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

Society of the United Irishmen - Politics

The United Irishmen was a staunchly non-sectarian body and sought to unite all Irishmen, regardless of religion or descent. Many among their ranks were former Defenders, a term applied to many loosely connected, exclusively Catholic, agrarian groups. Many of these men, as well as their Presbyterian counterparts in Ulster, had been shaped by the sectarianism that was prevalent in eighteenth century Ireland, and it was no mean feat to persuade Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter to put aside their differences and view each other simply as fellow Irishmen. This was achieved in most places, Ulster being the best example. The opposite of what the United Irishmen were about occurred at Scullabogue in County Wexford when scores of Loyalists and their wives and children were burnt alive in reprisal for atrocities by the Crown forces (see Scullabogue Barn Massacre), although many of the attackers and about 20 of the victims were Catholic.

A minority of the Defenders did not reject completely their previous anti-Protestant outlook. John Tuite, known as Captain Fearnought, of County Meath was one of these. Tuite was "sworn to both acts" in 1795, that is he took first the Defender and then the United Irish oaths, but his Defender oath had pledged him "to quell the nation of heresy" (i.e. the Protestant Ascendancy) as well as to "dethrone all kings, and plant the tree of liberty" (the aims of the United Irishmen). He confessed to lacking in true republicanism at his trial after the rising. In contrast many of the most dedicated leaders of the rebellion were Protestant, e.g Lord Edward Fitzgerald, Anthony Perry, James Hope and remained steadfastly committed to the concept of a non-sectarian United Ireland.

The United Irishmen were severely persecuted in the years following the rebellion although a final attempt to revive their fortunes was made in 1803 by Robert Emmet. The British Government sought to avoid a repetition of the non-sectarian vision of Irish unity of the United Irishmen by savage repression of republicanism, along with tolerance of sectarianism. Political activity in the first half of the 19th century, was largely based on these religious divisions such as Daniel O'Connell's Repeal Association, and the Tithe War. Catholics continued to be discriminated under the Union until Daniel O'Connell achieved Catholic Emancipation in 1829.

Some Presbyterian members of the Society of United Irishmen, later became reconciled to Unionism because they were offered inclusion into corridors of power and an end to the corrupt Ascendancy-based Dublin Government. As a result of the failure of the United Irishmen's vision to unite "Protestant, Catholic and Dissenter" in an independent Irish Republic, the course of Irish history has been a legacy of religious division which has largely endured to the present day.

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