James Stephens

Stephens, James (1825-1901). Fenian. Stephens, a protestant railway engineer from Kilkenny, was one of the few who joined Smith O'Brien in the abortive 1848 rising. He escaped to France and returned to Ireland in 1856. In 1858 he founded what later became the Irish Republican Brotherhood, drawing on his experience with revolutionary groups in France. On a fund-raising trip to America 1858-9 he joined in founding the Fenian Brotherhood and in 1863 launched the Irish People, a weekly newspaper.

Stephens, James (1825-1901), founder of the Fenian movement. Born in Kilkenny, he was a civil engineer before participating in the Young Ireland rising of 1848. Escaping to Paris he immersed himself in revolutionary organizations before returning in 1856, while his close associate John O'Mahony went to New York. In 1857 he gave a candlelit oration at the funeral-rally for Terence Bellew McManus in Glasnevin Cemetery. He organized secret Fenian cells in Ireland with himself as ‘Head Centre’ and planned a rising for 20 Sept. 1865. On 15 Sept. he was arrested but escaped from Richmond Prison. On his return to America Stephens warned against a premature rising planned for 1867 and was deposed by the American leadership of the movement.

For other persons named James Stephens, see James Stephens (disambiguation).

James Stephens (1825 - 28 April 1901) was an Irish nationalist who founded the Fenian movement around 1850, known as the Irish Republican Brotherhood from 1858 onwards. James Stephens, a Protestant, was born in Co. Kilkenny. His surname indicates that he had some Welsh ancestry. Stephens fled Ireland and escaped to France were he remained for a number of years. He became involved in the revolutionary underground, and lived alongsinde revolutionary exiles from all over Europe. His house in Kilkenny City, situated near the Church of Ireland cathedral, is marked by a plaque. In the mid-1860s Stephens toured Ireland on foot to assess the potential for a revolt against Ireland's membership of the United Kingdom. In Fenian circles Stephens went by the codename An Shabhac (pronounced "Awn Shaw-ock") which is the Irish for, "the hawk". Statesman misunderstood Stephens' nom de guerre and in the House of Lords Stephens was alluded to as "Shooks". The British Army in Ireland was largely composed of Irishmen who had volunteered to enlist in it. Stephens estimated that a third of the British soldiers in Ireland were Fenian sympathisers. However, the failure of the 1867 Fenian Rising exposed Stephens' claim as vastly exaggerated.

Stephens and O'Leary buried side by side

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