Canadian Spy Story: Irish Revolutionaries and the Secret Police

by David A. Wilson

Overview

In the mid-nineteenth century a group of Irish revolutionaries, known as the Fenians, set out to destroy Britain’s North American empire. Between 1866 and 1871 they launched a series of armed raids into Canadian territory.

In Canadian Spy Story David Wilson takes readers into a dark and dangerous world of betrayal and deception, spies and informers, invasion and assassination, spanning Canada, the United States, Ireland, and Britain. In Canada there were Fenian secret societies in urban areas, including Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto, and in some rural townships, all part of a wider North American network. Wilson tells the tale of Irishmen who attempted to liberate their country from British rule, and the Canadian secret police who infiltrated their revolutionary cells and worked their way to the top of the organization. With surprises at every turn, the story includes a sex scandal that nearly brought Canadian spy operations crashing down, as well as reports from Toronto about a plot to assassinate Queen Victoria.

Featuring a cast of idealists, patriots, cynics, manipulators, and liars, Canadian Spy Story raises fundamental questions about state security and civil liberty, with important lessons for our own time.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780228013617
Publisher:	McGill-Queens University Press
Publication date:	05/30/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	568
File size:	10 MB

About the Author

David A. Wilson is professor of Celtic studies and history at the University of Toronto, the author of Thomas D’Arcy McGee, volumes 1 and 2, and the editor of Irish Nationalism in Canada.

David A. Wilson is professor of Celtic Studies and history at the University of Toronto, the author of Thomas D’Arcy McGee, volumes 1 and 2, the editor of Irish Nationalism in Canada, and the General Editor of the Dictionary of Canadian Biography.

Table of Contents

Maps and Figures ix

Acknowledgments xiii

Timeline: 1782-1921 xix

Prologue: "A Patriotic Irishman" xxvii

Part 1 Revolutionaries

1 "Such a Prospect of Success": Ireland and America, 1858-66 3

2 "A Strange Fact": History and Historiography 24

3 "Relatively Obscure Men": Finding the Fenians in Canada 38

4 "The Foremost City of America": St Patrick's Day, Toronto, 1858 58

5 "A Regular Fenian Organization": Extending the Brotherhood in Canada 74

Part 2 Secret Police

6 "An Air of Mystery": Intelligence Efforts, Intelligence Failures 103

7 "Imminent Danger": The Threat of Invasion, 1865-66 124

8 "The Republic of Emmetta": Fenian Designs on New Brunswick 145

9 "The Irish Army of Liberation": Secret Operations and the Battle of Ridgeway 165

Part 3 Reactions to Ridgeway

10 "Known Rebbles": Challenges and Opportunities 189

11 "Best-Laid Schemes": Infiltrating the Fenian Brotherhood 208

12 "Gang Aft Agley": Charles Clarke's Downfall 221

13 "Bitterness and Deadly Hatred": The Crackdown on Fenians in Canada 241

Part 4 Infiltration

14 "The Best 'Card' We Have Got Yet": Henri Le Caron 269

15 "Practical Evidence of Our Sincerity": Eccles Hill and Trout River, 1870 293

16 "His Wild Enterprize": Red River 308

Part 5 Aftermath

17 "The True and Faithful Few" 331

18 "Contrary to All Expectations" 362

Dramatis Personae 382

Notes 395

Bibliography 491

Index 513

Editorial Reviews

“If this is in many respects an Irish story, Wilson is richly informative on its Canada West (Ontario) dimensions, notably in his analysis of the province’s Irish Catholic community, which included numerous Fenians, a rather larger circle of sympathizers, and a key newspaper, Toronto’s Irish Canadian.” Champlain Society Floyd S. Chalmers Award jury


“Canadian spy story is a remarkable feat of research and scholarship, covering decades of Irish history in North America and beyond as it reconstructs the exploits and once-secret operations of the agents who infiltrated the ranks of the Fenians. The book is thorough and thoughtful enough to please Wilson’s fellow academics, yet clear and readable enough for a general audience.” History Ireland


“Canadian Spy Story is an outstanding book by one of Canada’s leading historians - meticulously researched, well structured, and beautifully written. Wilson paints a compelling picture of the twilight world of émigré conspirators, their anger at their plight, their desire to strike back, their resilience in the face of innumerable setbacks, and their doggedness in planning for the great day of liberation.” Thomas Bartlett, University of Aberdeen


“Canadian Spy Story is brilliant historical scholarship, the profundity of its argument deliberately concealed by its gripping narrative. Wilson waits until the end to reflect on larger questions of civil liberty versus national security that pervade the entire story. This is a masterstroke of storytelling.” Kevin Kenny, New York University


“Wilson’s academic penchant for detail is admirable … . What’s also engaging and timely is the book’s final chapter. In it, Wilson embarks on a reflective discussion of state security, espionage and the suspension of civil liberties, in times of grave national threat — clearly authored with recent anti-vax, so-called “freedom” protests and the rise of populist extremism in mind.” Winnipeg Free Press

From the Publisher