"When the Irish Invaded Canada: It’s No Blarney" with Christopher Klein

Christopher Klein, author of "When the Irish Invaded Canada: The Incredible True Story of the Civil War Veterans Who Fought for Ireland’s Freedom" discusses the little-known story of the self-proclaimed Irish Republican Army that carried out five attacks on Canada.

Presented at History Camp Boston on March 16, 2019.

History Camp brings together people from all walks of life who are passionate about history for a day of sessions on all aspects of history. There’s nothing else like it, and people come from all over to attend. Find out about upcoming History Camps and sign up for updates at http://historycamp.org.

This was one of 60 sessions at History Camp Boston this year. View more sessions from this History Camp and others here in our Youtube channel.

About the session:
Just over a year after Robert E. Lee relinquished his sword, a band of Union and Confederate veterans dusted off their guns. These former foes, however, had no intention of reigniting the Civil War. Instead, they fought side by side to undertake one of the most fantastical missions in military history: to seize the British province of Canada and hold it hostage until the independence of Ireland was secured.

What better way to get ready for St. Patrick’s Day than to learn the outlandish, little-known story of the self-proclaimed Irish Republican Army that carried out five attacks on Canada—known collectively as the Fenian Raids—between 1866 and 1871. With the tacit support of the U.S. government, this motley group—including a one-armed war hero, an English spy infiltrating rebel forces, and a radical who staged his own funeral—managed to seize a piece of America’s northern neighbor, if only for a matter of days.