Fenian
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˈfiːniən/
- UK
:
feniano
- The Fenians organized several uprisings in their quest for Irish independence.
- Fenian Brotherhood
- Fenian raids
- Fenian raids of 1866
Examples
-
In 1858, those people coalesced in New York and Dublin as two organisations - the Fenian Brotherhood in New York, and the Irish Republican Brotherhood based in Dublin.
-
Although some of the leaders of the Land League were members of parliament, others were Fenians or ex-Fenians.
Academic text (1992) -
I was away in Boston on some Fenian business, and when I got home, she was dead.
Fiction book (2000) -
And then the Fenians started making the Americans nervous.
Fiction book (2000) -
And the headline was: Fenians Invade Canada.
Fiction book (2000) -
One Friday he told me about how the Fenians had invaded Canada in 1870 and had been beaten and defeated.
Fiction book (2000) -
Many Fenians believed that armed resistance was the only way to achieve freedom from British rule.
-
As a young man, he became a Fenian, committed to the cause of Irish nationalism.
Surface Forms
Etymology
Fenian comes from Irish Fianna, 'bands of warriors', because 19th-century Irish nationalists named themselves after those heroes; they wanted to show they were fighting for Ireland. So a Fenian as a noun is someone who belonged to that nationalist group.