1861 - 1865 AD
1861 AD Before this date all valuables that were found in
Ireland belonged only to the British Crown, which
possibly saw the loss of many Celtic artefacts as this only encouraged the
finders to melt them down.
The population of
Ireland was
now 5,798,967, of which
4,500,000 were
Catholic Irish. The
Ascendancy Established
Episcopalian Church of
England / Ireland
now had
700,000 adherents, who were
mostly in the
Ulster Province,
and were 11 %
of the
population in the
Leinster Province, 5 %
in the
Munster Province,
and 4 % in the
Connacht Province,
while In the
City of
Belfast
in the
Ulster Province 33 %
of the people there were still
Catholic
Irish
despite the previous confiscations oftheir vteritories there and
There were still to be mass evictions carried being out on the tenant farmers in Ireland until 1864 AD, which were aggravated further by a near Famine caused by a series of bad harvests that were to create widespread ongoing distress also throughout the 1860's as one reforming Land Bill after another for the tenant farmers in Ireland were to be defeated in the British Westminster Parliament, pushing the tenant farmers in Ireland who were still under the British Government and their Immoral union further into the arms of the "Secret Societies," who were their only defense and as a result they once again they began to flourish, while they were endeavouring to bring about some rights and justice in Ireland.
John Devoy, from Co. Kildare in Central Southern Leinster, was now in charge of recruiting the "I.R.B. Fenians" for The Organization from the ranks of the British Military up until 1862 AD, where there were over 55,000 Irish men serving in both the British Army and the British Navy and he was then to work in with James Stephens signing up new members until 1865 AD, which was by then due to the terrible conditionds still prevailing in Ireland their numbers were still continuing to grow even stronger.
Lord Adare at
Derryveagh began his
onslaught on his
tenant farmers and their families
there, when he evicted
47
Irish families off of his
Estates, which became infamously known as the "Derryveagh Evictions."
In America, Terrence Bellew Mac Manus, died, who had also been involved in the 1848 AD Uprising, and the Clann na Gael in America arranged to send his remains back to Ireland, so James Stephens, seeing an opportunity put on an elaborate funeral for him in Dublin, to gain publicity for the cause of Irish Freedom, and it was attended by 20,000 people, but Archbishop Paul Cullen representing the hierarchy of the Catholic Church would not get involved directly so James Stephens hunted around until he found a sympathetic priest to give him an eulogy, and the results of this exposure was that he gained even more recruits towards the cause of Irish Independence and The Organization.
The
American
Civil War was now begun
in America and
200,000
Irish men
were recruited from Ireland,
with most of these being from the north, and it would last
for another four years until
1865 AD, which gave them all
abundant military
expirience and training.
The Church of the Holy Cross was constructed by the Dominicans at Tralee in Co. Kerry in the south - west of the Munster Province when they re - established their priory after being invited back to there by Dr. Daniel Moriarty the Bishop of Kerry.
The Irish population in Australia had grown by now to 20%.
1862 AD
John Devoy,
was arrested by the Dublin Castle Corporation authorities, and sentenced to
5 years
imprisonment for his involvement in promoting Irish
affairs in Ireland.
1863 AD
- 1864 AD
During this year, Famine
occurred
again
Previous members of the
"1848 AD Uprising" were also now involved in the
I.R.B.
Fenian Organization,
including
Thomas Clarke Luby, who was
to lead the
I.R.B. / Irish Republican Brotherhood
in the absence of
James
Stephens, and
Charles Joseph Kickham from Mullinahone in
Co. Tipperary in the north - east of the
Munster Province who was also appointed to their
Supreme Executive and
James Stephens had also set up their newspaper
"The
Irish People"
leaving
John
O Leary who also co -
edited it in charge, as his ally. Michael Davitt who was later to found
the "Irish Land League" for the return of the land of
Ireland to the Irish
also became an I.R.B. Fenian at
19 years of age.
John O Mahony
who was
now
in
America
was for more action and less talk andalong with
John Devoy was to create a new version of the
Fenian
Oath, which
was to declare that the
"Irish Republic" was
to be seen as virtually established, and they started drilling the
Fenian recruits in
The Organization by night
in the countryside. A
"Fenian Convention"
was then held in
Chicago, where it was mutually agreed that the
Fenian Brotherhood
/ Irish Republican Brotherhood
was to remain in force permanently, until
Ireland achieved an
Irish
Republic, and it was to carry on under the
guidance of the
Clann Na Gael,
with
John Devoy in
overall charge,
while their newspaper, The
Irish People
in
Ireland,
was to be continued to be produced under great pressure from the
British Government's Dublin Castle authorites for the next
2 years, due to the tone of their
articles, as they tried to defend themselves against those who were
against the
use of any typre of physical force to bring about reform in Ireland. They
also tried to infiltrate any of the other
Irish organizations brought
about by the ongoing British Government oppression, and
would attempt to break them up if they were
Nationalists
who were
still naively trying to achieve self - government for
Ireland by constitutional means.
