The
Context and Development of Irish Literature:
History, Poetry, Landscape
Chapter
Three: Revolution, Emancipation, Starvation, page 1
The Protestant Ascendancy gave an impression
of stability and control to Irish government. But the 18th
century in Europe was also the Age of Revolution, and England
watched with increasing anxiety as first the American
colonies, and then more dramatically the French, overthrew
traditional rule and instituted democratic governments. France
in particular threatened English interests, because as a
Catholic country France had long held ties to the Irish and
supported Ireland in its resistance to France’s oldest
enemy, England. (View Martello
Tower.) This unease led to some lessening of the
restrictions on the Irish, but at the same time the air of
revolution caused the Irish to form their own rebellious
movements. Most prominent among these was the United
Irishmen, formed in Belfast and Dublin in 1791. This
group combined elements of American and French republicanism
with British commonwealth doctrine and Irish patriotic
fervor. It was composed of Presbyterian, Protestant, and
Catholic elements, and initially aimed at a unified Ireland of
all religious denominations. Though initially the United
Irishmen sought parliamentary and voting reform, they
gradually shifted to advocating militant revolution.
In 1798, under the leadership of the
charismatic Wolfe Tone, they attempted an insurrection.
Tone had garnered support in France, and he sailed to Ireland
with an expeditionary force but was quickly captured and the
uprising failed. Tone was imprisoned and died
mysteriously while in English custody--the official line was
that he committed suicide, but the Irish always suspected the
English of killing him, and Tone became another in a line of
Irish martyrs who died fighting to free the nation from the
foreign oppressor. He certainly is the foundational
figure for Irish Republicanism, the powerful impulse behind
much of the conflict in Northern Ireland today.
A similar fate was bestowed on Robert Emmet
five years later. Emmet was another leader of the United
Irishmen who worked in the aftermath of the 1798 debacle to
foment a new revolt. In 1803 he attempted to capture
Dublin Castle, hoping that the Irish population would rise up
in a spontaneous revolt, and also hoping that aid from France
would come. His attempt was quickly put down, and Emmet,
along with 21 other leaders, were executed within a month of
the attempt. Emmet delivered a very famous "speech from
the dock" at his trial, which reverberates throughout Irish
history as another document in the annals of the Irish
martyrs. (View Emmet's speech.)
These defeats marked the end of the United Irishmen,
and the end of significant Irish armed rebellion until the
early 20th century.
One of Lady Gregory's finest plays, Kathleen
ni-Houlihan of 1902, has the 1798 rebellion as its crucial
historical background. It is noteworthy that the allure
of these revolts was kept alive during the early 20th century,
as a new tradition of armed resistance to England came to the
fore. Yeats, who co-authored some of the speeches
in the play, later asked, "did that play of mine / lead
certain men to be killed?"
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