I. All that Delirium ---- ---- 4'/61&()~ of the Brave - 9~1 g'5 Kildare in 1798 !l161&Bfi I flF!· i?6 LEABHARLANN CHONTAE CILL DARA Borrowers detaining books beyond the time allowed for reading-lourteen days-will be fined 5p for each week or portion of a week afterwards-plus postage-See notices. The IIIIfJ0ek~ latest date entered is the date by which the book should be returned. rjli 3A!M~- /<t:~ !/111ft i ---,-----,#I-c() Published by Kildare County Council CONTENTS Preface ...........................................5 List of Abbreviations .................................7 Maps and Illustrations ................................7 Introduction: The Ghost of History Past ....................9 Chapter I: The Lie of the Land ....................... t 5 Chapter II: Lord Edward's County .....................2 t © Mario Corrigan Chapter III: Driving the Boar ..........................36 Chapter IV: A Species of Fugitive Warfare ............... .47 Chapter V: Defenders and United Men ..................69 Conclusion: 'Poor Paddy' ............................80 A Chronology of the Rebellion in County Kildare ............82 Who Fears to Speak of '98 Kildare and the Centenary Celebrations .................94 ISBN 095001349 Mario Corrigan: All that Delirium of the Brave - Appendix t: Petition to King George III ................98 Kildare in t 798 Appendix 2: United Men of Ireland .................. t 03 Leabharlann Cho Appendix 3: Poems and Songs of Kildare in '98 ......... t 05 CillJ?ara Acc. No#lvI@ Bibliography ............. ~ J. i ... ...... .' .......... t 30 alt." g5 Clasf<~... -~ It Index ..................•.. ' "\' .................. t 35 , ~\" < ,~~:'J!-;;I , J) '~_'~ Printed by Leinster Leader, Naas 2 3 .... tl N ' , ~- ~....-..~ ,: .' -'. /,ff """,,;:<' "'~""V, ( ~".,c} le.-. I . ~ -" -'\ .. \;;'\ ,:.,:: ,&"., ""r."" Preface '\. ;;;- .... "'-"'.. ,. ,,~ The purpose of this book is to examine the realities behind the rebellion in Kildare in 1798. It is an attempt to demythify and break from that seemingly inherent Irish trait of finding some sort of dig­ nity in disaster. The triumph of failure has beatified its martyrs in stone and in print, in songs and poems regardless of their human weaknesses. Often we are confined to those centrifugal forces but the rebellion papers give us an insight into the world of the faceless For My Family masses. Paschal and Kathleen The introduction provides an insight into the politics of the last Paschal and Margaret decade of the centul)' and an analysis of the Defenders and United and in memol)' of Irishmen within this context. Chapter one is a brief note on the DARWIN - Christy Dowling (Kyle). topography of Kildare and its potential as a centre of rebellion, as well as evidence of Defenderism prior to 1797 and 1 798. The sec­ "It's better to die with a pike in my hand ond chapter primarily discusses the role of Lord Edward and while than be shot like a dog at my work understanding his weaknesses attempts to revitalise his role. In or see my children faint for want of food before my eyes." examining his relationship with prominent United members within (a tenant of the Duke of Leinster - June 1798) this county it offers an explanation for the crippling desertion of Thomas Reynolds, who became a key government informer and wit­ "Patriotism is a fatal form of madness." ness. Chapter three examines the effect of the milital)' repression (Tom Dowling - Kildare 1997) prior to the outbreak of rebellion which was a crucial factor in pro­ voking a rising in Kildare. The rebellion itself is analysed in chapter four and I hope I have provided an authentic account which was Front cover sometimes difficult to salvage from amid the various conflicting Cruickshank's depiction of attack on Prosperous information. The final chapter examines the Rebellion Papers more (w. H. Maxwell, History of the Irish Rebellion in 1798) closely in an effort to understand the reason for a rebellion in Kildare. So much work has been done on this period and yet these papers offer an opportunity to envisage the paranoia of the loyalists "All that delirium of the brave" and confusion and desolation of the rebels, first hand. The archaeol­ is a quotation from "September 1913" by W. B. Yeats ogist meticulously records his findings and analyses them within the context of known supportable material. A similar approach to his­ torical evidence must provide similar advantages and the evidence contained in the Rebellion Papers merit such a meticulous analysis. I wish to thank the staff of the National Archives in Bishop Street and the staffs at UCD and Newbridge, the Kildare County libraI)', particularly Mal)' Coughlan. Much praise is due to Mr James McGuire, my supervisor, for unwarranted patience with his phantom student. Thanks is also due to Susan at