What was an "Irish State Prisoner"?

[Tikva]

As the descendant of an Irish man who emigrated to New Zealand, I have often wondered which "side" of the issues that he would have stood in regards to Ireland, i.e. supported the British or opposed.  This evening I found evidence that he had given 10 shillings in 1868 for the "Otago Relief Fund for the Destitute Wives and children of the Irish State Prisoners", which may indicate the 'side' which he supported.  However, whilst I have an inkling, I am not 100% certain just what 'side' and Irish State Prisoner would be on.

Is there anyone here who could clarify it for me?  Many thanks in advance.

[myluck!]

May be of interest
 Article 1 relating
Article 2 relating
Article 3 relating

[JustinL]

Hi,

I believe these were Irish prisoners of the British state, i.e. political prisoners. The fund appears to have been set up to enable such prisoners that had been released to return to their homes or go elsewhere.

Read here http://www.rootschat.com/links/01e3g/

I think you'll find that these prisoners were termed Fenians (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenian), and were dedicated to the establishment of an Irish republic.

[Tikva]

Thank you very much for that information JustinL.  I'm guessing though by the title of this particular Relief Fund that it was to help the wives and children of those political prisoners, rather than the prisoners themselves, but that's neither here nor there.

Do you think I would be correct in assuming that my ancestor was also dedicated to the establishment of an Irish Republic?  I can't imagine anyone giving money to a cause he or she didn't support, but could be wrong, as he might have been more concerned for the wives and children's plight.

myluck, thank you for those links too 

[JustinL]

You are, of course, right about the fund. And it does, possibly, raise questions about your ancestor's motives. But neither fund was directly financing political activity in Ireland.

To say that your ancestor was dedicated to the establishment of an Irish Republic would suggest that he was directly politically active, which is unlikely, given that he lived in New Zealand. There were many shades of Irish nationalism, and it is impossible to say where your ancestor stood. There are huge voluminous tomes on the subject.

I've browsed through a couple of your posts about this Sinnamon ancestor and see that he came from a Presbyterian background, not a Catholic one.

The Irish Times reports that the surname Sinnamon was rare; there were only four households recorded in the period 1847-64. It is thought to be variant of the surname Cinnamond, which was fairly numerous in counties Armagh, Tyrone and Antrim (49 households). Cinnamond was a probable variant of the Scottish surname Kinninmonth, although I can see little evidence to support that deduction.

Trying to get inside the heads of our ancestors to understand their actions and motives is one of the great fascinations of genealogy.

Justin (an Englishman married to an Irish woman. Resident in Dublin.)