Fenian Brotherhood invasion of Canada commemorated in Buffalo, New York

An important fact about the American Fenians is that they had strong Protestant represntation. Soon after the Civil War their President, Corkman Wm. Roberts was a Protestand, and his Minister for War, Tom Sweeney, was his co-religionist and fellow Corkonian. In Montreal in June of 1866, over 60 Fenians had been capture and 16 of these P.O.W.s were Protestants, including Rev. David Lumsden, a Scottisg-born Episcopal clergyman. Few in today's American Irish community seem to have very much knowledge on the Fenians.

One of the reasons the Fenians invaded Canada was because they felt that the Irish in Ireland were craven and cowardly, and riddled with traitors who would sell out for a shilling or two. Not much has changed in a century and a half!