Whatever censure may be attached to any portion of the career of the founders of Fenianism, after the organization had become a recognized power on both sides of the Atlantic, we cannot divest ourselves of the settled impression, that the men who were mainly instrumental in calling it into existence and sustaining its infancy, were actuated by the purest motives. To be sure, Fenianism can scarcely be said to be the embodiment of a new idea, or the exponent of new principles; but, then, there was a masterly grouping of energies and sentiments in connection with it, which possessed the merit of originality, and which tended so largely, not only to popularize it, but to give it a foothold on every Irish national hearthstone. In the selection of the name by which the organization was to be distinguished, there was a clearness of judgment as well as a thorough acquaintance with the necessities of the case, that cannot fail to strike any impartial observer. Had the Brotherhood been organized under any commonplace appelation, or under any of the various names that had characterized the previous revolutionary societies of Ireland, the probability is, it would have long since fallen into line with those convivial associations, which content themselves with an annual exposition of the grievances of Ireland, over the short leg of a turkey, a “bumper of Burgundy,” and that roar of lip artillery, against the usurper, which dies away in a few maudlin hiccups, about two o’clock in the morning, to be revived only at the expiration of another twelve months. Under the burden of any commonplace name, such, we say, might have been the fate of the organization ere this; and so we regard the knowledge and genius which obviated the possibility or rather the probability of failure in this relation, as entitled to prominent consideration and respect. To the superficial observer, this may appear of very little moment in connection with a subject of such magnitude; but let it be understood, that we are influenced by seeming trifles and the surface of things to an extent far greater than we ourselves are willing to confess. Notwithstanding the oft repeated query, “what’s in a name?” there is a great deal in a name. Let two strangers, Mr. Harold Bloomfield and Mr. John Smith send in their cards together to an important official, of whom they expect to get an audience separately, and the chances are nine out of ten in favor of Mr. Bloomfield’s being granted an interview first. This, we apprehend, holds good in a thousand kindred instances, and in no way has the supposition been more clearly verified than in relation to the name bestowed upon the organization under consideration.
The name “Fenian” is of very remote antiquity, and appears to be most comprehensive in its signification, and to be peculiarly adapted to the great confraternity of patriots which now engrosses so much of the history of passing events. There seems to be nothing sectional in it. It is national in the broadest sense of the term, and primative and forcible to intensity. In some annotations to the Annals of the Four Masters we find that the ancient Fenians were called by the Irish writers Fianna Eirionn signifying the Fenians of Ireland, and mentioned under the name of Fene, or Feine, which, according to Dr. O’Conor, signifies the Phenicians of Ireland, as Feine, according to Dr. O’Brien, in his dictionary, at the word Fearmiugh, signifies Phenicians; as they were probably called so from the tradition that Phenicians came to Ireland in the early ages. They are also called by the Irish writers Clann-Ua-Baois-gine, and so named, according to Keating and others, from Baoisgine, who was chief commander of these warriors, and ancestor of the famous hero Fionn, the son of Cumhall; but according to O’Conor, in his notes to the Four Masters, they were called Baoisgine, as being descended from the Milesians who came from Basconia, in Spain, now Biscay, in the country anciently called Cantabria. The Fenian warriors were a famous military force, forming the standing national militia, and instituted in Ireland in the early ages, long before the Christian era, but brought, to the greatest perfection in the reign of the celebrated Cormac, monarch of Ireland in the third century. None were admitted into this military body but select men of the greatest activity, strength, stature, perfect form, and valor, and, when the force was complete, it consisted of thirty-five Catha, that is, battalions or legions, each battalion containing three thousand men, according to O’Halloran and various other historians, making twenty-one thousand for each of the five provinces, or about one hundred thousand fighting men in time of war for the entire kingdom. The Ardrigh, or head king of Ireland, had, for the time being, chief control over these forces, but they often resisted his authority. A commander was appointed over every thousand of these troops, and the entire force was completely armed and admirably disciplined, and each battalion had their own bands of musicians and bards to animate them in battle, and celebrate their feats of arms. In the reign of the monarch Cormac, the celebrated Fionn MacCumhaill, who was descended from the Heremonian kings of Leinster, was the chief commander of the Fenian warriors, and his great actions, strength and valor are celebrated in the Ossianic poems, and various other productions of the ancient bards; he is called Fingal in MacPherson’s Poems of Ossian; but it is to be observed that these are not the real poems of Ossian, but mostly fictions fabricated by Mac Pherson himself, and containing some passages from the ancient poems. Fionn had his chief residence and fortress at Almhuim, now either the hill of Allen, near Kildare, or Ailinn, near old Kilcullen, where a great rath still remains, which was a residence of the ancient kings of Leinster. The Fenians were the chief troops of Leinster, and were Milesians of the race of Heremon; and their renowned commander Fionn, according to the Four Masters, was slain by the cast of a javelin, or, according to others, by the shot of an arrow, at a place called Ath Brea, on the river Boyne, A.D. 283, the year before the battle of Gaura, by the Lugnians of Tara, a tribe who possessed the territory now called the barony of Lune, near Tara, in Meath; and the place mentioned as Ath Brea, or the Ford of Brea, was situated somewhere on the Boyne, between Trim and Navan.
