"THE FENIANS PLACE IN IRISH HISTORY"
from a web page entitled,"Irish History and Culture"
If you are an old time subscriber you will remember a piece I wrote in the summer of '93' entitled, "The Little Mouse that Roared" after a delightful Alex Guiness flick of the same name in which a very small nation tried to invade the US in Vicking-like ships and armed with long bows. Like the Fenians in this story, they were unsuccesful.
You should be interested in the Fenian Raids for Donald's sons, Laughlin, Michael and Ronald Mc Donald were conscripted into the Canadian militia that was formed to resist this Irish brotherhood which was the forerunner of today's IRA.
"With the reduction of Montreal, a demand will be made upon the United States for a formal recognition of Canada, whose name will be changed at once to New Ireland."
Fenian Manifesto
During the middle of the 19th Century, a series of factors combined to create a new Irish patriotic movement. This organization was a revolutionary group dedicated to the overthrow of British rule in Ireland. It had its roots in both the United States and Ireland and was popularly known as The Fenian Movement, in honour of the Fianna, the ancient Irish warriors.
The origin of the term Fenian comes from Irish folklore. It described an ancient group of Knights who were self-reliant and had a passion for Irish land. So great was their passion according to the legend, they gave up a chance for world dominion to keep Ireland. This fit very closely with the beliefs of the modern movement and was taken as the organization name.
Times were hard for the Irish, and had been since England took control of the land. In the middle of the 1840's, however, things got much worse. The potato famine of 1845-1848 was a great disaster to the Irish population. In the space of three short years, the inhabitants of the country declined by over two million souls. Some of these two million people immigrated to America while most starved to death or died of disease.
After the famine ended, times remained very hard for the Irish. They never completely recovered from the disaster and many more Irish immigrated to America during the 1850's. Most of these people were of a very strong patriotic belief in their home country, and only left because they had to survive.
On St. Patrick's Day, 1858, James Stephens and Thomas Clark Luby started the Fenian organization in Ireland as the Irish Republican Brotherhood when they swore each other in as members. James had been a participant in the Young Ireland Movement of 1848. A friend of James Stephens, John O'Mahoney (also of the Young Ireland movement) started the Fenian Movement in the United States at about the same time. Both portions of the movement gained supporters rapidly, especially during 1861. This influx was largely contributed to the death of Terrance Bellew MacManus, a hero of the Young Ireland movement who died in this year. Upon his request, his body was shipped from San Francisco to Ireland for burial, and all along the route patriotic Irish paid their respects.
In Ireland the movement was largely unsuccessful, as the British clamped down on it quickly in a successful effort to stop the problem. They did, however, manage to get the attention of Parliament to focus for a short time on the "Irish problems".
In the United States however, the organization continued to grow quickly. Many of the American members gained military experience during the American Civil War and therefore were becoming a force to be feared. Rumors spread that the American Fenians were going to invade what is now Canada. The rumours were not unfounded, as the American group was quickly gaining arms, money, and various other kinds of support including that of the US government.
According to Donald MacKay, author of Flight from Famine, the Fenians planned three separate invasions:
"The one aimed at Campobello Island in New Brunswick never materialized; that at Fort Erie and Ridgeway in Upper Canada was driven back after some initial success; and the effort to invade Quebec's Eastern Townships near Frelighsburg was thwarted by Montreal militia, among them Patrick Devlin, president of the St. Patrick's Society, and other Catholics of the sort the Fenians had hoped to recruit."
Flight From Famine, p. 320,
The goal of the invasion was to attain control of what is now Canada and hold it in ransom for the freedom of Ireland. Their initial efforts were somewhat successful, but were quickly tempered by the American government, which stepped in to stop the raids.
The Fenians were a ragtail bunch
Seumas McManus, author of The Story of the Irish Race, says the withdrawal of American governmental support for the Fenians dealt a serious blow to the movement:
"The invasion of Canada, which would undoubtedly have been a successful move, and a severe blow to England, was stopped by the unexpected action of the American Government, which, having tacitly encouraged the scheme, and permitted the plans to be ripened, stepped in at the last moment to prevent it."
