The ‘Decade of Centenaries’
All-island history competition for primary and post-primary schools
Template cover sheet which must be included at the front of all projects
Title of project:
Na Fianna Éireann: The Lost Boys of the Irish Revolution
Category for which you wish
to be entered (i.e. ‘Decade of
National Issues
Centenaries’, biography,
local/regional, or national
(including social/cultural)
issues
Name(s) of class /
Sinéad Callanan
group of students /
individual student
submitting the project:
School roll number (this should be provided if possible): 76073G
School address
(this must be provided even
Castletroy College, Newtown, Castletroy, Limerick
for projects submitted by a
1
group of pupils or an
individual pupil):
Class teacher’s name
this must be provided even for
projects submitted by a group
Máirtín Burke
of pupils or an individual pupil):
Contact phone number:
061 330785
Contact email address:
mburke@castletroycollege.ie
2
Na Fianna Éireann: The Lost Boys of the Irish Revolution
… when men come to write the history of the freeing of Ireland, they shall
have to record that the boys of Na Fianna Éireann stood in the battle gap
until the Volunteers armed …
So said Pádraig Pearse in To the Boys of Ireland1. Why, then, does it seem that
he was mistaken? Na Fianna, or the Irish National Boy Scouts, played a vital
role in the events of 1912-1922, yet have been largely overlooked in most
modern accounts of this time. Pearse goes further still, asserting that ‘if the
Fianna had not been founded in 1909, the Volunteers of 1913 would never have
arisen’2. Pearse was speaking at the beginning of 1914, barely 4 years into the
Fianna’s existence, and before many of the major events of the Irish Revolution.
The Fianna were instrumental in the formation and success of the Irish
Volunteers, and the arming of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, but they are
rarely praised or even mentioned anymore. In this essay, I will explore how Na
Fianna Éireann contributed to the political and social developments of the time
1912-1922, some of the reasons they have since been overlooked, and why they
should be remembered.
The Fianna were founded in Dublin in 1909. Scouting as a pastime was a
relatively new concept, having begun in England two years previously with the
Baden-Powell scouts.
In Ireland Baden-Powell’s strong association with the British side in the
Boer war made the scouting movement suspect, so when Baden-Powell
approached Pádraig Pearse about forming scout troops in Ireland, Pearse would
not get involved. There was, however, an admiration for the general scouting
movement, and Na Fianna’s founders determined that, although they would
take their inspiration from the Baden-Powell scouts, the Fianna would serve to
counteract the British influence, being ‘national in outlook and purpose’3, with
an overall aim of gaining complete independence for Ireland. This was very
appealing to many young boys from nationalist backgrounds, and Seán
Prendergast would later claim to have been drawn to the Fianna because it was
‘distinctly Irish, non-political and non-sectarian’4. The Fianna was to be a nondenominational group, open to any boy whatever ‘class or creed or party they or
their fathers belonged to’5. Although they did not follow any party lines, Garry
Holohan, who was a member of the Fianna almost from the beginning, admitted
that he was soon moving towards ‘everything that was Irish-Ireland’6.
1
2
3
4
5
6
Pádraic Pearse, To the Boys of Ireland in Political Writings and Speeches, pp.110–116
ibid
Eamon Martin, B.M.H. witness statement, Oct 1951, (NAI BMH WS 509)
Seán Prendergast, B.M.H. witness statement, n.d. (NAI BMH WS 755)
Fianna Éireann, Fianna Handbook, p. 23
Gearoid Ua h-Uallachain, B.M.H. witness statement, Dec 1949 (NAI BMH WS 328)
3
Bulmer Hobson, a young Irish Republican Brotherhood (I.R.B.) man, and
Countess Constance Markievicz, an influential nationalist from the Gore-Booth
family, were the driving forces behind the organisation.
Countess Markievicz, or ‘Madam’, as she was called by all
the Fianna boys, had for some time been petitioning Arthur
Griffith to establish a Boys Corps of Sinn Féin. Griffith however
was strongly opposed to the idea, so Markievicz decided, with
Seán McGarry and Helena Molony, to start her own organisation
called ‘The Red Branch Knights’, after the legendary warriors of
Cúchulainn. Markievicz and the others met with the Knights, and
even took them camping, several times in July and August of
1909, but ultimately Markievicz began looking to Hobson to
become involved.
