James Stephens (Irish nationalist)
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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.
