Mugshots of Irish Civil War veterans imprisoned in Ireland in 1866

chubachus

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Three men imprisoned at Mountjoy Prison in Dublin, Ireland, taken in November 1866. More information on their service during the war and membership in the Fenian Brotherhood here: http://irishamericancivilwar.com/20...gshots-of-american-civil-war-veterans-part-1/
 
Wow! That's really interesting. Top and bottom have a kind of haunted, or melancholy look about them. Middle guy I wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley. I posted this in another thread re: recruitment overseas for the Union army:

'He also sketched out his idea of using service in the war as a training ground for a new breed of Irish warriors who would turn their skills at war against the British after the Confederate rebellion was suppressed'.

https://longislandwins.com/news/national/thomas-meagher-the-irish-rebel-joins-the-union-army/

The Irish didn't often go into a fight without the British in mind, it seems.

Thanks again to @Pat Young for that very interesting article. It seems some of these men did return to Ireland for the purposes intended.
 
Some years after the war, Rafael Semmes gave a talk here in Galveston to an Irish group that had Fenian inclinations -- I'll have to go back and look that up.
 
Wow! That's really interesting. Top and bottom have a kind of haunted, or melancholy look about them. Middle guy I wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley. I posted this in another thread re: recruitment overseas for the Union army:

'He also sketched out his idea of using service in the war as a training ground for a new breed of Irish warriors who would turn their skills at war against the British after the Confederate rebellion was suppressed'.

https://longislandwins.com/news/national/thomas-meagher-the-irish-rebel-joins-the-union-army/

The Irish didn't often go into a fight without the British in mind, it seems.

Thanks again to @Pat Young for that very interesting article. It seems some of these men did return to Ireland for the purposes intended.

The sentiment of using their experiences in the Civil War against the British in Ireland is pretty prevalent among the Irish and led to some of the problems that arose during the war. While the Irish were fairly enthusiastic in the early stages of the war, that sentiment waned among the Irish nationalists as the war dragged on and casualties mounted. I've seen some officers complaining that the Irish were being bled white in America when the real fight was back home in Ireland.

Ryan
 
Wow! That's really interesting. Top and bottom have a kind of haunted, or melancholy look about them. Middle guy I wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley. I posted this in another thread re: recruitment overseas for the Union army:

'He also sketched out his idea of using service in the war as a training ground for a new breed of Irish warriors who would turn their skills at war against the British after the Confederate rebellion was suppressed'.

https://longislandwins.com/news/national/thomas-meagher-the-irish-rebel-joins-the-union-army/

The Irish didn't often go into a fight without the British in mind, it seems.

Thanks again to @Pat Young for that very interesting article. It seems some of these men did return to Ireland for the purposes intended.
Guy in the middle reminds me of the police sergeant on "Ripper Street."
 
Unfortunately for the Fenians, the British government in Ireland (usually referred to simply as "Dublin Castle") had a superlative G-Division (domestic intelligence). They had agents everywhere, with plenty of money to spread around, and they knew just how to take advantage of the Irish penchant for drink and loquaciousness. Most of the Irish veterans returning from America were expected, and quietly picked up soon after they arrived. To ease already strained relations with Washington, the Brits simply deported most of them back to the States -- where many of them joined in the Fenian incursions into Canada..

The Fenians had an ambitious but not very well thought-out plan, including subverting some of the British Army's Irish regiments stationed in Ireland. But, between squabbling factions that couldn't agree on timing or leadership, and British foreknowledge (most of the leaders were arrested shortly before the rebellion was to start), the Fenian Rising of Feb./March 1867 fizzled quickly.

They left a lot of fine songs about "Bould Fenian Men," and a hard lesson that was well-learned by the leaders of the 1920-21 War of Independence.
 
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There's a flavor of this in a speech I just ran across last week, maybe it makes sense- St. Patrick's Day toast, in NYC. They toasted, among others, the 69th NY ( gentleman in one of the shots was enlisted in the 69th ). Speech made reference to fighting British aristocracy, albeit compared that fight to the current.

Quite a few Irish veterans became fighters against American aristocracy anyway, post war. The Ancient Order of the Hiberians helped object to the whole idea over here, only under a less legal guise- The Molly Maguires.
 
Unfortunately for the Fenians, the British government in Ireland (usually referred to simply as "Dublin Castle") had a superlative G-Division (domestic intelligence). They had agents everywhere, with plenty of money to spread around, and they knew just how to take advantage of the Irish penchant for drink and loquaciousness. Most of the Irish veterans returning from America were expected, and quietly picked up soon after they arrived. To ease already strained relations with Washington, the Brits simply deported most of them back to the States -- where many of them joined in the Fenian incursions into Canada..

The Fenians had an ambitious but not very well thought-out plan, including subverting some of the British Army's Irish regiments stationed in Ireland. But, between squabbling factions that couldn't agree on timing or leadership, and British foreknowledge (most of the leaders were arrested shortly before the rebellion was to start), the Fenian Rising of Feb./March 1867 fizzled quickly.

They left a lot of fine songs about "Bould Fenian Men," and a hard lesson that was well-learned by the leaders of the 1920-21 War of Independence.

Also, Fenianism was not very popular at the time. There was a great deal of hostility in Ireland towards the US for their aggressive recruiting, especially after the conscription acts passed. If there's one thing the Irish hate, it's conscription. In 1916 the government troops had to stop the Dublin crowds murdering the IV/ICA men in the streets after their surrender, but in 1918 the passage of an Irish conscription act caused a major break between the people and the government of Ireland.
 
Also, Fenianism was not very popular at the time. There was a great deal of hostility in Ireland towards the US for their aggressive recruiting, especially after the conscription acts passed. If there's one thing the Irish hate, it's conscription. In 1916 the government troops had to stop the Dublin crowds murdering the IV/ICA men in the streets after their surrender, but in 1918 the passage of an Irish conscription act caused a major break between the people and the government of Ireland.
If you are talking only about 1916, you are correct.

U.S. conscription during the ACW was in no way a serious issue in Ireland. The great majority of Irish in the U.S. army were willing volunteers, not conscripts. The Irish people generally supported the "side" their emigrant sons fought for (if they "supported" either ... most didn't).
 
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