The Fenians were an early precurser to the IRA. Family lore on my Mother's side has my GGGrandfather James Donnelly and my GGrandfather James Emmet Donnelly both born in Ireland as being involved in the late 1860s and into the 1870s in gun running in Canada for the Fenians. James Sr was a battle field promoted to the rank of Major during the American Civil War and his son was accepted into the Connecticut National Guard in 1871 as a Sergeant, where he served until his death in 1888. James Jr's wife's family were from Quebec, so it is possible, though I've never tracked down anything credible evidence. Ed Hagerty