The name Fianna Éireann, also rendered as Fianna na hÉireann and Na Fianna Éireann (Irish: "Soldiery of Ireland", named after the mythological Fianna), has been used by various Irish republican youth movements. "Fianna na hEireann" ^* is currently on the list of terrorist groups proscribed in the United Kingdom under the Terrorism Act (2000).

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. Many Fianna had graduated to the Irish Republican Army by the time of the War of Independence (1919–1921). During the Irish Civil War (1922-23), the organisation was affiliated to the anti-Treaty faction of the IRA.

The organisation has split into factions and changed political views over the subsequent decades, in a manner comparable to that of the various organisations claiming the title 'Irish Republican Army' (see the article IRA for further details). Probably the most prominent current incarnation of the organisation 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. The Provisional IRA established a similar organisation in the 1970s as a youth wing, following the split with the Official IRA, but it was later disbanded.

External links

Current

• Na Fianna Éireann - official website (linked to Republican Sinn Féin)

  Site partially deleted as of December 2005 - see Wayback Machine archive and former official website

• Fianna Éireann - official website (linked to 32 County Sovereignty Movement)

Historical

• Na Fianna Éireann in Scotland - A history of Na Fianna Eireann in Scotland.
• To the Boys of Ireland - 1914 Document.

Non-aligned Scouting organizations | Scouting in Ireland | Proscribed paramilitary organizations in Northern Ireland | Irish Republican Army