The
Irish Republican (or sometimes Revolutionary) Brotherhood, the IRB, developed
out of the Young Ireland movement. They were founded in Ireland in 1858 by James
Stephens and in America by John O'Mahony with the name of the Fenian
Brotherhood. The first major impact they had was the funeral of Thomas Bellew
McManus. Their newspaper The Irish People ran very successfully from 1863
until its suppression in 1865. Many hundreds of Fenians were arrested around
this period.
The Fenian uprising in 1867 was a sporadic and short lived
affair. After that, its activities declined but it continued to influence Irish
politics even up to the present day. Thomas Clarke revived the Irish branch in
1907 and the IRB beca
me
the driving force behind the Easter Rising.