Irish Rebellion; Rising of the United Irishmen

Historical Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)
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The Society of United Irishmen was founded by Wolfe Tone, James Napper Tandy and Thomas Russell in 1791 with the aim of achieving land reform, home rule and Roman Catholic emancipation in Ireland. The Society effectively organised Catholic and Protestant support in parliament and succeeded in getting it to pass the Catholic Relief Act in 1793. Outside parliament the Society was notable for commanding the support of the agrarian poor, the working class and political radicals. Wolfe Tone sought military aid from France in April 1794 and arrived with a French invasion force in December 1796, but this was dispersed by a storm. In 1798 a smaller French force of 3,000 men was led by Tone in unsuccessful support of a more general uprising. Spies betrayed some of the leaders who were arrested…

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Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Irish Rebellion; Rising of the United Irishmen". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 22 December 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=4302, accessed 28 March 2024.]

4302 Irish Rebellion; Rising of the United Irishmen 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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