Fenians and Ribbonmen The Development of Republican Politics in East Tyrone, 1898-1918

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 Fein's meteoric rise in the aftermath of the Easter Rising. Fenians and Ribbonmenwill be essential reading for those interested in Irish history and politics.

Fergal McCluskey was an IRCSSH fellow at the National Unversity of Ireland, Galway until 2010 and is currently teaching history at Coliste Feirste, Belfast

Maps and illustrations * List of abbreviations * Introduction * A period of nationalist flux: 1898–1906
 * The struggle for popular hearts and minds, 1906–9 * The Ulster crisis, 1910–14 * Fenians, farmers and cannon fodder, 25 November 1919–24 April 1916 * Organic crisis and the rise of Sinn Féin, April 1916–September 1917 * The Sinn Féin political revolution, 1917–18 * Conclusion: ideology and the Sinn Féin ‘revolution’ * Bibliography * Index