History of the Irish insurrection of 1798 : giving an authentic account of the various battles fought between the insurgents and the King's army and a genuine history of transactions preceding that event ; with a valuable appendix

i

.-'

Cj^

HISTORY • .,,

OF THE d~CJUL.^)LAJ^

IRISH IISURRECTIOI

OF 1798,

GIVING AN AUTHENTIC ACCOUNT OF

THE VARIOUS BATTLES FOUGHT BETWEEN THE
INSURGENTS AND THE KING'S ARMY,

AND A

GENUINE HISTORY OF TRANSACTIONS

PRECEDING THAT EVENT.
WITH A VALUABLE APPENDIX

BY EDWARD HAY, ESQ.,

MEMBER OF THE SOTAL IRISH ACADEMT.

" I will a round, unvarnish'd tale deliver."

" Nothing extenuate,

Nor set down aught in malice."

Shakspeabx

^'' \
NEW YORK: V,' V '-*

PUBLISHED BY JOHN KENEDY. *•

1847.

CONTENTS.

Page.

Introduction, 7

Geographical description of the county of Wexford,. ... 51

Institution of the Volunteers of Ireland, 62

Meeting of the county on the 22d of September, 1792,. . 67

on the Uth of January, 1793, ... 69

Riots in the year 1793, 70

Meeting of the county on the 23d of March, 1795, on the

recall of Earl Fitzwilliam, 80

Loss of the former independence of the county of Wex-
ford, 83

Melancholy effects produced by the riots in the county

of Armagh, in 1795, 88

Causes of the present state of Ireland, 91

Conduct of the troops in Ireland censured by Sir Ralph

Abercromby, commander-in-chief, 97

Proclamation of sixteen parishes in the county of Wex-
ford, 28th of November, 1797, 100

Conduct of the North Cork militia on their arrival in the

county of Wexford, 105

The whole of the county of Wexford proclaimed on the

27th of April, 1798 110

Meeting of the magistrates of the county, 23d of May, . . 121

Sudden insurrection on the 27th of May, 137

Battle of Oulart, on the 27th of May, 138

Battle at Enniscorthy, 28th of May, 139

Retreat of the troops to Wexford — general confusion, . . 141

Deputation to the insurgents on Vinegar Hill, 146

Defeat at the Three Rocks — surrender and abandonment

of Wexford to the insurgents, on the 30th of May,. . . 153

Conduct of the troops on their retreat to Duncannon Fort, 164

General arrangements of the insurgents, 177

Abandonment of Gorey — conduct of the inhabitants, ... 179

4 CONTENTS.

Page.
Battles of Newtownbarry and Bally canow, on the let of

June, 1798, 185

Lord Kingsborough, Captains O'Hea and Bourke taken

prisoners, 2d of June, 189

Battle of Clough or Tubberneering, 4th of June, 194

Battle of Ross, 5th of June, 198

Dreadful abomination at Scullabogue, 201

Battle of Arklow, 9th of June, 227

Attack at Borris, 236

Proposals of accommodation from Lord Kingsborough,

14th of June, 241

Skirmish at Tinnahely, 16th of June, 245

Insurgents surprised on Lacken Hill — their retreat, 19th, 248
Critical situation of Wexford — dreadful massacre !!!... 251

Battle of Horetown or Fooks's-mill, 20th, 273

Battle of Enniscorthy, 21st, 274

Wexford surrendered to Lord Kingsborough — his con-
duct and dispatches, 277

Major-general Moore's approach to Wexford, 21st, .... 287
Pursuit of the insurgents from Gorey, and their progress

out of the county, 295

Trials and executions in Wexford, 297

Progress of the Wexford insurgents in the counties of

Carlow and Kilkenny, 302

Progress of the Wexford insurgents in the county of

Wicklow, 304

Progress of the Wexford insurgents closed by surrender, 311

Commanders and court-martials appointed, 312

Conduct of General Hunter — his superior discrimination, 316
Intended extermination of the inhabitants of the Maco-

mores, 319

Conduct of the people on the landing of the French at

Killala, 328

Conflagration of a Protestant church and Catholic chapels, 340
Conclusion, 350

ABSTRACTS FROM PLOWDEN, TEELING, ETC.

Landing of the French at Killala, county Mayo, August
22d, 1798, 351

Battle with the yeomen and fencibles who were defeated
by the French, 351

Gen. Humbert takes possession of Ballina, from whence
the garrison fled, 352

CONTENTS. 5

Page
Shameful defeat of near 6000 British soldiers at Castle-
bar, 353

Battle between the advanced guard of Humbert, and Col.

Vereker, at Coloony, county Sligo, • • 333

Humbert's march to Drummahair, towards Manorhamil-

ton, county Leitrim, 353

Action between Crawford's troops and Humbert, be-
tween Drurashambo and Ballinamore,. 353

The French cross the Shannon at Ballintra, 354

Cornwallis crosses the same river at Carrick-on-Shannon, 354
Battle of Granard, between some thousands of West-
meath and Longford United men, and the British

troops, 354

Battle of Ballynamuck, and surrender of Gen. Humbert, 354
Battle of Ballynascarty, county Cork, June 19th, 1798. . 355
Battle of Antrim, June 7th, and repulse of Major-general

Nugent, 355

Death of Lord O'Neil, who was mortally wounded, 356

Assault on the town of Larne, and at Ballyraena and

Ballycasile, 356

Occupation of Saintfield, county Down, by the United

troops, 356

Attack on Portaferry by the men of Ards 356

Battles of Windmill Hill and Ed nevady, 356

Battle of Ballynahinch, June 13th, 1798, 357

Battle of Prosperous, county Kildare, May 23d, and

slaughter of the ancient Britons, 358

Attack of Naas, by nearly 1000 men, • • 358

A body of 800 men take up arms in the town of Cahir,

county Tipperary, 359

Mr. Wright seized at Clonmel, and received 500 lashes, 359
Battle of Tara, county Meath, 359

Rathangan, county Kildare, 360

Kilcullen " " 360

Surrender of about 2000 United men to Gen. Dundas, on

Knockawin Hill, and the murder of above 700 of them

by Jocelyn's Fox-hunters, 360

Bergen tortured to death in Drogheda, couBty Louth,. . . 360

APPENDIX.