"The Story of the Irish Race", p. 619
Had it not been for this American assistance to the British cause, the raids might have been successful and the history of Canada could have been quite different. The raids continued through 1871, although the organization was now full of spies, which reported and therefore spoiled all remaining efforts.
It has been suggested that the threat of the Fenians was a major cause for the union of provinces into the confederation that became Canada. This appears to be at least partially true. While the Fenian Brotherhoods did not actually achieve their goal of a Free Ireland, they did successfully pass the flame of liberty to the next generation. It was this generation, including Michael Collins and many more, which actually achieved the goal so long striven for: the freedom and independence of Ireland."
Lauchlin served in the 4th Cape Breton Regiment. Michael in the 1st and Ronald in the 5th Regiment and because Cape Breton was not invaded they did not see action but they did receive a $100 pension each for the rest of their lives. They also earned the handsome medal pictured below, but whether they ever applied for it, we are not certain.
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Many thanks to cousin Pat Katz in San Diego County for this one:
"I heard a story recently about a student named Donald MacDonald from the Isle of Skye (in Scotland) who was admitted into the prestigious Oxford University and was living in the hall of residence in his first year there. His clan was so excited that one of their own had made it into the upper class of education, but they were concerned how he would do in "that strange land." After the first month, his mother came to visit.
"And how do you find the English students, Donald?" she asked.
"Mother," he replied in his thick brogue, "they're such terrible, noisy people. The one on that side keeps banging his head against the wall, and he won't stop. The one on the other side screams and screams and screams away into the night."
"Oh, Donald! How do you manage to put up with those awful noisy English neighbors?"
"Mother, I do nothing. I just ignore them. I just stay here quietly, playing my bagpipes..."
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MULL OF K REVISITED
I don't know if you have ever caught the story behind the tune "Mull of Kintre" on my home page but I would like to retell it because it is one of my favorites and it should be playing on your PC right now, unless you use the Mozilla browser
This is a response from some UK relatives to cousin John Frye who was asking for some background on the song "Mull of Kintyre"
"So - the Mull of Kintyre has caught up with you - my family wants to know where you have been for the past 20 years! I guess it seems odd because the events of 1978 were so much a part of our lives. I shall give you a little of this story, but am sending you (by "pigeon post") some very old printouts from our local newspaper of the time, which I have kept in my scrap book. Please excuse the quality, but it gives you some idea of what was going on. Firstly, a "mull" is the end of a peninsula, and there are hundreds of them all round the Scottish coast. Kintyre was our bit of Argyll, and Campbeltown the nearest town to the mull. We lived on a hillside overlooking the loch, and in the 1970s Paul McCartney bought an old farmhouse across another hill at the back of our house. He converted some of the out buildings into a recording studio, and when he married Linda they did up the house and employed a farm manager to run the estate properly. They used to spend every summer up there when the children were small, saying it was the one place in the world they could feel free to "be themselves". Our eldest daughter Kate used to collect for the local Lifeboat, and she and a friend would walk over the fields to collect a contribution, and have coffee in the kitchen with Linda. (It was a very long walk round on the road.) Paul was always very generous to local charities. The idea of the "Mull of Kintyre" came to him on a walk by the sea - and the mist really does come rolling in from the sea! He got the local Pipe Band together for a backing session and had a great barbecue on the beach after the recording had been made. We knew it was good, but it was a surprise that it became the longest running hit Single in British history! It is interesting that we heard it several times a day at the time, and were fed up with it, but Alison said when she heard it many years later on a hot day in Florida, she was crying buckets! Paul still owns the farm, which is managed for him, but I don't think he has been there since Linda died. All the best for now (bright and sunny on the south coast of UK!)
Evanne. Graham & Evanne Woodley"
A few time before the closing sessions of London Town, Paul issued Mull Of Kintyre as a single. This title, written with the help of Denny Laine, was not included in the final album.
This song is a beautiful ballad about the scottish peninsula of Kintyre and it's probably the biggest hit performed by Wings. The recording sessions took place in Paul's scottish farm in August 1977.
During these sessions, Paul was helped by a local scottish group, the Campbeltown Pipes Band, who plays all those fine and famous bagpipes lines in the song.
