Church and State Reactions to Fenianism, 1861–65

Abstract

The advent of Fenianism as a serious political threat in the 1860s coincided with a re-emergence of the ‘Catholic question’ in British politics. Developments in Italy determined the Whig-Liberal government upon a foreign policy antipathetic to the interests of Catholics in Britain and Ireland.¹ Simultaneously a sustained campaign by influential sections of Catholic opinion in Britain sought to unite that body with the fortunes of the Conservative Party. This strategy found support among leading Conservatives, particularly with Disraeli.² That this represented a great departure for both parties is evidenced by the fact that, less than a decade previously, anti-popery seemed to be the only Conservative policy propagated in the English towns.³