In the reign of king Cairbre Liffeachair, son of the monarch Cormac, the Fenian forces revolted from the service of Cairbre, and joined the famous Mogh Corb, King of Munster, of the race of the Dalcassians. After the death of Fionn Mac Cumhaill, the Fenians were commanded by his son Oisin or Ossian, the celebrated warrior and bard; and at the time of the battle of Gaura, Osgar, another famous champion, the son of Oisin, commanded the Fenian forces. The army of Munster, commanded by Mogh Corb, a name which signifies the Chief of the Chariot, and by his son Fear Corb, that is, the man or warrior of the chariot, was composed of the Clanna Deagha and Dalcassian troops, joined by the Fenians and their Leinster forces; and it is stated in the Ossianic poems, and in Hanmer’s Chronicle, from the Book of Howth, that a great body of warriors from North Britain. Denmark and Norway, came over and fought on the side of the Fenians at Gaura. The army of the monarch Cairbre was composed of the men of Heath and Ulster, together with the Clanna Morna, or Connaught warriors, commanded by Aodh or Hugh, King of Connaught, son of Garadh, grandson of Moraa of the Damnonian race. The Munster forces, and Fenians, marched to Meath, where they were met by the combined troops of the monarch Cairbre, and fought one of the most furious battles recorded in Irish history, which continued throughout the whole length of a summer’s day. The greatest valor was displayed by the warriors on each side, and it is difficult to say which army were victors or vanquished. The heroic Osgar was slain in single combat by the valiant monarch Cairbre, but Cairbre himself soon afterwards fell by the hand of the champion Simon, the son of Ceirb, of the race of the Fotharts of Leinster. Both armies amounted to about fifty thousand men, the greatest part of whom were slain; of the Fenian forces, which consisted of twenty thousand men, it is stated that eighteen thousand fell, and on both sides, thirty thousand warriors were slain. In the following year, Hugh, king of Connaught, according to O’Flaherty’s Ogygia, defeated the Munsters forces in battle at Spaltrach, near the mountain Senchua, in Muscry, in which he slew Mogh Corb, king of Munster. The tremendous battle of Gaura is considered to have led to the subsequent fall of the Irish monarchy, for after the destruction of the Fenian forces, the Irish kings never were able to muster a national army equal in valor and discipline to those heroes, either to cope with foreign foes, or to reduce to subjection the rebellious provincial kings and princes; hence the monarchy became weak and disorganized, and the ruling powers were unable to maintain their authority or make a sufficient stand against the Danish and Anglo-Norman Invaders of after time.
From what is here stated, it must be obvious, that no more appropriate name than that of “Fenian” could be given to the organization which now holds the destiny of Ireland in its hands, and which has ramified itself throughout almost every portion of the habitable globe.
We have already observed that the selection of this name was judicious in more than one relation. In the first place, it was far removed from that of any of the well known cognomens which had characterized so many of the noted revolutionary associations that had already failed in Ireland, and, in this respect, was strong; being free from any unpleasant reminiscences; while, from the fact of its import not being generally known to the masses, it stimulated enquiry on the part of the curious or weak nationalists which resulted in the most salutary consequences. The rarity of the name led to newspaper expositions of it, and moved the inquiring patriot to look into Irish history in relation to it; and in this manner a knowledge of much of the ancient greatness of Ireland became the common property of those who were formerly but slightly acquainted with such lore. The result was, thousands of the Irish became interested in relation to the past of their race; for, in connection with this name there was that which was calculated to arouse the spirit of patriotism within them and lead them on to a further perusal of the annals of their country.
It is evident, then, that no common appelation could have been fraught with such beneficial results; as there would have been nothing connected with it to stimulate enquiry or research. Repealers, Irish National Leagues, Whiteboys, Rockites, United Irishmen, &c., all had their day, and carried their meaning upon the surface; so that it was really necessary to give the new organization some occult, comprehensive and characteristic name, that would separate it in this aspect from all the Irish revolutionary bodies that had preceded it, and place it en rapport with the great past of the nation which was the grand receptacle of its traditions and source of its pride. Here, then, we leave this part of the subject, without presuming that we have thrown much more light upon the matter than has already been recognized by those who have at all looked into it; for it must, we think, be obvious to most Irish nationalists, that the energies and sentiments of their patriotic countrymen, could never have been grouped so successfully under any of the appelations just named, as they have been under that of “Fenians”—given, as we have already perceived, to the great national army of Ireland during the days of her early glory and power, and which alone represented the nation as a whole.
