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OriginsJames Stephens, one of the "Men of 1848," (a participant in the 1848 revolt) had established himself in Paris, and was in correspondence with O'Mahony in the United States and other radical nationalists at home and abroad. A club called the Phoenix National and Literary Society, with Jeremiah Donovan (afterwards known as O'Donovan Rossa) among its more prominent members, had recently been formed at Skibbereen. Stephens visited it in May 1858 and made it the centre of his preparations for armed rebellion. The object of Stephens, O'Mahony, and other leaders of the movement was to form a league of Irishmen in all parts of the world against British rule in Ireland. The organization was modelled on that of the Jacobins of the French Revolution; they even formed a "Committee of Public Safety" in Paris, with a number of subsidiary committees and affiliated clubs. The Fenians were soon found in Australia, South America, Canada, and above all in the United States, as well as in the large cities of Great Britain such as London, Manchester, and Glasgow. The Fenians had more trouble gaining the support of the tenant-farmers or agricultural labourers in Ireland, because of their fears of British government reprisals. The early movement was also denounced by the Roman Catholic Church, as indeed were all Irish separatist movements that advocated the use of force. One Irish bishop famously declared that "Hell is not hot enough, nor eternity long enough" for the Fenians. It would be a few years after its foundation before the IRB made much headway. The Phoenix Club conspiracy in County Kerry had been betrayed by an informer and was crushed by the government. Some twenty ringleaders were put on trial, including Donovan, and when they pleaded guilty were, with a single exception, treated with leniency. 1867 revolt and land agitation
In the years following the failed revolt against the English, leaders of the IRB carried out their own foreign policy, and courted support from ambassadors of nations they perceived as enemies of England. When the chances of war with England were fading, IRB looked for allies among other Irish national groups, and on the cusp of the 1870–1880s, their attempts at coalition building were successful. From amongst the many Irish nationalist organisations, a coalition was formed among the IRB and sections of the Irish Land League. In 1882, a breakaway IRB faction calling themselves the Irish National Invincibles assassinated the British Chief Secretary for Ireland Lord Frederick Cavendish and his secretary (see Phoenix Park Murders). In March 1883 the London Metropolitan Police's Special Irish Branch was formed, initially as a small section of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), to monitor IRB activities. Subsequently, the term 'Irish Branch' was replaced by the Special Branch title, as over time it took on responsibility for countering a wider range of revolutionary and anarchist activity. Nineteenth-century Fenianism was among the most important movements in modern Irish history. Its radicalism influenced later leaders like Patrick Pearse and Éamon de Valera and the IRB was well placed in the subsequent independence movement with Michael Collins at the helm. However, though influential in radical nationalism, the early IRB never gained widespread popular support and its attempts to stage rebellions in Ireland failed dismally. Its impact was through the ideas it developed among later Irish nationalists. Later historyRevitalised from about 1910, the IRB was the chief organising force behind the Easter Rising of 1916, under the leadership of such men as Tom Clarke, Sean MacDermott and Patrick Pearse. The IRB infiltrated the Irish Volunteers, and commandeered them to act as the military wing of the republican movement, against the wishes of the Volunteers' leadership. It was also a major influence during the 1919–21 Irish War of Independence. Its president since the summer of 1919 was Michael Collins, who was also a chief organising force behind the Irish Republican Army. Due to Collins' leadership, the IRB accepted the Anglo-Irish Treaty agreed by Collins with the British government as compatible with its aims and dissolved itself. In fact, Collins used the IRB in 1922 as a vehicle for getting the Treaty accepted by IRA officers. This was somewhat strange as the IRB had up to this point been the most extreme Irish republican organisation. Anti-Treaty republicans like Ernie O'Malley[1], who fought a civil war against the Treaty, saw the IRB at this time as being used to undermine the Irish Republic. Following the civl war in 1924, the Supreme Council under Collins' protoge Richard Mulcahy as chairman, voted to dissolve the organization, deeming that its goals had been achieved. OrganisationThe Irish Republican Brotherhood was led by an eleven member Supreme Council, consisting of representatives from the seven districts in which the organization was active: the Irish provinces of Ulster, Munster, Leinster, and Connacht, as well as Scotland, North England, and South England. Four other members were co-opted, and together this council elected three of its members to the executive, which consisted of President, Secretary, and Treasurer. Presidents of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (1858-1922)The Supreme Council of the IRB was established in 1869. Nevertheless, James Stephens and Thomas J. Kelly are usually recognized as presidents or chairmen of the organization. Theoretically, its presidence could have changed every two years between 1869 and 1922. Here there is a provisional list of the IRB presidents. It goes without saying that many dates are uncertain. Apart from that, whoever was IRB president didn't necessarily play a major factor in what the movement was doing, as sometimes it was just an honourable title.
The oathThe oath of the Irish Republican Brotherhood changed throughout the years, though the one probably best known goes as follows: In the presence of God, I, …, do solemnly swear that I will do my utmost to establish the independence of Ireland, and that I will bear true allegiance to the Supreme Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and the Government of the Irish Republic and implicitly obey the constitution of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and all my superior officers and that I will preserve inviolable the secrets of the organisation. Footnotes
This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, which is in the public domain. See also
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