National University of Ireland St. Patrick's College, Maynooth Politics
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¿ S ty National University of Ireland St. Patrick's College, Maynooth Politics and rebellion in County Kildare 1790-1803 by Liam Chambers B.A. (hons.) In fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of master of arts St. Patrick's College, Maynooth, Co. Kildare Head of Department: Prof. R.V. Comerford Supervisor of Research: Prof. R.V. Comerford July 1996 Table of Contents Abbreviations ii Acknowledgements iii Maps iv Introduction 1 One County Kildare c. 1790 13 Two Politics and politicisation 1791-1795 33 Three ‘To be true to the French’, Defenders and United Irishmen July 1795 - April 1797 52 Four Liberal failure, the Kildare United irishmen and conservative response May 1797 - May 1798 76 Five The 1798 rebellion in County Kildare 24 - 30 May 131 Six The 1798 rebellion in County Kildare 1 June - 21 July 162 Seven Rebels and robbers 1798 - 1803 191 Conclusion 228 Bibliography 233 i Abbreviations The abbreviations used in the text are those laid down in Irish Historical Studies (supplement I, 1968) p. 81-124 and T.W. Moody and W.E. Vaughan (eds.), A new history of Ireland vol iv Eighteenth century Ireland 1691-1800 (Oxford, 1986) p. xxvii-xxxvii, with the following additions: D.E.P. Dublin Evening Post N.A.l. National Archives, Ireland O.P. Official Papers (second series) Reb. Papers Rebellion Papers S.O.C. State of the country Papers (first and second series) Acknowledgements Historical research of this extent would be impossible without the assistance of others. My supervisor Prof. Comerford provided expert advice and guidance. His patience and insight were a constant source of encouragement. The other members of the Department of Modern History at Maynooth College, particularly Dr. C.J. Woods, also deserve my gratitude. Dr. Richard Aylmer shared an interest in Kildare in the 1790s and was generous in his comments and information. Seamus Cullen, Des O ’Leary and Kevin Lynch of the Donadea Local History Group shared their vast knowledge of local history with me on a number of occasions. The courtesy and assistance of the staff of a number of institutions and libraries facilitated my research: John Paul II and Russell Libraries in Maynooth College; National Archives, National Library, Royal Irish Academy and the Manuscript Reading Room and Berkeley Library in Trinity College, Dublin and the Public Record Office and British Library in London. Thanks are also due to the Department of Education, Northern Ireland, whose studentship award made this research possible. My greatest debt of gratitude is to my family and friends. To my Mum and Dad, my brother Paul and Niamh for their unfailing support, patience and love. n iii Map 1: County Kildare # Ovidstown Maynooth Carbury' Edenderry inadea 9 Timahoe 0 Celbridge 0 0 Rathcôîfey Straffan Lullymore Robertstown 0 Sallins Johnstown Harris town iRathanian • 4 0 Forenaghts ' Newbridge Kildar? 0 Blessington Curragh ¡onasterevan Kilcullen Bridge 0 Ballymore Eustace Kildangan Kilcullen Numey 9 Dunlavin KilberiV Ballitore Timolin Baltinglass astledermot iv Map 2: The Baronies of County Kildare Meath King's County Dublin Queen's County Wicklow Carlow V Introduction This study aims to provide a comprehensive examination of political developments and rebellion in County Kildare during the turbulent period from 1790 to 1803. Kildare is of interest not only because it produced a large-scale rebellion in 1798 but because of its dominant liberal establishment. The most powerful figure in the county, William Robert Fitzgerald, second duke of Leinster, was the most senior peer in Ireland. His presence encouraged a liberal minded gentry. As political divisions became more polarised during the 1790s the liberal position became increasingly difficult to maintain. Maynooth College, founded in 1795, was viewed suspiciously by loyalists in 1798 and 1803 despite government patronage. In the years before the 1798 rebellion loyalist, liberal and radical divisions surfaced at a local level. They continued to a lesser extent in the post rebellion years. The disaffection created by and institutionalised in the Defenders and United Irishmen and its interplay with local politics provides the context to politicisation and the rebellions of 1798 and 1803. The most significant manuscript source for a study of politics and radicalism in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries are the Rebellion Papers and State of the Country Papers. Louis Cullen has recently made a convincing case for viewing these collections as ‘an archive in their own right’.1 The correspondence which comprises these collections came from military officers, government informers, local property owners and magistrates to Dublin Castle. In the case of Kildare they are particularly rich for the crisis period from 1795. Government relied on individuals for its information. John Wolfe of Forenaughts emerges as the central loyalist figure of County Kildare. The other prominent correspondents included: Richard Nevill of Rathmore, Thomas James Rawson of ^ .M . Cullen, ‘Politics and rebellion: Wicklow in the 1790s’ in Hannigan and Nolan (ed.), Wicklow: history and society (Dublin, 1994) p. 414-418. Glasealy (both closely linked to Wolfe), John Walsh, vicar of Kilcock and Sir Fenton Aylmer of Donadea, a rare liberal contributor. The source does not provide a comprehensive account of developments. The fact that few liberals wrote to Dublin Castle, at least until after 1798, further limits its value. However the extant correspondence to Dublin Castle was considered by government as critical especially given the suspect nature of Kildare’s liberal establishment. The papers of the Leinster family in the National Library and Public Record Office of Northern Ireland contain surprisingly little concerning political developments. It is evident from later collections edited by Thomas Moore, Gerard Campbell and Charles William Fitzgerald that some letters have not survived.2 The dearth of post 1794 material, particularly in the National Library collection, has led Stella Tillyard to comment that politically (and morally) compromising material was possibly removed.3 Much of the private correspondence of John Wolfe survives in an unsorted collection in the National Library. As a key loyalist figure, they provide an insight into his thinking during the period particularly on law and order issues.4 Works concerning Lord Edward Fitzgerald, Valentine Lawless (later second Lord Cloncurry) and Thomas Reynolds are all informative about the years before the rebellion. Thomas Moore’s The life and death of Lord Edward Fitzgerald helped establish the romantic aristocrat in the pantheon of national heroes. However Fitzgerald’s letters became increasingly mundane and apolitical as his radical activities increased. Valentine Lawless’ Personal recollections downplay his overt role in radical politics in the late eighteenth century. He blames his two terms of 2Thomas Moore, The life and death of Lord Edward Fitzgerald (Dublin, 1831); Charles William Fitzgerald, The earls of Kildare and their ancestors: frorn 1056 to 1804 (3 vols., Dublin, 1858-72); Gerard Campbell, Edward and Pamela Fitzgerald (London, 1904). 3Stella Tillyard, Aristocrats: Caroline, Emily, Louisa and Sarah Lennox 1740-1832 (London, 1994) p. 441-2. 4Some of the papers in this collection have been copied and catalogued, P.R.O.N.I. T. 3474 Wolfe Papers. 2 imprisonment on government oppression for his open liberal and anti-union stance rather than his undoubted United Irish involvement in both Ireland and England. In many ways Thomas Reynolds Junior’s biography of his father is the most revealing near contemporary publication concerning the pre-rebellion Kildare United Irishmen. Reynolds was appointed Colonel in the rebel army in early 1798 but turned informer in February-March. Reynolds Junior’s purpose was to clear his father’s tarnished reputation. In this context he reveals the workings of the Kildare United Irishmen in the six months before the rebellion. The threatening existence of the United Irishmen proved the necessity of Thomas Reynolds’ betrayal. Therefore his son had no need to distance his subject from or downplay the level of radical politics.5 All three publications concerned the reputation of individuals and were not contributions to a post-rebellion debate in County Kildare. No such debate occurred. In Wexford the outpouring of literature reflected pre-rebellion divisions and the post-rebellion situation as much as the scale of the conflict itself.6 For the liberal establishment of Kildare which was implicated (to varying degrees) in United Irish plans the rebellion was best forgotten. Neither was there any wish to capitalise on the apparently sectarian nature of the rising as was the case in Wexford. The two most significant accounts of the origins and progress of the rebellion of 1798 in Kildare are those of Richard Musgrave and Patrick O’Kelly.7 5Thomas Moore, The life and death of Lord Edward Fitzgerald (Dublin, 1831); Thomas Reynolds jnr., The life of Thomas Reynolds esq., formerly of Kilkea Castle in the County of Kildare (2 vols., Dublin, 1839); Valentine Lord Cloncurry, Personal recollections of the life and times with extracts from the correspondence of Valentine Lord Cloncurry (Dublin, 1849). 6see Kevin Whelan, "98 after '98: the politics of memory’ in The tree of liberty: radicalism, Catholicism and the construction of Irish identity 1760-1830 (Cork, 1996) p. 133-175. 7Richard Musgrave, Memoirs of the different rebellions in Ireland (2nd edn., Dublin, 1801); Patrick O'Kelly,