Ireland (14 page)

Unfortunately, as had happened with the Spanish Armadas, a storm blew up and the ships were scattered. Only sixteen reached Bantry Bay, County Cork, where bad weather prevented them from landing. On 28 December they were forced to return to France. Wolfe Tone was bitterly disappointed but on arriving back in France he sought further help.

In Ireland, the militias continued their brutality against anyone they considered an enemy. The authorities, rather than taking action to stop this, actively encouraged it. This made the United Irishmen more determined than ever to rebel. However, just when rebellion was planned, the leaders in Dublin were arrested. Despite this, the United Irishmen rose in Leinster on 23 May 1798, but were quickly defeated. In Ulster, the rebels, under the leadership of Henry Joy McCracken and Henry Munro, were also defeated. The only rising, which had some success, took place in Wexford.

When his church at Boolavogue, near Enniscorthy, was burned, the priest, Father John Murphy, urged the people to rebel. He told them that it would be better to die fighting than to suffer continual brutality. Thousands of men rallied around him. Some had guns, but most were armed only with farm implements and pikes. These were spears with a hooked blade and were made by local blacksmiths. Despite being so poorly armed, the rebels captured Enniscorthy, Wexford and Gorey. They also captured New Ross, but were forced to retreat from there.

General Lake, who was in charge of the English forces, marched south from Dublin with reinforcements and artillery. The two armies met at Vinegar Hill on 21 June 1798. After fierce, bloody fighting, the Wexfordmen were defeated. Father Murphy and the other leaders were executed, with the priest’s body being burned. All the captured towns were retaken and Lake’s soldiers wreaked vengeance on the local population, killing innocent men, women and children.

When it seemed as if all hope had gone with the defeat of the Wexford rebels, another French expedition arrived at Killala Bay, County Mayo, in August. It was led by General Humbert, who now marched through Mayo. Locals joined his forces and they marched to Castlebar. The local garrison, on seeing the enemy approach, ran away, an event known as ‘The Races of Castlebar’.

Humbert marched east and reached Ballinamuck, County Longford, where he encountered a large English army under Lake and Cornwallis. In the ensuing battle, he was defeated with heavy losses. The French were allowed to return home, but the Irish were not treated so lightly. Hundreds of the rebels were hanged, and again the English soldiers acted against the Irish population with great brutality.

The end of the 1798 rebellion came a few days afterwards when yet another French expedition arrived in Lough Swilly, off the coast of Derry. Wolfe Tone was on board the
Hoche
, the largest ship in the fleet. After fierce fighting, the fleet was captured and Wolfe Tone was arrested. He was tried and convicted of treason, and sentenced to be hanged. As a French officer, he demanded to be shot like a soldier, but the authorities refused. They intended to hang him like a common criminal.

On the night before his execution, he was found in his cell with injuries to his throat and he died from these injuries on 19 November 1798. No one knows how he obtained his injuries, but it is suspected that he may have inflicted them on himself. With his death, all hope that Ireland might gain her freedom ended.

The 1798 rebellion greatly alarmed the English parliament and king, who still feared revolution in England. They also feared that the French might again attempt to free Ireland, and use the country as a base from which they could attack England. The Prime Minister, William Pitt, realised that he could not hold Ireland by military force alone. He now decided to abolish the Irish parliament in Dublin and unite Ireland and England under a single parliament in London.

This proposal was placed before the Irish parliament but was rejected. One of its strongest opponents was Henry Grattan. The English now bribed many of the Irish members, offering them money and honours. When the proposal was again voted on, it was passed. On 1 January 1801, the Act of Union, uniting Ireland with England became law, and the Irish parliament was abolished. From now on, those elected in Ireland would sit in parliament at Westminster in London. There they would be in the minority and would have little influence. The English parliament could now pass laws to further suppress the Catholic population of Ireland, and try to ensure that there would be no further rebellions.

But the English were soon to be reminded that they could not suppress the Irish people. They could enact whatever severe laws they wished, but the people would not submit. The Irish were still a proud Celtic race that had endured for nearly 2,500 years. For the last 600 years they had been suppressed, massacred, starved and had their land stolen. Some of the finest Irish men and women had been driven from the country. Yet the Irish had never willingly submitted to the tyrant’s yoke, or given up the faith of their fathers, in the words of a famous hymn written at this time, ‘in spite of dungeon, fire and sword’. They would not give up now and soon one of the greatest Irishmen of all time, Daniel O’Connell, would begin a peaceful fight for their rights and freedom.

B
efore Daniel O’Connell began his peaceful campaign on behalf of the Irish people, yet another rebellion was being planned in Dublin. It was led by a young Protestant, Robert Emmet, who came from a wealthy family. He had been left a large sum of money by his father and used this money to buy arms.

Because of his fear of informers, Emmet kept most of the plans for the rising to himself. This meant that the rising was badly organised and was doomed to fail. A further disaster struck on 16 July 1803 when one of Emmet’s stores of gunpowder exploded, warning the authorities that a rising was imminent.

Fearful that the government would arrest him, Emmet decided to go ahead with his plan. On the evening of 23 July 1803, he, with around 100 men, marched towards Dublin Castle. He was joined by locals, who saw an opportunity for looting. When the group met a judge named Kilwarden, they murdered him along with a young man who was with him. Emmet realised that there was little hope of a rising succeeding, and he and his followers dispersed.

On 24 August Emmet was arrested. He was tried for treason, convicted and sentenced to be hanged. After being sentenced, he made a famous speech from the dock in which he stated: ‘When my country takes its place among the nations of the earth, then, and not till then, let my epitaph be written.’ On 20 September 1803 he was executed. He was then just twenty-five years of age.

