Irish Republic Bonds, 1860s – 1880s

The mid-19th century was a tough time for Ireland.  Relations with England were deteriorating, famines and a growing population created torturous living conditions,  and the United States of America – a rapidly destabilizing young nation on the verge of civil war – looked, comparatively, like a nice place to move your family to.   These were, of course, the prime conditions to disenfranchise, mobilize, and encourage radicalism.   Ireland wanted its freedom from England, but small skirmishes, the rumblings of a full-fledged rebellion, were quickly quashed and the rabble-rousers arrested.

The Irish Republican Brotherhood was the biggest successful attempt, at the time, of a large-scale organized revolution, but fear of prosecution spread the rebellion’s leaders around Europe.   A handful ended up in the United States and found a wealth of support in the Irish expatriates on the East Coast.  Taking the name of a mythical king in Celtic literature, Irish Republican John O’Mahony called the American offshoot of the IRB the Fenian Brotherhood.

O’Mahony was no fool – he recognized that any rebellion needed to be financed somehow.  The United States was still a wealthier nation than Ireland was at the time, so O’Mahony found great support in selling “war bonds” to fund the activities of the Irish Republican Brotherhood.   Supporters in the United States would buy one of these bonds, commonly in a $5, $10, or $20 increments (when, at the time, even $5 was a sizeable chunk of money), on promise of receiving repayment, plus interest, six months after the date Irish freedom was finally achieved.   O’Mahony then forwarded the money to their compatriots in Ireland, funding their insurgency.  Some funds were kept in the United States, offering a ‘skirmishing budget’ for the local Fenian Raiders, whose objective became to take over Canada and hold it for ransom, in exchange for Ireland’s freedom.    Fenian bonds also bankrolled one of the earliest attempts to build a functioning combat submarine.  If one thing can be said about the Fenians, it’s that they heartily embraced lofty goals.

Thousands of these bonds were sold by O’Mahoney and his stateside supporters, but they are relatively rare today.   This is partly because of age, but also – inconcievably – many were actually redeemed for their value.  After the Irish Civil War, one of the factions, led by Republican Eamon De Valera, recalled many of the bonds to be redeemed; some of the money, held by banks in New York, was decided by the Supreme Court to be repaid to bondholders directly, rather than turning the funds  over to either Irish faction.  Time passed, Ireland continued to change and grow into its new statehood, and the remaining unredeemed bonds became void.

Those unredeemed bonds are still available to scripophily collectors, but they demand a premium price: at a 2006 auction, two Fenian Bonds were sold, one for over $1100, the other for over $800.  Despite their rarity, they have appeared even on sites like eBay, but demanding an expectedly high price; auction houses are likely the best venue to obtain one of these bonds, as they are best fitted to evaluate the bond’s value.   The historical nature of these bonds have produced a market for reproductions of the Fenian Bonds, so collectors should be very careful.   As always, be aware that these are rare, museum-worthy collectibles, and a too-good-to-be-true deal most certainly needs a second look.   Whether it paid for freedom, Canadian invasions, or an early submarine, the value of these bonds has far exceeded their original face value, much of it made up by the oddball and influential history behind their original issuance.