Unlike the English or Germans who travelled across the Atlantic to the newly-founded United States with desires of religious liberty and economic opportunity, Irish emigrants were forcibly expelled from their native soil, and fled to the New World seeking refuge.
The proximate cause of this exodus, and the creation of the Irish-American diaspora, is conventionally attributed to the Famine, yet it is important to note the centuries-long shared history between Ireland and the United States begins in the earliest pages of American history. However, the contemporary identity of Irish-Americans has metamorphosed into something more distinct than preceding generations. Consequently a rediscovery of the deep-ties between Ireland and the United States is necessary for understanding the future of Irish-American relations.
In 1848, the rebellion of John Mitchel’s Young Irelanders ignited a political spark in Irish-America. James Stephens and John O’Mahony, participants in the failed rebellion, fled to Paris to coordinate future plans to free Ireland from British rule. Fenianism was then born from Stephens’ Irish Republican Brotherhood, and the Irish-American Fenian Brotherhood.
By 1858, 1.5 million Irish immigrants and their children had settled cramped, low-income housing within major cities such as Boston and New York. Many toiled in laborious jobs along the East coast, chasing opportunities that promised a degree of wealth previously unattainable to them. The Fenian Brotherhood capitalised on the financial support from these Irish men and women in America, bolstering Irish republicanism through their donations.
The Fenian Brotherhood in America proved hugely successful, growing to 300,000 members across 30 states by 1865. For those that joined, it served as a prominent vehicle of Irish-American communities to secure their interests in both the United States, and Ireland. These Irish emigrants, deeply affected by harrowing memories of the Famine, and having recently attained newfound wealth in communal diaspora institutions, felt a sense of obligation to their homeland. Thus began the tradition of Irish-American financial sponsorship for Ireland’s right to self-determination
The Fenian Brotherhood saw a significant influx of bond purchases numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Arms and supplies were purchased and sent back to Ireland with the aim of bolstering Ireland’s next independence rebellion. The Fenians in the United States demonstrated a that Ireland’s exiled children had not forgotten their native land and were willing to provide more than just financial support to achieve these goals. After the American Civil War, tens of thousands of Irish-American war veterans returned to the Northern United States. The return of these Irish-Americans sparked a sense of opportunity within the Fenian Brotherhood.
Now bolstered by the presence of experienced veterans, the Fenians set a plan to fight the British in Canada. Though 25,000 Fenians willing and ready to fight, the organisation was deeply divided as to whether these war-hardened veterans should be sent back to Ireland and spark a revolution, or to perpetrate a more daring invasion of Canada. Ultimately, backed by O’Mahony, the plan to invade British Canada won out.
Led by John O’Neill, 600 men crossed the Niagara River into Canada with the plan of holding strategic Canadian positions hostage in order to be used as a bargaining chip for Irish independence. The Fenian Raids relied on a key strategy to seize control over transportation networks across Canada, demonstrating the military prowess of the Irish-American diaspora. On June 1, 1866, the Fenian forces crossed into Canada and swiftly captured a strategic location: Fort Erie. The following day, the Battle of Ridgeway took place, resulting in casualties on both sides. Two Fenians were reported to have died during the battle, while 28 Canadian volunteers were killed. After their initial success, the Fenians withdrew back to the United States on the third day of their occupation in Canada.
Subsequently, on June 5th, 1866, President Andrew Johnson issued an executive order enforcing the neutrality laws, making attacks on Canada illegal. It is worth noting that the Battle of Ridgeway marked a significant event as it was the first time since 1745 that an Irish Army achieved a victory over the forces of the British Empire, despite being outnumbered. Later raids commenced in the following years with little success, although Irish republicanism in America would be considered massively successful due to this expression of Transatlantic nationalism in Irish-America.
Rather than daydreaming of a free Ireland, the Fenians attempted to free Ireland from 3000 miles away. The Fenian Brotherhood’s activities gradually declined and waned over time, leading to its eventual disintegration. Clan na Gael, created in 1867, would become its successor and later fund the most important Irish rebellion in Irish history: the Easter Rising.
With the outbreak of the First World War, Irish republican leaders recognised that the British Empire’s involvement in the conflict presented a moment for staging an uprising inside of Ireland. As preparations for the Easter Rising took place, John Devoy, an exiled Irish rebel established close connections with leaders such as Patrick Pearse, James Connolly, and Roger Casement. These leaders made several visits to the United States, organising pro-Irish rallies, delivering speeches, and mobilising as much support as possible for Irish self-determination.
Clan na Gael played a vital role in providing financial support, coordinating logistics, and procuring essential supplies for Ireland leading up to the Easter Rising. The Irish-American community’s immense population, approximately 20 million at that time, allowed them to raise a substantial sum of $100,000 ($2.5 million in today’s currency). Notably, Devoy orchestrated a meeting with the German Consulate in the U.S., initiating discussions on aligning German and Irish interests. Clan na Gael facilitated the sale of arms by Germany to Irish-Americans, aimed at increasing the prospects of a successful Easter Rising and causing complications for their common adversary, the British. Despite the British government uncovering the arms shipment before it could reach its destination, the rebellion proceeded as planned.
