The Fenian Empire: A Hemispheric History of Irish Republican Nationalism

In the aftermath of the American Civil War, the Fenian movement stood at a crossroads. Thousands of demobilized Irish soldiers held the power to reshape history. Inspired by a popular desire to expel monarchical and aristocratic influence from the New World, many American Fenians began to align their efforts to establish an independent Irish Republic with the wider aims of American republican expansion. In doing so, the Fenians’ fight for Irish liberation became more than a single cause. It was a web of alliances, contradictions, and ambitions, carried out under a common banner of republicanism.

Drawing on an expansive range of archives and sources across multiple languages, Mahoney delivers a fresh take on the Fenian story, guiding readers through a world of clandestine meetings, personal networks, propaganda, and long-forgotten military operations. What results is a groundbreaking look at how one struggle echoed across the revolutionary landscape of the Civil War era.