by speculators who nevertheless were to increase their rents even more, which was to only add to the agricultural strife in Ireland.

   Patrick O Kennedy from the Heberian Dal gCais Ui Bloid Ui Turlogh Sept who was the Bishop of Killaloe in Co. Clare in the north - west of the Munster Province, died. 

   Lord Palmerston / Henry Temple, the Anglo - Irish Land Lord and British Liberal Prime Minister, was defeated in the Westminster Parliament and called an election, and was returned with a majority.

1858 AD The British Imperial Government's Dublin Castle authorities fearing all things Gaelic, suppressed the Irish periodical known as The Light that had been established by the Phoenix National Literary Society, which had been set up by Jeremiah O Donovan of Rossa who had been born at Rosscarbery in Co. Cork in Southern Munster, where in the future the actual Light of Ireland in the form of her greatest son in Michael Collins, was to be snuffed out.           

     John O Mahony, the founder of the "United Irishmen," who was now in New York, had translated Father Geoffrey Keating's, "History of Ireland" from the Gaelic, and he was by now impressed by the strong Irish Nationalist feeling occurring in America so he suggested to James Stephens that he should return to Ireland and found an association for Irish Independence, as he was now sure of strong support from the Fenian Brotherhood Organization, which he himself had just founded in America as in America they were able to operate democratically and openly  and the Irish Movement too was also to be known by this name,

March 17th: The Fianna / Fenian Brotherhood, later to be known as the Irish Republican Brotherhood / I.R.B / The Organization, was founded based on the Fenians / Fianna Warriors by James Stephens and Michael Doheny in Dublin where they took an Oath that was created by Thomas Clarke Luby, which firmly stated that, "In the presence of God, to renounce all allegiance to the Queen of England, and to take arms and fight at a moments warning to make Ireland an Independent Democratic Republic, and to yield implicit obedience to the commanders and superiors of their secret society." They were joined by Jeremiah O Donovan of Rossa, and for security reasons decided to form Circles / Centres of only 9 men plus a leader, to guard against the informers, as under this method only the leader of a Circle would know who the actual leader of another Circle was and they spent the next 2 years swearing in other I.R.B. members, with the intention to eventually drive the British Imperial Government out of Ireland by force if necessary and as soon as possible, driven on by their goal to bring about Irish Freedom and Independence, which was much more then an actual Republic and James Stephens, was to demand the overall control of the military part of "The Organization." 

      William Smith - O Brien who was back in Ireland now wrote for The Nation newspaper, advising one and all not to join the "Secret Societies," while The Irish People newspaper, on the other hand, continued to attack the Irish Catholic Bishops who opposed the formation of "Secret Societies."

June 25th: The Communication Cable, in the Atlantic Ocean was laid again to Ireland and re - connected, but it too also failed.

    The Earl of Derby was now in as the leader of the British Conservative Government until 1859 AD, and he continued the same amount of taxation on Ireland to keep it in line with Great Britain, as William Gladstone had done previously.

    The British Conservative Governments at the same time had been dealing with their other conflicts throughout the World, including the Crimean War, and the Indian Mutiny, which never left much awareness of the problems that continued to exist in Ireland, which was Ironic, for at this time the British Conservative Government was also pushing the cause of Italy's right for Independence, which caused the Irish Nationalists to enquire why they did not do the same for Ireland and the Government of India was now also taken over by the British Imperial Government and Lord Canning was created their Viceroy in India.

August 5th: The Communication Cable, from America, was finally joined successfully and working, and on August 18th: the first Trans - Atlantic message was received on Valentia Island in Ireland off the coast of Co. Kerry in the south - west of the Munster Province, although it still continued to fail many times after this, due to the cable constantly breaking.    

     Another milestone to normalcy for the majority in Ireland was now reached when St. Saviours Catholic Dominican Church was also built in Dublin.     