On April 24th, 1916, the Ireland issued a unilateral declaration of independence outside the famed GPO. Pearse, in his speech, set forth a path for Ireland to be free through the blood sacrifice of those who died during the Rising. In the words of the Proclamation, Irish-Americans are described as Ireland’s “exiled children.” Yet these exiled in America referred no only to first generation Irish-Americans like John Devoy, but also included those born of Ireland through blood; the children of Ireland who had had preserved their identity in America through the same sense of nationhood held by their ancestors. Irish-Americans became motivated nationalism expressed with a vision to see their motherland a way their parents and grandparents had not seen it: free.
After the executions of the Easter Rising leaders, Sir Cecil Spring Rice, the British Ambassador to the United States, sent a dispatch to London the following month describing the Irish-American conscience following the rebellion. He reported, “…I do not think that anything we could do would conciliate the Irish here. They have blood in their eyes when they look our way.” Irish independence was near, being pulled closer by the fundraising that came from the Irish-American wallet after the Easter Rising. The next stage of Irish Republicanism was not for an underground secret society, or another failed rebellion, but to become a mass movement on both sides of the Atlantic.
The Ireland’s War of Independence received its largest sponsorship from Clan na Gael. Irish republican organisations in American had been formed following the Rising, such as the Friends of Irish Freedom, which claimed 300,000 members by 1919. The American Association for Recognition of the Irish Republic, counted a further 700,000 members and raised over $10 million for the Irish republican movement in 1921. Irish-Americans exhibited a strong devotion to their ancestral homeland much like their parents in centuries prior.
The Irish diaspora in America had maintained its Irish identity for over 70 years since the Famine by actively supporting the fight for Irish independence. The foundation of the Irish Free State in 1921 was made possible through this widespread movement of Irish nationalism that resonated both in Ireland and America.
Throughout the tumultuous period of Troubles in Northern Ireland, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) engaged in a fierce struggle against British military forces. While this historical chapter is well-documented, the often-overlooked battleground of information warfare played a pivotal role. Beyond the clashes on the streets, an intricate information war unfolded with British intelligence agencies pushing to undermine global support for the IRA. This battle sought to weaken the flow of resources and backing reaching the IRA, shaping the narrative and perceptions on an international scale. As the conflict began to heat up, the British government attempted to shape the global narrative by branding the Irish resistance as mere terrorists. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, addressing the U.S. Congress in 1985, drew controversial parallels by likening Irish nationalists to the Muslim terrorists who had hijacked Trans World Airlines Flight 847. This attempt to equate the Irish struggle with global terrorism reverberated across international perspectives. Within the complex opinions held by Americans on the conflict, the Irish-American diaspora, offered a unique perspective. Unlike those who simplified the struggle as a battle between terrorists and a legitimate government, Irish-Americans brought nuance to the discourse, recognising the deep historical and cultural dimensions that defined the Irish experience in both the United States and their ancestral homeland.
The policy of internment without trial, alongside Bloody Sunday ignited raging support from Irish-Americans in support of their cousins in Northern Ireland. In 1970, NORAID was founded by Michael Flannery, who himself was formerly a member of the IRA in the 1920s. Recognising the potential for funding from the communities where Irish immigrants had settled after the Famine, the organisation orchestrated various initiatives, ranging from dinner parties to grassroots donation drives, and strategic lobbying efforts with state senators. Beyond its humanitarian mission, NORAID supplied a significant portion of resources to the PIRA. By 1985, 15 years since NORAIDs founding, up to $3 million had been supplied to the IRA. Although suspicions linger that the actual amount could be higher due to known instances of NORAID altering its documents. What had initially started as a modest organisation in New York City burgeoned into a nationwide political campaign, serving as the fundraising backbone for the IRA and garnering support from every corner of America.
NORAID became so consequential to the conflict that Margaret Thatcher advocated to ban it, echoing English complaints about American support and asserting that the IRA’s activities were made possible by American assistance. Such claims added political pressure on Irish-Americans involved in supporting the IRA but did slow down the stream of weapons. NORAID then faced the U.S government which sued the organisation for sponsorship of the IRA in Ireland and was found guilty in 1981. U.S. District Judge Charles S. Haight Jr. wrote that, “The uncontroverted evidence is that [NORAID] is an agent of the IRA, providing money and services for other than relief purposes.”
The connection between the Irish diaspora and their homeland is one unlike no other. The diaspora in America consistently demonstrated a commitment to Irish freedom, transcending geographical boundaries. The conclusion drawn throughout centuries of Irish residence in North America is clear: Irish-Americans wish to maintain their Irish identity, not only in the United States, but to fulfil their obligations to national cause of the Irish Republic.
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