In the 1840s new patriotic associations were formed to push for political and social reforms, such as the Young Ireland movement; pamphlets were printed and orators such as James Fintan Lalor (1809 – 1849) –but James Stephens (1825 – 1901) began calling for armed insurrection, at a time when the whole of Europe seemed to be exploding into open rebellion against autocratic rule. From Paris to Vienna, Copenhagen to Bucharest, from Amsterdam to Budapest, a springtime of nationalist revival, liberal ideas and revolutionary demands for democratic reform was sweeping the continent and threatening to topple monarchies like nothing ever seen before. By 1848, Irish nationalists joined the fray, but like much of the rest of Europe, their poorly coordinated and poorly led insurrection collapsed almost as soon as it began, emaciated peasants being no match for professional soldiers, armed with artillery and state of the art muskets. Britain quickly passed new sedition laws banning freedom of speech or criticism of the government. Nevertheless Stephens planned a new rebellion - called the Fenian Rising for 1867 and this would have the support of Irish veterans returning from America where they had participated in the American civil war. In addition, many Irishmen who were serving in the British Army out of desperation to escape poverty were prevailed upon to dessert at the time of the Rising and join their countrymen in liberating their homeland. But the British were one step ahead of them and this uprising failed as quickly as the previous one. Dissidents were rounded up and typically received a sentence of transportation for life to penal colonies, where hard labour and misery awaited them.

This Extract is from our full length video entitled: The Irish Problem, Fenian Rebels and the Catalpa Rescue; which you can watch here:    • The Irish Problem, Fenian Rebels & th...  

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