1859 AD There where 87 Irish M.P.s, who were still also landowners, of which 65 of them controlled 2,000 acres or more each, and the Irish Tenant`s Rights League was now virtually extinct and one of these Land - Lord M.P.'s was Henry Temple / Lord Palmerston a non - Catholic "Absentee" - Land Lord, whose family had held their Estates in Ireland since 1602 AD, but he too refused to help his tenants and their families in Ireland and he was to once again become the Liberal Prime Minister of Britain from 1860 AD until 1865 AD.   

     The argument put forward constantly by the British Conservative Government under Benjamin D' Israeli / Lord Derby on the Italian Question for self - determination for Italy, was once again mooted, and this gave hope to the Constitutional Nationalists in Ireland, who put forward a petition containing 500,000 Irish signatures to the German Hanoverian British Queen Victoria, seeking the same deal for Ireland, but as usual nothing was done, and the population in Ireland  were only pushed further towards the Fenian way, which it seemed, once again, was the only way that the British Conservative Government under the Immoral Union would allow any type of reform in Ireland.  

    23,000,000 pounds had been paid out by now to purchase the Land Lord's Encumbered Estates in Ireland that were by now mostly purchased by new English and Scottish Land Lords.

    The Irish Nationalist, Jeremiah O Donovan of Rossa, was imprisoned this year by the British Government's Dublin Castle authorities.

    The "Fenian Brotherhood" was "officially" set up in America. 

   John O Leary, contributed to the Fenian paper "The Phoenix."  

   A Round Tower was erected by Sir Gerald Aylmer on the Hill of Allen / Cnoc Almhaine in Co. Kildare in Central Southern Leinster, which had been one of the previous 3 ancient fortresses of the Kings of Leinster, and of 83.Finn Mac Coole the Heremonian Cu Corb Fianna Warrior leader, with Nass and Dun Aillinne being the other two and it was from here also, that 83.Finn mac Coole had sent his son, 84.Oisin to Tara to *85.Cormac mac Airt the 115th King of Tara / Ireland, to seek the hand of his daughter, 86.Grainne, after 84.Oisin had suggested her to him, as he was depressed at the time as he had no wife.

1859 AD - 1864 AD once again this period brought about terrible "Depression Years" in Ireland and Henry Temple / Lord Palmerston the "Absentee" - Land Lord was returned as the Liberal British Prime Minister until 1865 AD.    

1860 AD The first of the two Irish Westminster Reform Bills was passed finally, giving the tenants in Ireland compensation for certain types of improvements previously carried out by them on their Land Lord's holdings at their own expense, but only if the Land Lord had given his previous approval and the second Bill was brought forward by Richard Deasy the British Liberal Attorney - General in Ireland, which once again only supported the Land Lord's cause, as it introduced a process by which they could repossess the land if there was an agreement with the tenant, to which the tenant basically had no say anyway. This measure was to further increase the hostility and discontent among the tenant farmers, as another 400,000 acres of agricultural land was to be also replaced by grazing up to 1870 AD, while the industries on the other hand, which were situated at Belfast in Co. Antrim in the north - east of the Ulster Province remained economically viable.

      Charles Joseph Kickham who had been born at Mullinahone in Co. Tipperary in the north - east of the Munster Province was to join the "Fenian Organization," and there were now many Irish men of military expirience returning home to Ireland from America after the Civil War there, adding further trained recruits to their cause. 

    The Irish Labour leaders in England, at this time, were John Doherty, Bronterre O Brien and Fergus O Connor.  

   Daniel Moriarty the Catholic Bishop of Kerry, invited 3 Belgian Franciscan friars to come to Ireland to re - establish the Franciscan friary there in Co. Kerry in the south - west of Munster, were prior to the religious persecutions in Ireland, they had been situated at Muckross / Muc Ros (The Peninsular of the Pigs).  

  Clonalis House, situated half a mile mile west of Castlerea on the road to Castlebar, was to be the final home of the previous leading aristocratic warrior branch of the O Connors from the Heremonian Ui Cobhthaigh Dal Cuinn Ui Briuin Siol Muireadhaigh Ui Conchobair Sept in the Connacht Province.

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