Rebellion had yet again failed. It seemed that there was no longer any hope for the Catholic population. But while rebellion had failed, peaceful means were now to be more successful in gaining some freedom for the Irish people. The man responsible for this was Daniel O’Connell, one of the most famous Irishmen of all time.

O’Connell was born at Derrynane, near Cahersiveen, County Kerry, in 1775. His people were wealthy landowners. O’Connell was first educated in Ireland, later studied in France and became a lawyer. Though well off, he was acutely aware of the suffering of the Irish people, who regularly endured famine and disease. He realised that if the people were to be helped, the Penal Laws would have to be repealed, along with other changes.

As a young man, O’Connell had witnessed mob violence in Paris during the French Revolution. Afterwards, he abhorred all violence and wished to achieve his aims through peaceful means. With this in mind, in 1823 he and Richard Lalor Shiel formed the Catholic Association. It had two main aims: repeal of the Penal Laws and an improvement in conditions for tenant farmers. They were at the mercy of landlords who charged such exorbitant rents that the farmers could barely afford to feed their families. This led to unrest in the country, with the Whiteboys and other such organisations continuing to attack landlords and their agents. O’Connell believed that if he could improve the conditions for farmers, the violence would cease.

In order to raise money for the association, one penny per week was collected from its supporters. The English government tried every means possible to ban the organisation, but O’Connell was a brilliant lawyer. Each time the organisation was suppressed, he simply set it up again under a different name.

To further their aims, the Catholic Association put forward candidates for election to the English parliament. They were successful, and O’Connell himself was elected in County Clare. This alarmed the government and the Prime Minister, Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington. He feared that more of O’Connell’s candidates might be elected. If this happened, it would lead to more demands, and perhaps even to another rebellion if the demands were not granted.

Wellesley was born in Ireland, but did not regard himself as an Irishman. He once declared that ‘being born in a stable did not make a man a horse’. He was responsible for the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815, and so popularised the wearing of rubber boots that wellington boots are named after him. He concluded that to prevent rebellion in Ireland, the English parliament would have to grant rights to Irish Catholics. His government drew up a Catholic Relief Bill, which became law in April 1829. This granted Catholic Emancipation and abolished most of the Penal Laws. Only the highest positions in government were denied to Catholics. But the bill had a sting in the tail. The poorer farmers, O’Connell’s strongest supporters, were denied the right to vote. Now it became almost impossible for members of the Catholic Association to be elected to parliament, greatly undermining O’Connell’s power base.

Gaining Catholic Emancipation was a huge success for O’Connell, and made him the most popular man in Ireland. Emancipation, among other things, led to the setting up of the National School System. However, lessons were taught through English, and pupils were punished for speaking Irish. Each pupil had to wear a tally-stick, a piece of timber hung around their necks by a cord. Each time they spoke Irish, a notch was cut in this stick. At the end of the school day the notches were added up. The unfortunate pupil was then given as many slaps with a cane as there were notches on the stick. This dreadful practice led to a decline in the Irish language, from which it has never fully recovered. But despite this setback, young people now obtained some basic form of education.

Daniel O’Connell, nicknamed ‘The Liberator’, had gained one victory. But he realised that if the Irish people were to be truly free, the Act of Union would have to be repealed. With the intention of repealing the act, he set up the Repeal Association. Again the government banned the organisation but O’Connell simply re-formed it under a different name.

He held meetings around the country, known as ‘monster meetings’, because so many people attended. At a meeting on 15 August 1843 on the Hill of Tara, seat of the ancient Irish High Kings, it is claimed that a million people attended. They cheered as O’Connell promised them that soon they would have their freedom.

O’Connell next planned a monster meeting at Clontarf, scene of the famous battle where Brian Boru defeated the Vikings. It was arranged for Sunday, 8 October 1843, and over one million people were expected to attend. This greatly alarmed the English government. It was becoming increasingly worried by O’Connell’s success, and decided to take action. The authorities in Dublin Castle sent armed soldiers to Clontarf and then declared that the meeting was banned. This was a direct challenge to O’Connell. He feared that if the meeting went ahead there would be violence, and almost certainly loss of life. O’Connell, the pacifist who had always avoided violence, called off the meeting.

This signalled the end of his influence. He was now an old man and younger men were coming to the fore. Because of their youth, they were known as Young Irelanders. Like O’Connell, they dreamed of gaining freedom for Ireland. At first they had supported O’Connell, but after Clontarf they lost faith in him.

In 1844 O’Connell was imprisoned, and on his release, his health began to fail. He travelled to Italy to recuperate and died in Genoa on 15 May 1847 at the age of seventy-two. His body was brought back to Ireland, and he was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin.

His death was hardly noted by the people for whom he had gained so much. By 1847 Ireland was in the grip of the most horrific event that was ever to befall the Irish nation in its long, violent and bloody history. What did the death of one man matter when hundreds of thousands were dying in mud cabins, in workhouses, along the roadsides and in ditches? Death stalked the land and even ‘the curse of Cromwell’ had not caused such suffering and devastation. Ireland and her people were enduring ‘The Great Hunger’, an unimaginable famine that was to change the face of Ireland forever.

T
he Great Famine of 1845–1847 was not the first to ravage Ireland. There had been many famines down through the centuries. During the ‘Great Frost’ of 1740, the country was gripped by bitterly cold weather that lasted for months. The summer was then wet with little sunshine; crops failed and animals died. In the following year, 1741, known as ‘The Year of the Slaughter’ the weather again was poor, and there was widespread famine. It is estimated that 300,000 people died, though it can never be accurately known for few records were kept back then. But the famine of 1741 was not as devastating as ‘The Great Hunger’, which lasted for three years. Between 1845 and 1847 there was widespread failure of the potato crop. It was so severe in 1847 that this year is still known as ‘Black ‘47’.