A
400 acre
Reservoir was
under construction west of
Roundwood
on the
River Vartry in
Co. Wicklow in the south - east
of Southern
Leinster, to supply
the region around
Dublin, Bray and
Dun Laoghaire in the east of
Southern Leinster, with water until
1868 AD.
1864 AD Edward Tierney Bart the infamous Land Lord from
Churchtown Estates in
Co. Kerry
in the south - west of the
Munster Province, died, and the Estates
there were repurchased by the
the previous owners, the
Percivals who were the English Earls of Egmont, who had also taken over
Liscarroll and the Barry Estates and were now holding altogether 90,000 acres all up in
Ireland.
Archbishop
Paul Cullen,
who was against revolutionary ideas, naively believing that commonsense would prevail in
discussions with the
British
Conservative Liberal Government still under Henry Temple / Viscount Palmerston, combined with the
Constitutional
Nationalists,
hoping to bring about
reform in Ireland by
democratic means and to this end they
founded the
"Irish National Association,"
with
goals of
bringing about the
demise of the Ascendancy position in Ireland by the
disestablishment of the Ascendancy Established
Church of England / Ireland, land reform and
denominational education. Naturally none of the
Irish National
Independence
followers joined in with them in their expectations of
any chance of democratic
reform
being brought in by the
British Conservative Liberal Government
authorities in
Ireland.
Registrations of Births, Deaths &
Marriages finally began in Ireland.
James Stephens
went again to America, to
rally support for
Irish Independence
during the Civil War that was occurring there.
The I.R.B.Fenian Organization / Irish Republican Brotherhood now claimed 80,000 supporters in the United Kingdom alone, and they carried out an unsuccessful attack on Chester Castle there, which drew the attention of the outstanding political Scotsman and Statesman, William Ewart Gladstone in the Westminster Parliament, who was already sympathetic to the plight of the Irish people.
Imprisonment
for "debt" in Ireland
was
finally abolished.
William Smith - O Brien, the Anglo - Irish Land Lord who had previously made a stand for a better deal for the Irish tenant farmers and their families and the Irish population in general, died, at Bangor in Northern Wales.
William Mulchinor, also died this year, who was from Ballymullen in Tralee in Co. Kerry in the south - west of the Munster Province, who had written "The Rose of Tralee,"
1865 AD
Michael Davitt
from
Co. Monaghan / Moynihan in
Southern Ulster, who was now
only 19 year old joined
The
Organization / Fenians / Irish
Republican Brotherhood as they,
"Resisted
outrage,
checked the crime and sought self
government by preparing for open war,"
and he was to go
on to become a
major player in Irish
History
and the propagator of "self reliance," as the future founder of the
"Irish
Land League."
April:
The
American Civil War came to an
end, and
Irish - American
soldiers, who had fought
there began returning home to
Ireland, and
James Stephens considered that
he could use their new talents and experience to begin an
I.R.B.
Insurrection against
the ongoing
British Conservative Government
oppression, and eventually bring about Irish
Freedom from the grip of
the ongoing British Imperialism.
September:
The British Conservative Government's
stronghold of
Dublin Castle (The Devil's 1/2 acre) authorities now
moved on "The
Irish People"
newspaper, with
John O Leary,
Thomas Clarke Luby and
Joseph Kickham being
arrested and the Catholic
clergy in
Ireland
now also came
out against the
I.R.B.
/
Fenians,
but despite
these setbacks the publicity that they now received for the cause of
Irish Self - Determination, and their
demeanour throughout their trials, were to convince many in
Ireland to realise the crux of their cause, including the
non - Catholic barrister,
Isaac Butt who was so effected
by their persuasive arguments of the need for
Irish Freedom to govern themselves.
He had decided to take over
their defence, and of the British Conservative Government's lack of real interest in
Irish Affairs, but
despite this,
he also
personally believed that the
self government of
Ireland could only be carried out
by the "Upper Classes," and
as conditions were as they were sill now, this
would be the only guarantee, against any chance of a
Fenian
Revolution.
