This study examines the origins of Irish paramilitarism through the case of the Enniskillen Horse, established in County Fermanagh during the Third Home Rule Crisis (1912-14). As one of the earliest organised paramilitary groups, it outlines the blurred line between civic association, illegality, and political violence. The paper places its emergence within Fermanagh’s distinctive social and political context, where sectarian tensions and imperial loyalties encouraged militarisation. By analysing both its development and the legal frameworks that permitted its existence, the research demonstrates how the Enniskillen Horse contributed to the radicalisation of the Irish Question and anticipated broader patterns of armed mobilisation.

Luca Bertolani Azeredo is a PhD candidate in Global History and Governance at the Scuola Superiore Meridionale – Università degli Studi di Napoli, working on political violence and paramilitary bodies in Ireland before the Great War. He holds an MA from the University of Padova and has been a visiting student at QUB and UCC. He has published a number of book chapters on Irish and Italian history.

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