“Cast your eye across the Atlantic, my countrymen..." : the transatlantic orientation of the Fenian Brotherhood

Abstract

This thesis evaluates the rhetoric of the Irish nationalist organization known as the Fenian Brotherhood contained in the published documents and privet letters created by the organization. Examining these documents reveal a deep transatlantic orientation among the leaders of the Brotherhood. These documents present the situation in Ireland and England as being a major justification for the organization. Similarly the sources discuss the United States in terms of how it relates to Ireland. In all of the various aspects of the Fenian Brotherhood's literature the authors express a deep concern for the need to liberate Ireland.