Michael Doheny

Michael Doheny (22 May 1805 – 1 April 1862) was an Irish writer, lawyer, member of the Young Ireland movement, and co-founder of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, an Irish secret society which would go on to launch the Fenian Raids on Canada, Fenian Rising of 1867, and the Easter Rising of 1916, each of which was an attempt to bring about Irish Independence from Britain.

Early life

The third son of small farmer Michael Doheny, he was born at Brookhill, near Fethard, County Tipperary. Growing up, he received a rudimentary education from an itinerant teacher while working on his father's farm. He would continue his formal education into his adult life while simultaneously acting as a teacher himself to local children. Doheny's ambition was to receive a formal legal education so that he could become a lawyer capable of seeking redress for members of his community, who were generally poor.

Doheny's parents both died in his teens, leaving Doheny's eldest brother, himself only in his teenage years, as head of the household. Doheny fought through a bout of typhus at the age of 14. When he was 20, Doheny's eldest brother died and the family farm came into his procession. He subsequently sold it and continued to focus on his education.

Doheny was admitted to Gray's Inn in November 1834 and King's Inns in 1835 before being called to the Irish bar in 1838. Doheny would set up business in Cashel, County Tipperary and would be appointed legal assessor to the borough of Cashel under the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840. This allowed him to successfully prosecute former borough officers for corruption, including misappropriation of funds and fraudulent transfers of property, which won Doheny wider acclaim.