November 11th:
James Stephens,
the chief organizer of the
I.R.B. / Irish Republican Brotherhood, by now,
had built up quite an organization, which included
thousands of
Irish soldiers, not only serving in
Ireland, but also in
Great Britain, and they also had great
support in America, and he
was now planning for a future
Irish
Uprising, pushed on by the other
Irish Independence leaders, and had
85,000 men who were ready to go in
Ireland
alone, with some drilling under
Irish - American officers in
uniform. Due to the Civil War
previously occurring
in America, his plans then had
to be put on hold, with the full knowledge that well trained troops would
then be available
after it was all over, to fight in
Ireland
for Irish Independence.
During this period of postponement, he was to be betrayed by one of his
own employees, a dispatcher
named,
"Nagle," who
had turned
informer for the the British Conservative Government authorities in the Dublin
Castle, and the staff of his newspaper
The Irish People were all to be arrested,
and it was all now too late as the
funds they had received from the
Clann na Gael
in America
were
also seized, and
the British Government's Dublin Castle authorities rounded
up all of their suspects, also seizing any arms they already had, and removed any suspected
British Military regiments from
Ireland.
James Stephens was to be the only one of
the I.R.B. leaders to escape, and he now went into hiding.
December 13th: Charles Joseph
Kickham,
the novelist and
the editor of The Irish People, who had been
pushing for land reform in Ireland, was now sentenced to
14
years imprisonment
after being tried for Treason - Felony, and was eventually to be released a
broken man, after serving 4 years in Woking and Portland Jails,
while
Jeremiah O Donovan
of Rossa, who was their business
manager, received Life Imprisonment,
and Thomas Clarke Luby and
John O Leary also
received long terms of imprisonment. As
James
Stephens
had also
been informed on, was
to be arrested weeks after the others, but
still
managed to escape from Richmond
Jail, with help from
2
of the sympathetic warders there, who were
also
I.R.B. Fenian supporters, and
Colonel
Thomas J.
O Kelly, who had just
returned from America,
had also been arrested and he too was to
escape with him. Despite
this close call, James
Stephens still stayed in
Dublin,
using an assumed name, and although Colonel
O Kelly and
John Devoy
wanted him to begin the Irish Uprising,
he continued to waiver and decided instead to go to
America
personally again, so
Colonel
Thomas J. O Kelly went with him.
The "Irish National Association" representatives under the Catholic Archbishop Paul Cullen, who wanted to bring about change by "democratic means" did no good in the General Elections for the British Westminster Parliament, but were to continue on for a few more years, although they were to have no real effect on the Fenian Independence movement, while the most popular politicians during these elections were those who called for the release of the I.R.B. Fenian prisoners.
William Ewart Gladstone
the Scotsman and Statesman, who
was
now the
Opposition leader in the
Westminster Parliament in England, had
stated his policy, publicly, on the state of
Irish Affairs, and
also his intention to do something about it, which only added to
his defeat
in the elections in England.
A
"Flag of Ireland" was created, and a newspaper by the same
name was printed in London and another
monument was erected
to
Daniel O
Connell "The Liberator,"
which was 74' high in
Ennis in
Co. Clare
in the north - west
of the Munster Province, and
it still exists there today, to his memory, as he
had brought about Catholic
Emancipation for everyone in the British Isles by continuing to try, by peaceful
democratic means, to bring about
Irish Freedom against the continual oppression carried out by
the ongoing British Conservative Governments,
their Conservative Ascendancy controlled and unelected House of Lords, and
their Ascendancies supporters
in general.
Matthew Arnold
gave lectures at Oxford
up to 1866 AD, in which he stated,"To
obtain balance in their genetic makeup the materialistic and
depressing
philistine character of the English middle class, could be improved by the
character of the Celts."
William Butler Yeats the Anglo - Irish poet and dramatist, was also born this year, in Co. Sligo in the north - west of the Connacht Province.
St. Patrick's Church
in
Dublin, which
was originally
St. Patrick's
Catholic Church,
which had been taken over by the
Ascendancy
Episcopalian Church of England, under the confiscations of the
Catholic Institutions by
Henry
VIII, had fallen again into
decay, and was
restored this year by Sir
Benjamin Guinness and
is still in existence today.
Cornelius O Brien, who had succeeded Daniel O Connell "The Liberator," as the M.P. for Co. Clare built an Ionic Column at Liscannor as a memorial to himself, which was paid for by his tenants.
A Catholic church was built in Sneem in Co. Kerry in the south - west of Munster, were Father Michael Walsh the parish priest is buried.
Lord John Russell the Land Lord who had treated the Irish population with such disdain during the "Great Famine" as the British Imperial Prime Minister under the Immoral Union became the British Liberal Prime Minister again until 1866 AD.