Castlemartin, Martin Dempsey at Kildare and Vincent Connelly for his present of the proof 4 S LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS of the United Irishmen which hangs proudly on the wall. The pho­ tographs were taken by my friend and photographer extraordinaire H.M.C. Historical Manuscripts Commission Patrick Sheridan. Most praise is, however, reserved for my mother I.H.5. Irish Historical Studies Kathleen whose indefatigable enthusiasm and encouragement J.K.A.S. Journal of the Kildare Archaeological Society ensured its completion. Special thanks also to Mal)' Burke and M.5S. Manuscripts Eamon Mulvihill for their encouragement and interest and to Fr Sean n.d. no date Mac Suibhne for his help in locating a copy of his uncle's Kildare in P.R.O.N.1. Public Record Office Northern Ireland '98. Reb. Pap. Rebellion Papers I am grateful to the Kildare County Council Commemorative Committee for their sponsorship and to Stan Hickey and the staff of the Leinster Leader for their efforts and patience. A heartfelt thanks MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS to the County Librarian, Breda Gleeson and the staff at Newbridge and Athy libraries. The United Irish Patriots of 1798 There are no words of thanks available, to express my apprecia­ Photograph from proof in author's possession. tion to Michael Kavanagh, Executive Librarian, for his editorial skills, Published by LIpschitz, London, n.d. 8 his patience and his perseverance - my sincerest gratitude. MARIO CORRIGAN Map of Kildare from Samuel Lewis, September 1997 A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) 16 Robert Sayer and John Bennett's Map of Kildare in 1776 (Kildare County libraI)', Newbridge) 18 Wolfe Tone Memorial at Bodenstown 20 Government Bulletin, 24 May 1798. Account of attack on Naas (Kildare County libraI)', Newbridge) 48 View from top of the hill at Old Kilcullen - the top of the tower was damaged in the attack 50 The monument to Father Prendergast and the United Irishmen at Monasterevin 52 The Gibbet Rath Memorial on the Square in Kildare 54 Cruickshank's depiction of the death of Lt. William Gifford (W. H. Maxwell, History of the Irish Rebellion in 1798 (1845» 58 List of disaffected yeomen sent by Lord Aldborough to William Elliott, 5 June 1798, Reb. Pap. 620-38-51 74 7 6 INTRODUCfION The Ghost of History Past Fraught with anomaly. ignorance and inconsistency. Ireland in the eighteenth century humbles the historian in his search for definitive truth. This is never more self-evident than in chronicling the embry­ onic politicization of the hitherto benign masses which. apparently. prematurely exploded into national consciousness in the 1798 rebellion. If the historian has a hunger for acquiring knowledge he adversely retains a passion to disseminate it multifariously. con­ tritely obvious in the enormous outpourings on emergent mass politicization in the eighteenth century. Incontrovertibly we are drawn. like bees to honey. to the matrix. to the latter decades. The 1770s witnessed the emergence of firm Castle government with the end of the Undertaker system under Townshend and Harcourt' and conversely a subsequent convolution in the political framework due to the American War of Independence. the war with France. the rise of the Volunteers and politics in London.' Newfound strength and arrogance in Opposition politics led to the abeyance of primal "garrison" urges and the first consequential Catholic Relief Act in 1778. though it undoubtedly owed much of its existence to British intervention and the entry into war with France.' The 1780s succumb to the success of 1782. the aphorism of leg­ islative independence. followed by the reductio ad absurdum of the marriage of reform and further Catholic relief. 'Admitting Catholics to political citizenship was a very different matter from admitting them to Volunteer companies." The Renunciation Crisis. the disas­ sociation of patriots from 'outdoor' political pressure' and the end of the American War of Independence sapped vital energies from the 1782 menagerie of Irish constitutional patriots. Pretension remained defiant. exhibited in the hostile reaction to Pitts' Commercial Propositions and facile display of independence in the Regency debacle in 1789. a crippling blow to Opposition politiCS despite efforts to consolidate the Whigs into propriety with the formation of the Whig Clubs. Le fin de siecJe. translated misunderstood francophilia. radicalism and renewed Catholic reforming vigour. into republicanism. disunion and rebellion. MiSinterpreted by the government. fuelled by ascen­ dancy bigotry (not strictly religious) the response was bilious and 8 9 immediate, resulting in unmitigated repression on a local and national These self-styled Sons of Freedom, the Philanthropic Society, the level. The broken olive