Drawing on an immense body of literature and research, Brian Jenkins analyses the forces that shaped mid-nineteenth century Irish nationalism in Ireland and North America as well as the role of the Roman Catholic Church. He outlines the relationship between newly arrived Irish Catholic immigrants and their hosts and the pivotal role of the church in maintaining a sense of exile, particularly among those who had fled the famine. Jenkins also explores the essential "Irishness" of the revolutionary movement and the reasons why it did not emerge in the two other "nations" of the United Kingdom, Scotland and Wales.