Society of the United Irishmen: Encyclopedia II - Society of the United Irishmen - Foundation

Society of the United Irishmen - Foundation

They held their first meeting on October 18, 1791 in Belfast and passed the following three resolutions:

1. That the weight of English influence in the Government of this country is so great as to require a cordial union among all the people of Ireland, to maintain that balance which is essential to the preservation of our liberties and the extension of our commerce
2. That the sole constitutional mode by which this influence can be opposed is by a complete and radical reform of the people in Parliament
3. That no reform is just which does not include Irishmen of every religious persuasion.

Although the 20th century campaign to remove Ireland from the United Kingdom was led mainly by Roman Catholics, the society was formed largely by Protestants. Leading figures in the society were William Drennan, Theobald Wolfe Tone, James Napper Tandy, Henry Joy McCracken, Lord Edward FitzGerald and Robert Emmet. The Orange Order was founded in 1795 with the aim of promoting Protestant pro-British loyalism, in part as a reaction against the anti-sectarianism of the United Irishmen.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Foundation", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki