Presentation Transcript

1. Ireland during Age of Revolution George III Protestant Ascendancy Penal Laws Grattan’s Parliament France and America United Irishmen 1791 Wolfe Tone McCracken Catholic Emancipation
2. 18th Century Ireland Revolutions in France and America inspired Theobald Wolfe Tone 18th Century Ireland religion very important Catholics, Presbyterians and Anglicans (Church of Ireland)
3. Catholics 75% of Irish Lost their land during Plantations New Protestant settlers brought in the Penal Laws to stop Catholics regaining land and power Penal Laws: Hard to buy land Engage in trade Get educated No vote No government jobs
4. Presbyterians 10% of Irish Many descended from Scots who came during Plantations in Ulster Mostly farmers and businessmen from Ulster English government didn’t trust them as not in official church Also could not sit in parliament or get government jobs
5. Anglicans (Church of Ireland) 15% Anglicans Descended from English planters Official church Special Privileges Trinity College only allowed Anglicans Only Anglicans could get government jobs and sit in parliament But divided: Protestant Ascendancy owned all land and controlled all the jobs Most Anglicans had little wealth or power. Wolfe Tone belonged to this group.
6. Ireland in 1780s Like America it was a British colony King George III ruled Also an Irish parliament whose members were chosen by the Protestant Ascendancy Poynings Law: All laws had to be approved by the King and his ministers
7. The Volunteers and Grattan’s Parliament When France went to war on the side of the Americans the Ascendancy feared French might invade Ireland They set up groups of armed Protestants called the Volunteers to defend the country After the American Revolution ended in 1782 Henry Grattan used the Volunteers to demand an end to Poynings’ Law and more power for the Irish parliament Rather than another war King George gave in So from 1782 to 1800 the Irish Parliament could make any laws it liked But when Grattan suggested sharing power with the Presbyterians and Catholics the Ascendancy refused
8. Theobald Wolfe Tone Tone belonged to the Church of Ireland but his family were not rich enough to be part of the Protestant Ascendancy Studied Law in Trinity but interested in politics# When revolution in France broke out Tone welcomed it, hoping for Liberty, Equality and Fraternity in Ireland In 1791 Presbyterians in Belfast set up a club to work for these ideas Tone suggested they campaign against the Penal Laws
9. An Argument on behalf of the Catholics of Ireland Tone wrote this short book to convince Presbyterians to campaign against the Penal Laws Says religious divisions bad for Ireland Wanted to substitute the common name of Irishman in place of Protestant, Catholic and Presbyterian
10. United Irishmen Many people impressed by what Tone wrote Catholics asked him to be Secretary of a Catholic Committee working to remove Penal Laws Belfast Presbyterians asked him to help them set up the Society of United Irishman
11. The United Irishmen Aims: Unite Irish people of all religions Reform the Irish Parliament Reduce British power in Ireland At first peaceful but in 1793 Britain went to war with France The British thought that anyone who sympathised with French were dangerous When they found Tone talking to a French spy they forced him to leave for America and outlawed the United Irishmen Qs page 214
12. New leaders plan a revolution Lord Edward Fitzgerald and Thomas Russell Turned United Irishmen into a secret society and planned a rebellion to set up an Irish republic Tone went to France to persuade the French to send an army to Ireland The French appointed General Hocheto lead an army of 15,000 December 1796 the army set out but hit storms Hoche’s ship went back to France Tone’s ship reached Bantry Bay but couldn’t land due to weather The expedition was abandoned
13. British reign of terror in 1797 This frightened British and Ascendancy They decided to destroy United Irishmen Used spies to uncover plans Introduced a reign of terror in Leinster and Ulster where United Irishmen strongest Soldiers tortured people to make them show where weapons were Burned houses, destroyed crops, flogged and hanged people, guilty and innocent
14. Plans for a rebellion Lord Edward Fitzgerald and others drew up plans for a rebellion in May 1798 But government spies reported the plans and the leaders were arrested Lord Edward Fitzgerald was killed resisting arrest Read page 216-217 Lord Ed Fitz
15. Rebellion in Leinster 23 May groups of United Irishmen attacked British soldiers in Dublin, Meath, Carlow, Wicklow and Kildare But poorly armed and poorly led British easily defeated them and treated prisoners with brutality
16. Rebellion in Wexford United Irishmen gathered at Oulart Hill Government troops attacked them but rebels won Then marched to Enniscorthy and set up camp at Vinegar Hill By now rebels had 16,000 men Led by local Protestant landlord Bagenal Harvey, they controlled Wexford But poorly armed and leaders couldn’t control them British poured thousands of troops into Wexford They were much better armed They defeated the rebels when they attacked New Ross After battle they killed many rebels
17. In retaliation the rebels set fire to a barn full of Protestant prisoners at Scullabogue The final battle was at Vinegar Hill on 21 July After the rebels were defeated the government troops executed many of them Others were transported as convicts to Australia
18. The rebellion in Ulster This rebellion was limited due to: The British terror of 1797 weakened the United Irishmen Reports that Catholic rebels had massacred Protestants in Wexford discouraged many Presbyterians In Antrim, a small group led by Henry Joy McCracken captured Ballymena, but were defeated soon after. McCraken was hanged In Down, Henry Munroe and his followers were defeated at Ballinahinch. Munroe was hanged, but most of his followers were not punished
19. The French land in Connacht In Paris, Wolfe Tone at last persuaded the French to send more troops but they came too late to help the rebels On 22 August, 1100 men landed in Killala in Co. Mayo. Thousands of local people joined them They defeated a small British army at Castlebar, but lost to a much larger force at Ballinamuck on 8 September Captured French soldiers were well treated but the Irish were massacred
20. A little later a small French fleet arrived in Lough Swilly in Donegal. Wolfe Tone was on board The British navy captured them. Tone was sent to Dublin where he was tried and sentenced to hang He asked to be shot like a soldier and when that was refused he committed suicide
21. Results of the 1798 rebellion Nobody knows the death toll but it was probably higher than in the French reign of terror The rebellion scared the British and the Ascendancy. To protect themselves they passed the Act of Union in 1800 Made Ireland part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. This lasted until 1920 Abolished the separate Irish parliament. From 1800 to 1920 all laws for Ireland were made in London by the Westminster Parliament As part of the Union, the British promised to give Catholic Emancipation (remove Penal Laws), but they broke their promise Therefore Catholics opposed the Union with Britain Page 221 Qs