It is not our province to dwell here upon the infancy of the Brotherhood on either side of the Atlantic, or to enter into the various difficulties and unpleasant circumstances to which it has been subjected by alleged want of true patriotism and economy on the part of some of its founders. Sufficient to say, that through all such alleged obstructions it has struggled into the greatest and most powerful organization that has ever existed in any age of the world, and is, to-day, the mightiest and most invincible floating power that has ever influenced the destinies of any people. Its friends are numbered by millions and its members by hundreds upon hundreds of thousand. To its ranks belong soldiers, statesmen and orators, men of large pecuniary means and cultivated minds; cool heads and strong arms, and many guiding spirits who need but little light save that which shines within them. In addition, the sympathies of America and of every generous nation on the face of the earth, are with it; so that it has triumphed in advance, in a measure; for, backed by such influences, and actuated, as it is, by impulses so pure and holy, not a solitary doubt can obtain in relation to its ultimate success. True, that there are those who are thoughtless or traitorous enough to designate it as antagonistic to religion, and subversive, of the established order of things; but these, for the most part, are persons who reason through their pockets or their prejudices, and who are devoid of any thorough recognition of those great principles which are applicable to nations as well as to individuals and which are based upon the just doctrine, that resistence to tyrants is obedience to God—persons who are so methodical and patient under the sufferings of others, that they would pause to measure the precise length of rope that, was necessary to reach a drowning man. In the day of Ireland’s triumph, such people, will cone to confusion; as will those who have withheld from her, in the period of her sore travail, the pecuniary aid; which they could have well afforded out of their ample means, with a view to relieving their kinsmen and suffering fellow countrymen from the grasp of a tyrant the most inexorable that ever drew breath.
Were the Fenian organization confined entirely to Ireland, and did no active outside sympathy obtain for that unfortunate country the day of her redemption might be postponed to an indefinite period. So completely are all the resources and defences of the land in the hands of the English, that it would be difficult for the natives to make any lengthened or effective stand against the usurper. England has her, navy and her army to operate against any rising of the inhabitants, at a moment’s warning; while every office in the kingdom, of the slightest importance or trust, is in the hands of her minions. Again, among some of the recreant sons of the soil, she has, alas too ample scope for the use of her accursed gold; and thus it is; that to cope singled handed with her against such fearful odds, would involve oceans of blood, both on the field and on the scaffold. When, however, we come to dwell on the fact, that outside and beyond her control or reach, another body of Irish, which has been aptly termed a nation within a nation—when it comes to be understood, we say, that on the shores of free America a mighty and invincible Brotherhood has been built up, actuated by every sentiment of hostility which fires the breast of the most implacable of her enemies to-day, and that has for its aim and end an object in common with the people of Ireland at her own doors, then we begin to perceive how harrassed and powerless she must be. Neither her famine, fire nor sword, can avail her here. Secure beneath the ample folds of the glorious stars and stripes of the great Republic of America, and fired with the love of free institutions, and taught in the great principles of freedom by the liberty loving American people, this mighty band of exiles, in connection with their children born beneath the folds of the American flag, are steadily preparing to join fierce issue with her and test, upon the open field, the prowess she has so often set forth as superior to that of any other nation. This is what now disables and paralyses her. Ireland is, for the time being, beneath her heel; but what of the warlike hosts that loom in the western horizon and may soon rush down on her like a wolf on the fold, and wedge her in between two hostile walls? This is the great strength, of Ireland at the present moment. Her energies are not walled in by the ocean or a British fleet She is alive and active in other lands, and so powerful outside her own borders, that there is no such thing as circumscribing her influence or operations in so far as they relate to her struggles for independence. It is, then, from America that she is to obtain her most effective aid; and such being the case, it behooves the Irish nationalists on American soil to be true and steady to the great purpose in which they are now so ardently engaged; for so far, fortune has smiled upon them. The American people sympathize with them and feel that while they are aiding them to regain the long lost freedom of their country, they are bringing to the dust the very self-same enemy that sought, by stealth and the most cowardly means, to overthrow their own Commonwealth, and leave the Union a hopeless ruin before the world. It is this which now hangs a millstone about the neck of the British government, and which must ultimately develope itself in active sympathy with any people who have for their object the humiliation of the skull and cross-bones of St. George, on this side of the Atlantic at least.
And so the ball rolls; hourly accumulating force and magnitude, and destined, at no distant day, to sweep in upon Ireland and hurl the invader from her shores. No power on earth can stay its onward course. The freedom of Ireland is the creed of millions. The young lisp it; strong men repeat it in every clime; and the old of both hemispheres murmur it in their prayers. In short, it has taken a hold of the Irish heart wherever a true pulse warms it to-day, and has so incorporated itself with the hopes and aspirations of the Irish of all lands, that fate itself must yield to its power and universality. Within the last few years it has become part and parcel of the education of the Irish people wherever they are found; whether beneath the burning zone, in temperate latitudes or at the frozen poles; so that its ultimate success is beyond any possible contingency; from the fact that there never was a sentiment so widely spread and so it would attain.
All books are sourced from Project Gutenberg