Fianna Éireann

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The sunburst flag, a symbol of Fianna Éireann
The sunburst flag, a symbol of Fianna Éireann

The name Fianna Éireann (IPA: [ˈfʲiənə ˈeːɾʲən], pronunciation (help·info)), also rendered as Fianna na hÉireann and Na Fianna Éireann (Irish: "Soldiery of Ireland" or "Warriors' of Ireland"), named after the mythological Fianna), has been used by various Irish republican youth movements throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. "Fianna na hEireann" [sic] is currently on the list of terrorist groups proscribed in the United Kingdom under the Terrorism Act (2000). [1]

Contents

[edit] Origins

Fianna Éireann was originally founded in 1909 by Constance Markievicz and Bulmer Hobson, along the paramilitary lines of Baden-Powell's Boy Scouts, but emphasising Irish nationalism rather than the British nationalism of the Baden-Powell Scouts.

The Fianna were militarily trained including use of firearms, drilling, and first aid. They were active in many activities including the Howth Gun Running (1914), the funeral of O'Donovan Rossa and played a significant part in the Easter Rising of 1916. Many Fianna had graduated to the Irish Republican Army by the time of the War of Independence (1919–1921). During the Irish Civil War (1922–1923), the organisation was affiliated to the anti-Treaty faction of the IRA.

[edit] Splits

The Republican Sinn Féin-linked Na Fianna Éireann get ready to march at Bodenstown in 2003
The Republican Sinn Féin-linked Na Fianna Éireann get ready to march at Bodenstown in 2003

The organisation split into factions with differing political views and ideologies over the subsequent decades, in a manner comparable to that of the various organisations claiming the title Irish Republican Army.

Following the 1969/70 split in the Irish Republican Army and Sinn Féin, two organisations claiming the title of Fianna Éireann emerged. One was aligned with the Provisional IRA but after the 1986 split in the Republican movement realigned to the Continuity IRA. The other was aligned with the Official IRA.

The latter developed along socialist lines mirroring the political developments in Official Sinn Féin, and eventually in the late 1970s was renamed the Irish Democratic Youth Movement (IDYM), ending its semi-paramilitary training. It forged links with similar groups associated with communist and workers parties abroad, most notably with the Free German Youth in the German Democratic Republic. With the reorganisation of Sinn Féin The Workers Party into The Workers Party in 1982, the IDYM became simply Workers Party Youth, which continues today and has taken a role as an affiliate of the World Federation of Democratic Youth.

The most prominent current incarnation of Fianna Éireann has links with the Continuity Irish Republican Army, Cumann na mBan and Republican Sinn Féin; another extant Fianna group is linked to the 32 County Sovereignty Movement and allegedly to the Real Irish Republican Army.

[edit] A Scouting movement?

With the evolution of international scouting towards a movement emphasising peace, it is now difficult to class the factions of Fianna Éireann as scouting movements. No manifestation of Fianna Éireann has ever been recognised by the World Organisation of the Scout Movement, which sees scouting as apolitical, in contrast to the partisan nature of Fianna Éireann, a uniformed youth movement with little other connection to the Scout method.

[edit] Former Chiefs of Staff

[edit] Chief Scouts

[edit] Notable former members

[edit] See also

Scouting Portal

[edit] External links

[edit] Current

[edit] Historical