17/03/2026
The Invincibles were members of the Fenian organisation also known as the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB).
"The IRB was founded in Dublin on St Patrick's Day 1858 (168 years ago today), following contacts between James Stephens, who had returned to Ireland in 1856, and John O'Mahony, leader of the Irish republicans in New York. Both were 1848 veterans who had shared exile in France, mixing with the various European radicals and revolutionaries who thronged Paris between 1840 and 1851. Stephens was the chief organiser and undisputed leader of the new movement, which was initially nameless — the title IRB was adopted later. He was ably assisted by another 1848 man, Thomas Clarke Luby, who attended the inaugural meeting in Dublin and helped formulate the membership oath. The oath was simple:
'I, A B, in the presence of the Almighty God, do solemnly swear allegiance to the Irish Republic, now virtually established, and that I will do my very utmost at every risk, while life lasts, to defend its independence and integrity; and, finally, that I will yield implicit obedience in all things, not contrary to the laws of God, to the commands of my superior officers. So help me God. Amen.'
The aim was equally simple, to establish an independent Irish republic by physical force. History had shown, it was felt, that Britain would 'never concede self-government to the force of argument but only to the argument of force and that therefore parliamentary politics were futile and demoralising. Meanwhile constitutional nationalists strove to re-launch the movement for self rule, among a dispirited and traumatised people. The overlapping and occasional alliance between constitutional nationalists campaigning for Home Rule within the British empire and republicans seeking an independent state, was to continue up to the Great War. Both groups became deeply involved in the other major issue of the time, land reform. Later, all three strands — constitutional, agrarian and revolutionary - coalesced for a time under the leadership of Charles Stewart Parnell, during the so-called 'New Departure' of the 1880s.
Stephens, Luby and their associates immediately made contact with other like-minded groups and individuals.
There was in existence already a nucleus of committed republicans, especially among the artisans of Dublin and Kilkenny, and in organisations such as the Phoenix Society in west Cork.
However, the new movement was to find its greatest support among 'small farmers and labourers, soldiers, schoolmasters, clerks, shop assistants and urban workers generally.... they wrote off the landed aristocracy as a whole, were suspicious of the well-to-do middle class and pinned their faith to the common man. The IRB was organised in cells, similar to contemporary secret societies in Europe. It spread slowly at first, but 1861 proved a turning point. In that year Terence Bellew McManus, an 1848 veteran, died in California, and his remains were returned to Ireland.
The funeral, organised by the IRB, was an occasion of huge public demonstrations of sympathy, which boosted recruitment dramatically. In 1863 the IRB launched its own newspaper, the Irish People, which proved extremely influential in gaining new members and spreading republican principles.
Apart from Luby, its chief contributors were John O'Leary, Charles Kickham and Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa, all of whom were to become important figures in the movement later."
This extract was taken from the National Museum publication 'The Fenians' written by Michael Kenny.
The image was published in the New York newspaper 'Harpers Weekly' in 1866.
