Insurrection Breaks Out Points

Above : Portrait Of Henry Joy McCracken

The Insurrection broke out at three different points : in mid-Leinster, that is to say in the counties of Kildare, Carlow, Meath and to some extent in Dublin ; in the Ulster counts of Antrim and Down ; and in Wexford and Wicklow In Cork there was one encounter between a few hundred peasants and a troop of yeomanry, but the rest of Munster, and the entire province of Connaught, remained quiet.

1. Mid-Leinster.—As regards the mid-Leinster rising, disturbances began by the stopping of several mail coaches (May 23 rd). There was no plan of concerted action between the different districts, and within ten days all was over. The most notable events were the routing of a body of some 4,000 insurgents at Tara by a small number of soldiers; the surrender of 2,000 near the Curragh to General Dunbar, and a massacre at Gibbet-Rath in the same neighbourhood. Rebels captured were, as a rule, instantly shot or hanged.
2. Antrim and Down.—It was in Ulster that the United Irishmen were strongest and best organised. Nevertheless the rising was confined to two counties only. The chief leaders who commanded, Henry Joy McCracken in Antrim, and Henry Munroe in Down, were able men. Both were Protestants, both members of the United Irishmen Society, McCracken being one of the founders. Munroe was a linen draper in Lisburn ; while McCracken was a cotton manufacturer. McCracken, with a force of some 4,000 men, attacked the town of Antrim. The insurgents fought with great courage, but were eventually driven back. The remnant surrendered shortly afterwards (June nth). McCracken was captured, tried, and executed in Belfast. In Co. Down Munroe had at first some success. But his forces were finally defeated with great slaughter at Ballynahinch by Major-General Nugent (June 13th). The insurgents are said to have numbered about 5,000, mostly Presbyterians, the Catholics being very few. Munroe was tried by court-martial, and hanged before his own door in Lisburn.
3. Wexford and Wicklow.—Wexford and south Wicklow in several respects differed from the majority of Irish counties. In Wexford especially, there was a strong admixture of Anglo-Saxon and Norse blood. The people were sturdy and generally prosperous; industrious farmers who tilled their lands with the help of their sons and a labourer or two. The United Irishmen’s organisation was widely spread in Wicklow, but less in Wexford. There had been signs of sullenness and discontent, and the authorities considered it needful to take precautions against a possible outbreak. Unfortunately, one of the precautionary measures consisted in organising a search for arms conducted by the North Cork Militia. This regiment had already an unenviable notoriety, and the outrages inflicted on the peasantry, which included various form of torture, caused the utmost indignation. In addition to this, there were frequent military executions ; fifty-four prisoners were shot at Carnew within three days.

The regular the insurrection is generally considered to have been caused by the burning of the little Catholic chapel of Bolewoeue, some five miles north-east of Enmscorthy. The parish priest Father John Murphy, was so enraged at this wanton outrage that he urged his parishioners to resist, and placed himself at their head (May 23rd) Their first success was the defeat of a small body of yeomen and encouraged by this recruits came from all the country round to swell their numbers. Very many of those who joined were the sons of the small farmers of whom we have spoken. Hardy athletic young men they were, grown strong by the practice of the country sports of hurling and ” putting ” the stone. For the most part they were badly armed, often only with scythes and pitchforks, though a good many had pikes, and perhaps one in ten firearms. Of military training they had either very little or none at all; but they fought with a ” desperate courage,” which excited the admiration even of their enemies.