In Pursuit of Liberty: The United Irishmen and the Rebellion of 1798
April 3, 2014Inspired by the revolutions in America and France, a group of reformers in Belfast, Ireland organized the Society of United Irishmen in 1791.
The United Irishmen advocated religious tolerance, major reform of the Irish Parliament, and repeal of the Penal Laws, which limited the rights of Catholics. However, as it became evident that these changes were not possible under British domination, Irish independence became the organization’s primary goal.
Chapters of the United Irishmen spread throughout Ireland and attracted Protestants, particularly Presbyterians, as well as Catholics.
Wolfe Tone and the French Invasion Attempt of 1796
After France declared war on Great Britain in 1793, Theobald Wolfe Tone, a founding member of the United Irishmen, met with a representative of the new revolutionary French government to work out an alliance.
Theobald Wolfe Tone, Founding member of the Society of United Irishmen, Image courtesy of Wikipedia
When British officials learned of the meeting, the Society was outlawed and began to operate in secret. For his role in the affair, Wolfe Tone was treated leniently and allowed to leave for America. From there, he traveled to France where he and others lobbied for a French invasion to liberate Ireland.
In December 1796, a French fleet with 14,000 men arrived off the island’s south coast. But due to severe weather, the invasion force was unable to land and the fleet sailed back to France.
After the invasion attempt, the Society was put under heavy surveillance and many of its leaders were imprisoned. Acts of violence committed against suspected United Irishmen were ignored by the government. Nevertheless, the organization continued its activities and, in the spring of 1798, sent out the signal for an uprising.
The Irish Rebellion of 1798
On the night of May 23rd, 1798 the United Irishmen attacked mail coaches leaving Dublin, signalling that the rebellion had begun. Although it had been designated as the center of the uprising, Dublin was heavily fortified by the British and the rebellion failed to materialize there.
Uprisings did occur in the counties outside of the city, but they were poorly coordinated and isolated. On May 29th, that changed when a major rebellion broke out in County Wexford, where local authorities had allowed loyalist militias to terrorize the local population.
After Wexford, rebellions spread across the island. In response, Lord Charles Cornwallis was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland to subdue the rebels, and the uprising was largely put down by the end of June. Then in August, 1100 French soldiers landed in County Mayo on the west coast. Soon surrounded by a much larger British force, they surrendered on September 8th.
One more invasion was attempted by the French in October, but the small fleet was captured off the northwest coast at Lough Swilley in County Donegal. On board one of the French ships was the United Irishmen’s own Wolfe Tone. Tried before a court in Dublin and sentenced to death, he committed suicide in November.
The rebellion was over. Areas of the country had been devastated, and somewhere between 10,000 and 25,000 rebels had died in the fighting, while approximately 600 British soldiers had been killed.
The Act of Union
To discourage future rebellions, in 1800 the Parliament at Westminster passed the Act of Union, which created the United Kingdom of Britain and Ireland. Its parliament dissolved, Ireland was now officially united with Britain and would be ruled directly from Westminster.
References
Bartlett, Thomas, “The 1798 Irish Rebellion,” BBC: History – British History, Bbc.co.uk, last updated 7 March 2011 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/irish_reb_01.shtml : accessed 22 March 2014).
Moody, T.W. and F.X. Martin, Editors, The Course of Irish History (Dublin: The Mercier Press, 1993), 238-239, 242-245.
Schaffer, Patricia, J.D., “Background of the Penal Laws,” Laws in Ireland for the Suppression of Popery, commonly known as the Penal Laws, University of Minnesota Law Library, Unm.edu, 2000 (http://library.law.umn.edu/irishlaw/intro.html : accessed 23 March 2014).