Markievicz
Hobson had, at the age of 19, set up a boys’ hurling club in
Belfast called Na Fianna Éireann, in 1902. This Fianna, although
flourishing for a few years under Hobson’s care, died down when
Hobson moved to Dublin, and was completely extinct by the time
the new Fianna, this one with a more military spirit reflecting
Hobson’s rising position in the IRB, was founded. Possibly he was
motivated to set up this Fianna from his knowledge that a youth
movement would attract much less attention than an adult
organisation, meaning they could build up a trained military force
(or at least the core of it) with very little opposition from British
authorities.
Bulmer Hobson
Markievicz and Hobson first discussed working together to form a
nationalist Boy Scout group in August 1909, and on the 16th of that month the
first meeting of Na Fianna Éireann was held at 34 Lower Camden Street. The
meeting was advertised in some nationalist newspapers, including An
Claidheamh Soluis, and Markievicz asked William O’Neill, principal of St.
Andrew’s National School, to recommend it to his pupils. A boy was stationed
outside the front door of the meeting with a flag, answering questions and
inviting boys in. Hobson chaired the meeting, attended by about 100 boys, and
Markievicz spoke at it ‘in a patriotic strain’7. A prominent new figure was the
young Pádraic Ó Riain who, at the age of about 17, was to become a leading
force behind the Fianna. Con Colbert, Michael Lonergan, and Eamon Martin
were also present.
The initial organisation of the Fianna was quite simple. The boys were
organised into Squads, which led to Sections, which led to Sluaghs. The first
Sluagh was known as An Céad Sluagh, and it was formed at the meeting in 34
Lower Camden Street. Markievicz continued to rent the building for them, and
7
Eamon Martin, B.M.H. witness statement, Oct 1951 (NAI BMH WS 509)
4
it remained their base. Sluaghs were governed by District Councils, and the
whole Fianna was governed by the Central Council, and by its Executive
Committee. Representatives from Sluaghs, District Councils and the Central
Council attended the Ard Fheis every year, the overall governing body and
effectively AGM of the Fianna, usually held in the Mansion House.
Uniform
The boys, aged between 8 and 18, were sworn in under the
oath ‘I promise to work for independence of Ireland, never to join
England’s armed forces, and to obey my superior officers’8. Before
they could be fully fledged Fiannaidhe, or Fians, they had to get a
uniform. The uniform differed from Sluagh to Sluagh, with some
wearing kilts and jerseys, some wearing breeches and blouses, and all
wearing different hats, haversacks, and accessories. The boys would
save for these, item by item. Moses Roche, a Fian in Waterford, recalls
how it was his ‘greatest ambition at the time’9 to be able to buy the full
uniform. This ensured all the new members would be dedicated to the
Fianna, as Seamus Prendergast attests to when he describes what a
‘labour of love’10 it was to save for the uniform.
Uniform
Between the formation of the Fianna in 1909 and the formation of the
Volunteers in 1913, the Fianna mainly focussed on training
the boys. The officers would learn skills such as drill, firstaid, map-reading, scouting, signalling, musketry, and fieldsketching, and teach them to the boys. They were also
taught the Irish language (from 1911, all orders were given
in Irish), and the history and legends of Ireland. The Fianna
itself was named after the legendary band of warriors of
Fionn MacCumhaill, and emphasis was placed on
Signalling
important battles and rebellions in Irish history. ‘In this way,’ explains Eamon
Martin ‘the boys were being given a reason for their own military training’11.
This was the first (nationalist) organisation in Ireland
to be teaching these skills, so the officers, for the most
part, had to taught themselves skills such as
scoutcraft and map-reading from the Baden Powell
Scout Handbook, while they learned drill and
musketry from British Army manuals. They would
learn Irish and history through lectures given by men
like Pearse, and they brought in doctors to teach them
first aid.
