The mid-nineteenth century was not a good time for Ireland, what with the heavy-handed rule of the British and the whole potato famine thing genocidally killing all sorts of folks. It was these conditions that forced Johnny O to flee to the United States at the age of 14, a habit not unheard of amongst his fellow Irishman. However, things were not much better in the good old U.S. of A., what with the rampant racism against Irish immigrants and whatnot. Finding the jobs available to a young Irishman in the U.S. less than satisfactory, young Johnny O joined the military and became a cavalry officer, fighting in both the Utah War and Civil War. Following the Civil War, Johnny O found himself out of a job, which was when the Fenian Brotherhood found him.
The Fenian Brotherhood was a group of Irish patriots, or terrorists depending on who you're asking, who were busily training men and stockpiling weapons in the U.S. to use some day to free Ireland from British rule. Johnny O loved the group’s passion, but took issue with the fact that they were long on preparation and short on actually doing anything. Using some interesting “outside the box” thinking Johnny O decided that the best course of action would be for the Fenian’s to invade Canada, which would then somehow result in the British granting Ireland its independence. Nobody was sure exactly how this plan was going to work, but the thought of actually doing something proved very popular, so the Fenian's just kind of went with it.
In 1866, Johnny O led 1,200 Fenians in an invasion of Canada. Which was less of an invasion, and more walking 10 miles across the border and occupying a small town of 800 people called Ridgeway, Ontario. The Canadians, not really sure what to make of the whole thing, sent a small detachment of troops to check things out, who promptly had their asses handed to them by the Fenians, most of whom were Civil War veterans. Following their victory, the Fenians sat around for a few days, waiting for Ireland to become free, eventually growing bored and returning to the United States. Despite having accomplished little, Johnny O was declared a hero.
Hot off of his first so-called success, Johnny O waited four years and then led a second invasion of Canada, but this time in Quebec, because obviously the British probably cared more about the French speaking part of Canada than they did the English speaking part. The invasion did not start out well. Johnny O was arrested trying to cross the border, and soon after his army of a few hundred men, leaderless and confused, were easily trounced by the Canadian military. Johnny O was sentenced to two years in prison, but President Useless S. Grant, finding the whole thing rather ridiculous, pardoned him after only a few months.
A free man again, Johnny O decided that the best course of action was to invade Canada for a third time. This time he targeted Manitoba, mostly because almost nobody lived there at the time. The third invasion went worse than the second. Johnny O and his army, consisting of a couple dozen men, apparently none of whom knew how to read a map, invaded U.S. territory. The Canadian military responded by marching into the United States and beating the ever living snot out of the Fenians, who were then arrested by U.S. authorities. When questioned, Johnny O claimed that he and his men had just been going north to start an Irish colony. The U.S. government, finding the whole thing ridiculous and really wanting nothing to do with any of it, let Johnny O and his men go.
After the failure of the third invasion, Johnny O finally accepted that invading Canada would probably not result in a free Ireland. Not sure what else to do, he worked the rest of his life on what he apparently thought was the next best thing, promoting Irish immigration to Nebraska.
Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hon._John_O%27Neill,_Ohio_-_NARA_-_526300.tif