The Irish Rebellions of 1798 and the Wexford War
As the ideals of the French Revolution filtered through Europe, they helped inspire a group of Irishmen who took the name The Society for United Irishmen. Devoted to the cause of equality for all Irish, whether Catholic, Anglican, or Presbyterian, they were originally a political organization. However, when full Catholic emancipation proved more than the government would allow, they turn to conspiracy. Although most of the leaders of the movement were apprehended before their planned rebellion began, the rising happened anyway. Spurred on by the especially harsh and brutal reprisals by British and British recruited troops, the rebellion quickly spread. The rebellion reached its height in Country Wexford, where an army of 20,000 pike-armed Irishmen took the town of Wexford, and held it until a strong British army arrived and took it back.
Lord Cornwallis and Lord Castlereagh
After the major battle at Wexford, the British Prime Minister assigned Lord Cornwallis as the new British Viceroy in Ireland, with Lord Castlereagh as chief Secretary, with orders to end the rebellion and bring about a Union of the two nations. Cornwallis quickly ended the remaining insurgency by offer a general amnesty and then defeating a small French invasion force. Then he and Castlereagh turned their efforts toward the Act of Union.
The Debate on the Act of Union
Lord Castlereagh first presented the Act of Union to the Irish Parliament in 1799, where it was hotly debated. Many within the Parliament feared that the act would lead to full Catholic emancipation, others feared control by a foreign power. Despite that, many in Ireland saw the destruction of the recent rising and considered such a Union to be beneficial to the peace. The Act failed, but only just.
Immediately, Cornwallis and Castlereagh started on a campaign of vote buying, by offering the Members of Parliament peerages, pensions, and sometimes even cash. Although not illegal at the time, Cornwallis found the work deeply distasteful. Still, it proved effective. When the Act of Union was reintroduced in 1800, it passed by 60 votes, even over the passionate objection of the famous Irish politician, Henry Grattan, who had fought so hard less than 20 years before to achieve full Parliamentary Independence from Britain.
In 1801, the two nations became one – the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
Primary Information for this article obtained from:
The Oxford Companion to Irish History, ed. S. J. Connolly, Oxford University Press, 1998
A History of Ireland in 250 Episodes by Jonathan Bloom, Gill & Macmillan, 2008.