First Aid
Fianna Éireann, Fianna Handbook, p. 167
Moses Roche, B.M.H. witness statement, March 1955 (NAI BMH WS 1129)
10 Seamus Prendergast, B.M.H. witness statement, n.d. (NAI BMH WS 755)
11 Eamon Martin, B.M.H. witness statement, Oct 1951 (NAI BMH WS 509)
8
9
5
Liam
Mellows
The Fianna grew steadily in these first years, due to a large extent to the
work done by the Fianna Officers Liam and Barney Mellows, who joined the
Fianna as teenagers in 1911. They both became dedicated officers, and
committed themselves to the nationalist cause, yet outside of
Fianna circles, Barney is known as ‘Liam Mellow’s brother’.
Barney worked mainly within the Fianna, training the youth,
while Liam distinguished himself in the more visible ‘adult’
movement, a clear example of the Fianna boys being overlooked
in Irish history. Barney is often mentioned in Bureau of Military
History witness accounts, while Liam has had books written
about him. Much of the work Liam did involved
touring the country on his bicycle, going to ‘every
city, town and village in Ireland’12, encouraging the
local boys to set up their own Sluagh. By the end of 1912, there
were Sluaighte in Dublin, Limerick, Cork, Belfast, Newry, Waterford,
Tralee, Derry, Athlone, Dundalk, Tuam, Sligo and Maryborough.
According to some sources, while Mellows was on the road for the
Fianna, he was also organising circles of the IRB around the
country. While some sources will deny this vehemently, after the
Barney
Volunteers were formed Mellows took on the recruiting role for the new
Mellows
organisation.
The activities of the Fianna at this time were quite varied. While a
cultural side was being developed under Countess Markievicz, Hobson led a
more militaristic group under the guise of the ‘John Mitchell Literary and
Debating Society’. This was the codename for the Fianna circle of the IRB,
which Hobson had established in 1912, and it was mainly made up of members
of An Céad Sluagh and Sluagh Emmet (all but An Céad Sluagh were named
after nationalist heroes). It included the Mellows brothers, the Holohans, Seán
Heuston and Pádraic Ó Riain, with Con Colbert at the centre of the circle. This
group had an extreme influence over the Fianna, and it was into this circle that
Hobson recruited members of the Fianna to the IRB. Éamon Martin estimates
that by 1913 ‘every senior officer throughout the country had become a
member’13.
Camping and route marches had by now become standard, and many
Sluagh had their own Piper or Bugle Band. Ceilis and feiseanna for Irish music,
dance and drama were held annually, and many
Sluagh were involved in the distribution of nationalist
newspapers and propaganda. For a time they organised
a postal system around Dublin in order to boycott the
British postal service. One regular activity of a Sluagh
in Cork was to send the boys around the city, asking
Route march
12
13
Seamus Pounch, B.M.H. witness statement, June 1949 (NAI BMH WS 267)
Eamon Martin, B.M.H. witness statement, Oct 1951 (NAI BMH WS 509)
6
for specific Irish products in shops, so as to create a demand for them. There
were regular marches (often twice a week) and exhibits of first aid skills, drill,
and signalling.
The Fianna were the first military organisation in Ireland of this time, and
they acted as such. They first drilled and paraded with hurleys, but even before
they were able to acquire arms, they were taught how to use various arms
properly. When they did succeed in arming themselves, they would carry their
weapons openly on the streets. Another popular side-arm for the boys early-on
was a bayonet. Even the youngest of the Fianna were given instruction in arms,
and this proved very useful to them in later years.
From left,
Paddy
Holohan,
Garry
Holohan,
Liam
Mellows,
Ó Riain,
Colbert
When the IRB decided to train their members for military action in July of
1913, it was natural that the instructors would come from the John Mitchell
Circle. Four of the senior officers were selected for the job, namely Lonergan,
Colbert, Ó Riain and Martin, who at this stage were Captains of various
Sluaighte which had been formed in the city. Lonergan had, from the start,
been a natural instructor, and was described by
a scout in Sluagh Emmet (of which Lonergan
was Captain) as being ‘so distinctive, so elegant,
so truly military’14, and was thought of as ‘the
perfect officer’15. Although none of the officers
had any military experience, on joining the
Fianna they had, ‘by intense swotting’16, become
expert in these skills, and at this time were
among the only people who could claim this.
