On St. Patrick's Day, 1858, James Stephens formally established the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) in Peter Lanigan's timber yard on Lombard Street in Dublin. The IRB was a secret, oath-bound fraternal organization dedicated to establishing an independent democratic republic in Ireland. Its American counterpart, the Fenian Brotherhood, was founded shortly after, creating a powerful transatlantic network.

The IRB and Fenian movement inspired a rich tradition of republican poetry and song, with ballads celebrating the 'men of the IRB' as the true inheritors of the patriot tradition. Writers associated with the movement used poetry to spread revolutionary ideas and keep the dream of independence alive. The Fenian ethos permeated Irish literary culture, influencing poets from the Young Irelanders to the generation of the Easter Rising.