Fenians and Ribbonmen

East Tyrone sits at the crossroads of Irish politics. This book commences with the struggle between Belfast’s ‘Wee Joe’ Devlin, the coming man of the Irish Parliamentary Party, and the Irish Republican Brotherhood to gain mastery over the burgeoning Ancient Order of Hibernians and, with it, control of popular nationalist politics in Ulster. It then recounts the fascinating and often violent story of the relationship between local Fenians and Ribbonmen, across a seminal generation in Irish politics. The narrative centres on an established local Fenian tradition and its relationship with Devlinite Hibernianism, from co-operation, to overt confrontation, to a power struggle within the Irish Volunteer movement, to the Fenians’ prominent role in Sinn Féin’s meteoric rise in the aftermath of the Easter Rising. Fenians and Ribbonmen will be essential reading for those interested in Irish history and politics.