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SARSFIELD CIRCLE-FENIAN BROTHERHOOD

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SARSFIELD CIRCLE-FENIAN BROTHERHOOD. The Fenian Brotherhood traces its origins to 1690 and the Irish Republican Army seeking an end to British rule in Ireland initially for self-government and then the establishment of an Irish Republic. Following the collapse of the rebellion, the British Prime Minister William Pitt introduced a bill to abolish the Irish parliament and manufactured a Union between Ireland and Britain. Opposition from the Protestants that controlled the parliament was countered by the widespread and open use of bribery. The Act of Union was passed and became law January 1, 1801. The Catholics, who had been excluded from the Irish parliament, were promised emancipation under the Union. This promise was never kept and caused a long and bitter struggle for civil liberties. It was not until 1829 that the British government reluctantly conceded Catholic Emancipation. Though leading to general emancipation, this process disenfranchised the small tenants, known as 'forty shilling freeholders', who were mainly Catholics.

Daniel O'Connell, who had led the emancipation campaign, attempted the same methods in his campaign to have the Act of Union with Britain repealed. Despite the use of petitions and public meetings that attracted vast popular support, the government thought the Union was more important than Irish public opinion

During the famine, the social class of small farmers and laborers was almost wiped out by starvation, disease and emigration. The Great Famine of the 1840s caused the deaths of one million Irish people and over a million more emigrated to escape it. The waves of emigration because of the famine and in the years following also ensured that such feelings would not be confined to Ireland, but spread to England, the United States, Australia and every country where Irish emigrants gathered.

The Fenian Brotherhood was founded in America in 1858. In 1863 the Brotherhood adopted a constitution and rules for general government. The First National Congress was organized in Chicago in November 1863. It allowed the organization to be “reconstituted on the model of the institutions of the Republic, governing itself on the elective principle.” Motions were passed to elect a Head Centre, with a Central Council of five elected members in 1863. This was extended to a Council of ten members at the second congress in Philadelphia, Missouri in January 1865, also with a President to be elected by the Council. This established a more distinctive republican style of governance with a Central Council or Senate and a Chief of the Senate, as well as a Presidential role with limited powers.

Ten dollar bond
Twenty dollar bond

In the United States two Fenian factions raised money by the issue of bonds in the name of the "Irish Republic," which were bought by the faithful in the expectation of their being honored when Ireland should be "A Nation Once Again". These bonds were to be redeemed "six months after the recognition of the independence of Ireland." Hundreds of thousands of Irish immigrants subscribed.

The Fenian Brotherhood continued to exist until voting to disband in 1880.

The 1868 Guide, Gazetteer and Directory of the Dubuque & Soux (sic) City Railroad stated that this organization was for men of Irish nationality. There were two hundred fifty members and a weekly meeting was held in SHINE'S BLOCK.

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Source:

"Fenian Brotherhood," Wikipedia, Online: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenian_Brotherhood