Michael Doheny

author

Michael Doheny

1805–1862

A self-taught lawyer turned revolutionary writer, he became one of the sharpest voices of Young Ireland before exile carried him to the United States. His life connects agrarian Tipperary, the failed rising of 1848, and the early roots of Fenian nationalism.

1 Audiobook

The Felon's Track; Or, History of the Attempted Outbreak in Ireland Embracing the Leading Events in the Irish Struggle From the Year 1843 to the Close of 1848

The Felon's Track; Or, History of the Attempted Outbreak in Ireland Embracing the Leading Events in the Irish Struggle From the Year 1843 to the Close of 1848

by Michael Doheny

About the author

Born at Brookhill near Fethard, County Tipperary, on 22 May 1805, Michael Doheny rose from a small-farming background and had only limited formal schooling before largely educating himself. He trained in law, was called to the Irish bar, and built a reputation as a gifted speaker and writer with a strong interest in Irish history and politics.

Doheny became a leading member of the Young Ireland movement in the 1840s. After the failed rebellion of 1848, he escaped arrest and eventually made his way to the United States, where he continued to work for Irish nationalist causes among the emigrant community.

He is remembered both as a political activist and as an author, especially for The Felon's Track, his vivid account of the Young Ireland generation and the events surrounding 1848. He also helped found the Fenian Brotherhood in America, linking his name to the wider republican tradition that shaped later movements for Irish independence. He died in New York on 1 April 1862.