‘The wisdom of the founders of the Fianna was proved’17 again less than a
year later when the Irish Volunteers were formed. Members of the Fianna’s
Executive Committee had been present at the organisational meetings prior to
the public meeting. When the Provisional Committee of the Volunteers was
established there were 5 members of the Executive Council of the Fianna on it:
Bulmer Hobson, Pádraic Ó Riain, Éamon Bulfin, Michael Lonergan and Liam
Mellows (all of whom were in the John Mitchell Circle). Because of the Fianna
training there were now instructors and officers ready to train the thousands of
new recruits. A new rule was soon introduced to the Fianna which affected the
transfer of boys from the Fianna to the Volunteers when they reached 18. This
was very successful as it provided the Volunteers with well-trained, disciplined
men, and allowed the older Fianna boys to move on. When the women’s section
of the Volunteers, Cumann na mBan, was formed, the Fianna also provided
instructors to drill the recruits.
14
15
16
17
Seamus Prendergast, B.M.H. witness statement, n.d. (NAI BMH WS 755)
op cit
ibid
Major General Hugh MacNeill, in Our Struggle For Independence, Terence O’Reilly, ed., p.180
7
Gun-running
Soon after the Volunteers were formed, there was
a strong feeling that there should be an effort made to
arm them. The Ulster Volunteers had been armed and
this put added pressure on the new nationalist
Volunteers. These feelings came to fruition on the 26th
July 1914, when Roger Casement and Erskine Childers
landed guns at Howth. This was a joint endeavour
between the Dublin Brigade of the Volunteers, and
about 200 specially selected Fianna boys. The boys were
told they were going on a route march with the
Volunteers, an increasingly common practice. They
brought their trek cart with them, which they usually
used to transport camp equipment, but was now filled
with homemade batons for the defence of the guns. The boys were told by Ó
Riain and Heuston, the organisers on the Fianna side, that the cart was full of
‘minerals’18. Fianna scouts were posted along the pier and blew their bugles
when they saw Childer’s yacht coming in. When the boat was close, Fianna
boys handed the guns from the boat to the Volunteers, and filled the trek cart
with boxes of ammunition. As soon as they were finished, the Fianna and
Volunteers were reformed, and started their march back to the city. The Fianna
were given the ammunition as they were ‘at that time the only body with
Marching home with the tree-cart
sufficient discipline to be entrusted with
ammunition’19. On the return march, the
column came directly up against some British
soldiers, who would not let them pass. The
Volunteers were anxious to fight the soldiers,
and repeatedly tried to get ammunition from
the trek-cart. However, the Fianna, having
received no orders to arm the men, defended
the ammunition, and held back the
Volunteers. The Fianna were also involved in the Kilcoole gun-running, and a
cycling corps of the Fianna helped to ensure its success.
Funeral of O’Donovan Rossa
The Fianna kept up its traditions during these
years and continued to operate as a separate body to
the Volunteers, although there was much co-operation
and shared activities between them. It was, however,
around this time that the Fianna re-organised itself so
that it took on the same structure as the Volunteers,
having Companies and Battalions where they before
had Sluaghs and Districts. Some of the more
Fianna boys in bottom right corner
noteworthy activities around this time included the Fianna’s attendance at the
18
19
Seamus Prendergast, B.M.H. witness statement, n.d. (NAI BMH WS 755)
Bulmer Hobson, B.M.H. witness statement, Oct 1947 (NAI BMH WS 31)
8
funeral of Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa in Glasnevin, at which the Fianna
provided a guard-of-honour, the annual pilgrimage to Wolfe Tone’s grave in
Bodenstown on the anniversary of his birthday, and the Fianna’s minor
involvement in the 1913 Strike and Lockout. They would also intimidate and
sometimes attack British scouts who came to Ireland, and raid British
garrisons.
Colbert
Healy
By Easter 1916 the Fianna were well established as the training
corps of the Volunteers. They played a large part in the Rising, although
there was no official Fianna post. The officers were all given
assignments, and many of the senior officers were leading Volunteer
battalions or commanding outposts. The attack on the Magazine Fort in
Phoenix Park (the first of the Rising, and a sign for the Rising to begin)
was carried out by Fianna members, and led by the Fian Paddy Daly.