As Modified from a Web page
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OUR RICH HERITAGE
When I began genealogical research in 1976 (Wow! almost
thirty years ago) one of the first clues I found to our
heritage was this biography in a book entitled” The History of
San Luis Obispo County” by Annie Morrison, 1917. These pages
opened up pandora's box for me for I was able to follow
up and contact sources in Nova Scotia that told me much more about our heritage. As you can see, we come from a rich and
illustrious tradition.
.
“MICHAEL McDONALD.—A resident of California since 1868, and a man who, by energy and application, has accomplished much since first he located in the frontier country along the Estrella, "Murdoch" McDonald, as Michael McDonald is familiarly known by everyone, enjoys to an exceptional degree, as the oldest settler of that region, the esteem and good will of his fellows. Born in Sydney, Cape Breton county, N. S., March 15, 1844, Murdoch McDonald is descended from the McDonalds of Inverness-shire, Scotland, the famous and doughty Lords of the Isle, the mention of whose name and deeds makes the blood of the patriotic Scotchman tingle. The McDonalds are, in fact, a part of the royal line from Somhairle Mor MacGille Bride, a brave warrior who ruled the greater part of Argyleshire and the western part of Inverness-shire. There is a statement that Somhairle was descended from Conu Cued-Chatbach, a king of Ireland, who is said to have reigned about the year 125 ; but this has not been authenticated, and it may be an unfounded fable. What seems to be certain is that Somhairle was slain in battle at Renfrew in 1164, and that his eldest son, Dougall, was a progenitor of the McDougalls, of Lome, whose fourth son, Ronald, had a son, Donald, who became a very distinguished person, so much so that from him the surname of McDonald was adopted. His grandson, Angus, fought with Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn. It was one of his sons, Ronald, who was the ancestor of the clan Ronald McDonald, and he was succeeded by his eldest son, Allan, and his son, Donald, had two sons. From Alexander, the youngest, the McDonalds of Glengarry are descended, and as Murdoch McDonald is a lineal descendant of this clan, it is not surprising that he has named his ranch the Glengarry.
Murdoch’s father was Donald McDonald, of Inverness, Scotland, who migrated to Sydney, N. S., where he became a prosperous farmer. His mother, on the other hand, was a native of Nova Scotia, whose maiden name was Theresa Gillis. Both father and mother died in that maritime province. A brother of Murdoch is Laughlin McDonald, now living at Hanford.
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Should Have Been a Travel Agent
I found this message from my late cousin Shyrl Hacker (on the left above with my sis and I) in my files. It makes one want to pack their bags and make a visit to N.S. She could sure turn a phrase.
"Nova Scotia juts out into the Atlantic in the shape of a lobster's claw. And, as we journeyed around that claw last September, every restaurant offered lobster along with delectable shrimp, scallops and just about everything else except Siamese fighting fish.
To watch the scallop fleet return may introduce a game for tourists. The small boats flash brilliant colors, and the game is to match up boats with houses along the shore.
"Boats are painted first, "our tour guide informed us." Houses receive paint that's left over. Makes an address easy to locate except when a fisherman has to borrow paint from a neighbor to finish a wall. "
Scenery changes rapidly as the soaring, dipping, winding road falls behind the bus. The sea, cobalt to turquoise, gives way to a sea of grass; the vast Tantramar marsh, a green expanse broken only by an occasional weather-grayed barn. Early fall rain curtains the marsh with a warm mist as the sun returns to toast the silvery fur of pussy willow along the dykes.
Here comes the wind to funnel up Fundy Bay, to wave acres of grass tops, to waft the scent of wild roses and pine needles, to toss the gulls swarming in when the tides go out.
Here, in this province supported by lumber and fishing, here in this sea-haunted land, the pace of past centuries adheres to each day like barnacles to boats. Sturdy people reveal a strength of character earned by living in isolation and by living to the rythm of earth and tide.
Perhaps even more than the grandeur, history and sheer beauty of battering sea, is a sense that here there is depth and meaning to life. Like the Arcadians, like the symbolic butterflies and the migrating geese, we plan to return."
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