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The Fenian Rising breaks out in Ireland

When
1867
Where
Dublin; Kilclooney Wood; Belfast
Episodes
3

The Fenian Rising broke out in Ireland on 5 March 1867, following years of preparation and repression. Despite plans for a coordinated insurrection, the event proved poorly organised, with risings occurring in Dublin, Cork, and Limerick. Contemporary reports described the outbreak as a failure, noting the refusal of local peasantry to participate and the effective response of the Constabulary.

Episodes

  1. January to 11 March 1867 · BelfastBelfast Arms Caches

    Police discovered arms caches in Belfast in the weeks surrounding the rising, including a Pound Street haul on 11 March 1867, less than a week after the failed rising at Tallaght.

  2. 5 March 1867 · DublinDublin Rising

    The Dublin centre ordered the rising to start on 5 March 1867, resulting in a failed outbreak described as a total failure by contemporary reports.

  3. 31 March 1867 · Kilclooney WoodDeath of Peter O'Neill Crowley

    Peter O'Neill Crowley, a Fenian leader, was shot and killed resisting arrest at Kilclooney Wood on 31 March 1867.

Background and detail

Background. Following the suppression of the Irish People newspaper in September 1865, IRB leader James Stephens sought funds in the United States for a rising planned for 1867. The movement had been weakened by mass arrests following the suspension of habeas corpus in 1866. Although preparations began in 1865, the decision was taken in February 1867 not to proceed in Ulster due to military strength and prior arrests.

Outbreak. The Dublin centre received orders to start the rising on 5 March 1867. Risings took place in Dublin, Cork City, and Limerick. In Kerry, the movement was described as a disjointed affair that dissolved because the local peasantry refused to participate. In Dublin, the outbreak was characterized as a total failure, with the Constabulary praised for their conduct at Tallaght.

Aftermath. Following the collapse of the rising, arms caches were discovered in Belfast. Peter O'Neill Crowley was killed resisting arrest in March 1867. Between April and June 1867, 169 prisoners were tried before Special Commissions. The Irish Constabulary was renamed the Royal Irish Constabulary in September 1867 as a mark of the Queen's satisfaction with the force's conduct during the rising.

People involved

Sources

  1. Fenian Rising Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-22

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.