Younger members of the Fianna worked throughout the city
dispatching, scouting, sourcing food and ammunition, and acting as
first aiders and cooks. Two Fianna boys (Séan Howard and Seán
Healy) were killed during the Rising while carrying messages
between posts. Interestingly, there was a camp organised for
the youngest members of the Fianna (the boys aged 8-12)
during Easter week, so that they would be out of the city and
out of danger. Con Colbert and Seán Heuston, both officers of
the Fianna, were executed by British authorities for their part in
the Rising.
Heuston
The Fianna were the first to re-organise after the Rising, having a meeting
in Dublin just a month later with all available officers (those who were not dead
or in prison). There was major re-organisation required, and Eamon
Martin was elected Chief. There was from this time a huge surge in
the numbers of the Fianna, as more people came to the nationalist
cause. They went back to training the boys, and this set an example
to the Volunteers and IRB to rally too. The threat of conscription into
the British army in 1918 brought them back to prominence as they
supplied the Volunteers with officers and instructors to cope with the
inundation of new nationalist recruits. This time, it wasn’t just the
senior officers who drilled the Volunteers, but ‘any urchin with
training’20 from the Fianna.
Fianna scout in GPO ruins
When the newly established Dáil took over the Volunteers as the Irish
Republican Army in 1918, the Fianna were officially recognised as its training
corps. They have many times since then been referred to as the ‘Senior Corps of
the Old Army’, as most Volunteers were trained by, or in, the Fianna. When the
War of Independence came, the Fianna played much the same part as in the
Rising, supporting Volunteer (now IRA) battalions and carrying messages. This
20
Major General Hugh MacNeill, in Our Struggle for Independence, Terence O’Reilly ed., p. 183
9
was especially important in the country as people were being monitored, and
smaller boys could slip away with messages easier and quicker. In Limerick,
there were travel restrictions at times so that only people under the age of 16
could travel freely in and out of the city, which brought the importance of the
younger Fianna boys into the forefront. The Fianna everywhere did many of the
special duties such as scouting and intelligence work, and in some areas
special Fianna service units fought with the Volunteers.
Officially, the Fianna took a strong anti-Treaty stance in the Civil War,
distributing anti-Treaty propaganda and attending anti-Treaty rallies. It is likely
that any pro-Treaty members left the Fianna quietly, and fought for the other
side. The Treaty certainly caused a split in the Fianna, and they were never as
strong after it. Hugh MacNeill mournfully compares it to the fall of the Fianna of
Fionn, who also met their end in the ‘welter of civil strife’21. During the Civil
War Fianna boys were sometimes imprisoned for their activities, and in prison
were treated as political prisoners. Although forms of the Fianna have
continued on over the years, the end of the Civil War was effectively the end for
the Fianna, and perhaps this is one of the reasons the Fianna has been
forgotten.
Volunteer
badge
Through the years 1912-1922 however, they doubtless made a huge
impact on the nationalist cause and on the outlook of many Irish people. They
carried on the tradition of the Fenians, sometimes being referred to as the 3rd
Fianna. The first Fianna was of course the Fianna of Fionn and the second
Fianna were the Fenians of the 18th and 19th centuries. The Fianna
scouts took on the motto of Fionn’s Fianna, ‘Truth on our lips,
purity in our hearts and faith in our arms’. The emblem of the
Fianna was also rooted in Irish traditions. The sunburst is a
traditional Irish symbol which was said to have been used by
Fionn’s Fianna, and was also used by the Fenians. The
sunburst was used later by Eoin MacNeill for the design
of the Volunteer badge, and at the centre of the badge there is an
FF, for Fianna Fáil, or Warriors of Destiny. When the political
party Fianna Fáil was established in 1926, they chose this as
their name to keep the tradition of the ancient Fianna going. The
Fianna scouts undoubtedly had an influence on this, as they were
integral to the revival of the Fenian traditions. The Fianna impacted on the
Volunteers in many other ways. For example in 1911 the Fianna started giving
orders through Irish and passed that practice on to the Volunteers. To this day,
the Irish army and, to a lesser extent, the Garda Síochana and civil service give
orders in Irish.
