Throughout the second half of the nineteenth century, Irish unionists increasingly associated Irish-America with violence and extremism. Inspired by such figures as Patrick Ford, John Devoy, and Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa, Irish-American nationalists were heavily involved in the Fenian Brotherhood and Clan-na-Gael. They conducted attempted invasions of Canada in the late 1860s and early 1870s, helped orchestrate the dynamite campaign and land war of the early 1880s, and supported the movement for Irish Home Rule, which culminated in two Home Rule crises in 1886 and 1893. The extremist image of Irish-America was so powerful that unionists began to associate the whole of Irish nationalism with the violence and separatism propounded by ‘men wearing American masks’.

This chapter offers an assessment of unionist characterizations of the United States and responses to Irish-America through the last two decades of the nineteenth century. Unionist rhetoric and dialogue was strategic discourse focusing on elements of violence, extremism, and militancy within nationalism regardless of how representative these elements were in reality. The dynamite campaign, land war, and first two Home Rule crises provide the context for the unionist relationship with America during this period. Unionists denounced American funding of Irish nationalism, condemned Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) connections to violence and crime, and feared the threat of separatism. Unionists also emphasized the international appeal of their own movement as they attempted to draw support from the United States in their campaigns against Home Rule. Ultimately, the unionists’ approach to the United States was paradoxical and multifaceted, as they attempted to condemn Irish-American influence and extremism while at the same time seeking American aid for their own movement.

Irish-American Community, 1840–1880

As Irish Catholic immigration increased in the 1840s, the United States was a society in transition beset with economic turbulence and political tension.