Above: Robert Emmets In 1802, Robert Emmet, a gifted, earnest, noble minded young man of twenty-four, younger brother of Thomas Addis Emmet, attempted to reorganise the United Irishmen. He had just returned from France and had hopes of aid from Napoleon. He employed all his private fortune in the secret manufacture of pikes and other arms. His plan was to attack Dublin Castle and Pigeon House fort; and he had intended to rise in August 1803, by which time he expected invasion from ... Read More

Above: Daniel O'Connell After the Union there was no appearance of the promised bill for Emancipation. The old Catholic Committee still survived, held its meetings in Dublin, and kept the claims of the Catholics before parliament and the public; but there appeared very little hope, for king George III. continued as obstinate as ever. In 1805 Grattan became a member of the United Parlia- ment, and devoted himself almost exclusively to the cause of Irish Catholic emancipation. In 1807 the duke of Richmond ... Read More