The Fianna were not just a military body, they had an effect on the
cultural goings-on and outlook of the time. Through the events they organised,
21
ibid, p. 185
10
Fianna
emblem
such as plays, ceilís and feiseanna, they promoted Irish culture to the general
public. They also made people more aware of the nationalist cause, as they
distributed newspapers and propaganda. Their dedication to remembering past
rebels helped to educate and revive people’s nationalist feelings. The Fianna
were also the first to parade with the tricolour, and promoted the speaking of
Irish on a daily basis. Doubtless the Fianna contributed greatly to Irish society
at this time.
But by far the greatest influence the Fianna had during these years was
the training of the Fianna boys. Not only did they train them to be soldiers, they
trained them to be soldiers for Ireland. The Fianna radicalised its boys for the
nationalist cause and its members became the adult rebels who would lead, not
only the rebellion, but the Irish Free State. This is seen clearly in a passage
from Garry Holohan’s witness statement, where he describes his feelings after
having first read Eithna Carbery’s poems while staying with some other Fianna
boys at Hobson’s cottage.
…I can assure you they did much to fan the fires of patriotism to
white heat. From now on my outlook on life was completely changed. The
Fianna was no longer a mere pastime or social function. It became a
sacred duty, and I began to bend my every effort towards the freeing of
Ireland. No task was too great or time too long…22
The Fianna created dedicated soldiers who were devoted to the Irish cause.
Those who were not executed or killed became politicians, judges, teachers,
writers and activists who would become social changers and the leaders of
society in the years that followed. The Fianna influenced every aspect of Irish
society at the time, but their real contribution to the years 1912-1922, and
after, was the dedicated, trained, and passionate young men they gave to the
nationalist cause.
22
Gearoid Ua h-Uallachain, B.M.H. witness statement, Dec 1949 (NAI BMH WS 328)
11
Bibliography
With thanks to the staff of Special Collections, University of Limerick Library for access to
their Norton and Leonard collections, and to the National Library of Ireland for access to
the Fianna Handbook.
Primary Sources
Bureau of Military History Witness Statements (2013),
Accounts/Documents/Images/Audio 1913-1921, available at Cathal Brugha Barracks,
Dublin and online at http://www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie [accessed 1st March 2015].
National Archives of Ireland (2015) Census Records 1901 and 1911, available at Bishop
Street, Dublin and online at http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie [accessed 14th
March 2015].
Fianna Éireann. Central Council (1924) Fianna Handbook, Dublin: Reprinted and
republished by the Central Council of Fianna Éireann.
Secondary Sources
Connell, Joseph E.A. (2012) ‘Countdown to 2016: Fianna nah Éireann/Na Fianna
Éireann’, History Ireland, November 2012, Volume 20, Issue 6, pp.
Greaves, C. Desmond (1971) Liam Mellows and the Irish Revolution, London: The
Camelot Press Limited.
Hay, Marnie (2008) ‘The foundation and development of Na Fianna Éireann, 1909-16’,
Irish Historical Studies, May 2008, Volume 36, Issue 141, pp.53-71.
Hay, Marnie (2011) ‘Moulding the Future: Na Fianna Éireann and its Members, 19091923’, Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review, December 2011, Volume 100, Issue 400, pp.
441-454.
Lawlor, Damian (2009) ‘Does anyone remember: Na Fianna Éireann?’, History Ireland,
September 2009, Volume 17, Issue 5,
Ó Cuiv, Éamon, O’Donnell, Rúan, Ó hAodha, Mícheál and Martin, F.X. Irish Volunteers
1913-1915: recollections and documents, Sallins: Merrion.
O’Reilly, Terence, ed. (2009) Our Struggle for Independence: Eye-witness accounts from
the pages of An Cosantóir, Cork: Mercier Press.
Pearse, Pádraic (1924) To the Boys of Ireland in Political Writings and Speeches, Dublin:
Phoenix Publishing Co. Ltd.
Pollard, Hugh (1922) The Secret Societies of Ireland, their rise and progress, London: P.
Allen.
Ryan, Anne-Marie (2014) 16 Dead Men: The Easter Rising Executions, Cork: Mercier
Press.
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