WATCH: Irish history expert Davy Holden on the Fenian Brotherhood in NYC

Editor's Note: IrishCentral is delighted to be partnering with Davy Holden, an Irish history expert from Co Kilkenny, on a series of videos he created while recently visiting the US. Stay tuned for more from Davy!

On St. Patrick's Day, 1858, the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) was founded on Lombard Street in Dublin. This was a secret Irish revolutionary organisation, with the objective of achieving Irish independence. 

With the mass emigration of Irish people to the United States throughout the 1840s and 1850s, an American Branch of the IRB seemed a no-brainer. The American Branch was founded in New York City by Limerick man, John O’Mahony, and they took on the name ‘The Fenian Brotherhood.'

The humble beginnings of the Fenian Brotherhood began in a room on Center Street, Manhattan, but they soon moved to 22 Duane Street in Manhattan. In 1865, they moved to a much fancier building called the Moffat Mansion, which was right on the Northwestern Corner of Union Square, Manhattan (the current location of the Barnes and Noble store). 

Tens of thousands of these Fenians would fight in the American Civil War while a rebellion was being planned in Ireland. And believe it or not, during the American Civil War, when the Fenians held conventions and meetings in Cincinnati and Chicago, Irish-born Confederate Officers were permitted to go through the lines and attend.

By the time the American Civil War ended, the British were onto the IRB, and a rebellion in Ireland seemed hopeless, with some of its main leaders being arrested. Some of the Fenians in America grew impatient - and they took matters into their own hands. At the time, the closest British-controlled territory to them wasn’t Ireland, it was Canada.

The idea of an Irish invasion of Canada came from two Cork lads living in New York, Thomas Sweeny and William Roberts. In 1865, Sweeny wrote a letter to Roberts saying: "The Fenians in Ireland are totally unprepared.

“The Canadian frontier, extending from the north of the St. Lawrence to Lake Huron, a distance of more than 1,300 miles, is assailable at all points."

Shortly after moving to their new fancy premises, the Fenian Brotherhood split into two factions -the original John O’Mahony faction in the Moffat Mansion, and the William Roberts faction with a separate headquarters at 706 Broadway, Manhattan. Believe it or not, a lot of the weapons used by the Fenians in the 1860’s were sold to them by the President Andrew Johnson administration. Thomas Sweeny, a former Union Army Brigadier General, bought thousands of rifles from the government arsenals in Pennsylvania and Upstate New York. 

On May 31, 1866, the Fenians made their biggest move. In Buffalo, NY, they crossed the Niagara River into British North America.

You can watch Davy Holden discuss the Fenian Brotherhood here:

You can watch more of Davy Holden's Irish history content on his website and Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok pages.