Jack There was a lot of sectarian violence during that period in Ireland and in the major cities of England. I know a little about the situation on Merseyside where extremists became polarised into Orangemen and Fenians. Riots broke out regularly at street level especially after processions when both elements would try to claim possession of the streets and of certain quarters in the towns. The sectarian violence that was part of life in Ireland had been transported to places like Liverpool Manchester and Glasgow along with the influx of famine immigrants. The same happened in America (Gangs of New York!) In 1858 the Irish Republican Brotherhood was formed specifically to organise armed struggle against British Rule in Ireland. In 1862 Birkenhead witnessed the notorious Garibaldi Riots. In 1867 a Fenian plot to raid the arsenal at Chester Castle and transport the arms by train to Holyhead was foiled at the last minute. Three men were hanged as a result. The Fenians were a very real threat to the establishment in this period and had a lot of support from America. Nothing is new. In 1862, during the American Civil War, Lairds Ship Yard in Birkenhead had supplied the Confederates with the "Alabama" which created havoc for the Union navy. That didn't help relations. I don't know much about the methods the Fenians used to obtain weapons, but certainly some would have come from American sources. As regards the ransom and avoiding Ulster, in those days Ulster was just a province of Ireland and the whole country was under British Rule. Regards Ced McGrath -----Original Message----- From: wexford-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:wexford-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Jack Connors Sent: 14 May 2009 16:45 To: wexford@rootsweb.com Subject: [WEXFORD] Ransom Notice - Wanted I'm looking for some help and advise, if an ancestor was getting guns and bringing them to Ireland, say in the 1850s to 1870s time frame and probably because of that activity there was a ransom place on his head from England which stated in part, "if the person was caught that he would be hung from the nearest ship" . One scenario about how the guns were aquired went some like the following; a) Pick up Cod, other fish in St.John's and sail to Charleston. b) Sell for the fish money, provision the ship and then on to Kingston, Jamaica c) Buy fresh fruit, molasses there and sail back to Charleston. d) Exchange the molasses and fruit for guns, e) Provision the ship, then sail on to Ireland with weapons. As ransom was on his head would he stay away from Ulster? perhaps operating out of Cork or Waterford/ Wexford? Does any of this sound legit to any of your researchers. While some of these facts may have been altered over time, there appears to be some consistency with respect to his either being hung or the ransom to be hung. If this was going on, who might be be working with in Ireland. The Young Irelanders, Fenians, or some other group at the time whose objective was the free Ireland. Any advise would be welcome, my eyes are burning trying to read old newspapers from micro-film! Regards Jack Connors Wexford Surnames List http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~hughw/wexford.html ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to WEXFORD-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message