United Irishmen was a movement in the 1790’s that sought to reform the Irish Parliament by uniting Protestants and Roman Catholics. Inspired by the revolutions in America and France, Theobald Wolfe Tone, Thomas Russell, and others founded the Society of United Irishmen in Belfast in 1791. Only Protestants were allowed to vote and hold office in Ireland as a result of centuries of rule by the British, who were mostly Protestant. The United Irishmen sought to give Ireland’s Roman Catholics the same political rights as Protestants.
Thousands of people joined the society, but the British government outlawed it in 1794. The United Irishmen then focused on the creation of an independent Ireland free from English rule. Wolfe Tone successfully lobbied for help from France. In late 1796, bad weather prevented a large French invasion fleet from landing in Ireland. The British then increased their efforts to suppress the movement.
In May 1798, the movement erupted into armed rebellion. The British mostly kept the uprising under control in the areas surrounding Dublin. But news of the execution of a number of United Irish prisoners inflamed the rebellion. In County Wexford, a priest named John Murphy led thousands of rebels against government troops. The rebels succeeded at first, but the British subdued them in a matter of weeks. Their leaders, including Murphy, were executed. Rebels in the northern counties of Antrim and Down fought bravely against superior numbers, but the British quickly suppressed them. In August, a French army of 1,000 troops under General Jean Humbert landed in County Mayo. After an opening victory at Castlebar, the tide quickly turned and the French surrendered in September. The rebellion was over. Thousands of Irish were killed in the fighting and as punishment for the rebellion. Several hundred government troops also lost their lives. Wolfe Tone was captured and committed suicide while awaiting execution in November 1798. Thomas Russell was captured and executed in 1803.
The 1798 rebellion brought the end of Ireland’s limited self-rule. The Irish Parliament was dissolved and, in 1801, the Act of Union formed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
See also Ireland, History of (Two nations (1700’s)) ; Tone, Theobald Wolfe .
