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Society of United Irishmen
Enlightenment
In the course of the eighteenth century a new philosophy school appeared. This school focussed on rationality and dared to question the balances of power which had reigned Europe for centuries. The Enlightenment polished off the idea of a privileged sovereign and tempered the influence of religion in governmental issues. As a result ordinary, though rational and thus educated, folks realised they were in charge of their own lives.
The Enlightenment was embraced by the people in the autocratic nations of Europe and caused a major cultural upheaval. The French Revolution is perhaps the most striking example of the forces unleashed by the Enlightenment.
With the repeal of some of the Penal Laws in the mid-eighteenth century, among which the prohibition for Catholics to carry arms, and legislative independence for the Irish parliament in 1782 the Enlightenment surfaced in Ireland. However, in Ulster, and especially in County Armagh, Maslow's Pyramid of Needs threw a spanner in the works of rationality.
The Catholic/Protestant ratio in mid-Ulster was about 50/50. Besides there was a surplus of weavers so as both groups had to struggle for their bread and butter. To defend the interests and goods of fellow believers the Catholics and Protestants got organised. Initially these organisations could be compared with a crossing between trades unions and cooperative societies. From the 1780's onwards the Catholic gangs, known as Defenders, and the Protestant bands, the Peep o'Day Boys, regularly came to blows and the atmosphere got more hostile.
One of these clashes is known as the Battle of the Diamond. This battle took place near Loughgall on 21 September 1795 and induced the founding of the Orange Order (OO), a Loyalist organisation which still exists.
United Irishmen
More in accordance with the ideas of the Enlightenment was the Society of United Irishmen. Inspired by the French Revolution and with great admiration for the new democracy of the United States Theobald Wolfe Tone, Thomas Russell and James Napper Tandy founded the non-sectarian Society of United Irishmen in October 1791 in Belfast. The Society of United Irishmen embraced the French motto Égalité, fraternité et liberté, or Equality, fraternity and liberty, and demanded parliamentary reforms and Catholic emancipation. They aimed at a representative Irish parliament. Every Irishmen, whether Protestant or Catholic, should be entitled to vote and be eligible for election.
At all costs the British tried to avoid a revolution and in 1792 they agreed to most demands. One unsettled issue remained: the British refused to except the right for Catholics to sit in the parliament. At the same time however the Militia Act was introduced. As a result Catholic militia, such as the Defenders, were placed under a Protestant officer. Of course this did not suit their purposes and the Defenders became an underground, secret and oat-bound, movement.
The Society of United Irishmen was not a Catholic organisation in these early years. In fact none of the founders was Catholic. Everyone who supported their ideals was welcome, although most supporters lived in the better-off cities in the north-east and east of Ireland. The often forgotten efforts and sacrifices made by Protestants struggling for equality and independence are commemorated in the song Protestant Men (well, in fact the founders were Presbyterians and thus not real Protestants).
French Invasion
Of course Dublin Castle, the seat of the British government in Ireland, followed the Society of United Irishmen with Argus' eyes ever since the Society was founded, but two events raised the alarm.
The first event was the number of Defenders joining the Society of United Irishmen. This large scale desertion was caused by the persecution and detention of several Defenders under the Militia Act. From a political movement made up from urban oriented, rational and well-educated Catholic and Protestant politicians and philosophers, the Society of United Irishmen evolved in a revolutionary force made up from Catholic gang members.
The participation of Britain in the First Coalition against France in February 1793 was the second event to trigger the alarm bells in Dublin Castle. It was no secret that the Society of United Irishmen thought the world of France and the ongoing Revolutionary Wars created opportunities. As it turned out there were advanced contacts between Theobald Wolfe Tone and the French government. Initially the Society of United Irishmen aimed at military assistance for a rising, but they would get more then they bargained for.
The relations between France end the Society of United Irishmen were considered treason against the state in wartime and in May 1794 the Society of United Irishmen was prohibited.
In the course of the years the Society of United Irishmen had revised its policy. The political organisation striving for parliamentary reforms and Catholic emancipation had gave way to an underground revolutionary organisation striving for an independent Ireland. This new Society of United Irishmen continued its efforts to gain French support.
Instead of some arms and perhaps a small army the Society of United Irishmen had hoped for a full-grown French invasion fleet, 43 ships with 15,000 infantrymen aboard, appeared near Bantry Bay in County Cork on 21 December 1796. Due to bad weather conditions they could not land and the fleet returned after five days without having accomplished their mission.
It is important to realise that supporting the Irish revolutionaries was not the main concern of the French. The ultimate goal of the French was an invasion of Britain in order to regain their dominance over the waves, which the French had lost after their defeat in the Seven Years War from 1756 until 1763. The most obvious route, a crossing of the English Channel, was just too obvious and therefore not realistic. The invitation from the Society of United Irishmen provided new options.
After the failed landing the French were in no hurry at all to assist the Irish when their support was needed during the Rebellion of 1798. The invasion plans were put on ice until 22 August 1798 when a French force landed in County Mayo.
The French invasion attempt was for the British an unmistakable signal to increase their efforts to cripple the Society of United Irishmen. In March 1798 the society was paralysed by infiltration and the imprisonment of 16 leaders. Among the prisoners was the overall commander Lord Edward Fitzgerald, who would die in prison on 4 June, and Thomas Addis Emmet, who would play a leading role in the Rebellion of 1803. Several other members managed to hide for the British, among them Daniel O'Connell who would play a leading role in the Catholic Emancipation movement in the beginning of the nineteenth century.
The Society of United Irishmen was placed in a dilemma. On one hand postponing a rising was risky, because the longer they wait the more the organisation would be undermined by repression and prosecution. On the other hand a rising was doomed to fail when not supported by France and after Bantry Bay this support was not self-evident.
The Society of United Irishmen however decided to rise and the Rebellion of 1798, also known as the United Irishmen Rebellion, broke out in May 1798. Although the rising failed the year 1798 would became known as the First Year of Freedom.