Stephens James

Stephens, JAMES (b. 1820), Fenian leader, was born in Kilkenny, and began life as a civil engineer. When the rebellion of 1848 broke out, he threw himself into it with enthusiasm, and was wounded at the Ballingarry episode. He escaped to Paris, where he lived for some years, and returned in 1858 to start the Fenian movement in conjunction with O'Donovan Rossa and others. He was the acknowledged head of the conspiracy, which made alarming progress, and founded a paper in connection with it. This was seized and Stephens and others were arrested. He escaped in a remarkable manner and fled to Paris, while the rest were sentenced to long terms of penal servitude. He snpported himself in Paris by teaching English, and by his translations of Dickens into French, and was allowed to return to Dublin a year or two ago.