I. Speech of Captain Sweetman, on the 22d of Sep-
tember, 1792 3«1

6 CONTENTS.

Pace

Account of the county meeting at Wexford, 380

Resolutions of the Catholics of Wexford, 382

II. Requisition of the magistrates of the county of

Wexford, 383

Resolutions of the county meeting, January 11th,
1793 383

III. Certificate of Solomon Richards, Esq., 385

Affidavit of Mr. Taylor, an Englishman, 389

IV. Extract from the debates of the House of Lords,

10th of July, 1793, 391

V. Resolutions of the Catholics inWexford, July 30th, 391
VI. Requisition to the high-sheriff and magistrates of

the county of Wexford, 394

Resolutions at the county meeting, 23d of March,

1795, on the recall of Earl Fitzwilliam, 396

Petition to the king, 398

Address to his excellency Earl Fitzwilliam, 400

VII. Lord Gosford's address to the magistrates of the
county of Armagh, with the resolutions entered

into, on the 28th of December, 1795, 402

VIII. General orders of Sir Ralph Abercromby, 26th of

February, 1798, 406

IX. Oaths during the insurrection, 407

X. The address of the inhabitants of the Macomores

to Major Fitzgerald, 409

to General Hunter, 409

Letter to Major Fitzgerald, 411

XI. Affidavit of Mr. Stephen Lett, Jan., 412

Letter from Lieutenant Murphy, 413

Affidavit of Edward Roche, 413

Letter from Captain Bourke, 414

Letter from Lord Kingston, 419

Letter from Major Fitzgerald, 420

Affidavit of Margaret Breen, 421

Letter from Armstrong Browne, Esq., 423

XII. Testimony of Doctor Jacob, 424

XIII. Letter to the Rev. Mr. Gordon, with his answer, 427
Conclusion, 431

\\^'> ,^.

C. ■ 1. , . !l ■ *

THE IRISH REBELLION

INTRODUCTION.

I WOULD not obtrude myself on public attention
were I not earnestly solicited by numerous and re-
spectable friends (who have at length prevailed) to
give a genuine account of the transactions in the
county of Wexford, during the insurrection, in the
year 1798 ; in order to counteract the baleful effects
of the partial details and hateful misrepresentations,
which have contributed so much to revive and con-
tinue those loathsome prejudices that have, for cen-
turies, disturbed and distracted Ireland. It is con-
ceived, that a fair and impartial account, by dissipa-
ting error, may operate as a balm to heal the wounds
of animosity; for let the candid reader be of what
political principles he may, I am confident he must
be sensible, that no adherent of either of the contend-
ing parties in this unhappy country, can in justifica-
tion feel himself authorized to assert, that his own
party was perfectly in the right, and the other egre-
giously in the wrong ; and yet there are partisans to
be found on either side, endeavoring to maintain that
this is actually the case. But if these zealots could
be induced calmly to listen to the melancholy tales
of enormity that can unfortunately be told of both
parties, they might be prevailed upon to relax a little
in their prejudices. It the spirit of intolerance and

8 INTRODUCTION

retaliation be still held up, no kind of social inter-
course or harmony can exist in Ireland. With a
view, therefore, of establishing concord, by showing
from what has happened, that it will be of universal
advantage to forget the past, and to cultivate general
amity in future, I have undertaken the_ arduous task
of endeavoring to reconcile ; pointing out errors by a
genuine relation of facts, and I hope this may even-
tually prevail upon neighbors of all descriptions to
cherish the blessings of union and mutual benevo
lence, which cannot fail of banishing from their
breasts every rankling idea, and must prevent the
possibihty of their ever again becoming the easy tools
of political speculation, which unfortunately hitherto
encouraged hatred and variance, and ended in the
miserable debility and depression of all.

Did I know any other person willing and able to
give a more circumstantial account of what has fatally
happened in the county of Wexford, (which is the
only part of Ireland I at present undertake to treat
of,) I would cheerfully resign my documents into his
hands ; but as I have been most peculiarly circum-
stanced, as an eye-witness of many remarkable trans-
actions, the information cannot be so well handed
over, and might not be produced with such good ef-
fect at second-hand. I conceive it therefore neces-
sary to give some account of myself, as most of my
readers could not possibly otherwise be sensible of
the many opportunities I had of being perfectly in-
formed of the state of the country, which certainly
did not fall to the lot of many other persons.

My family have been established in Ireland since
the reign of Henry II., as my ancestor came over
with Strongbow, and was allotted a knight's share
of lands in the southern part of the county of Wex-
ford, which his descendants possessed until the rev-

INTRODUCTION. 9

olution in Ireland about the middle of the seventeenth
century, when there was but one estate in the whole
county left unalienated by Cromwell. My ancestor
had not the good fortune to be the person undisturb-
ed ; but he acquired a property in another part of
the county, where his descendants have ever since
resided. Born of Catholic parents, and being reared
in the principles of that religion, occasioned my ban-
ishment at an early age for some years from my na-
tive country, as my parents wished to procure me a
collegiate education in a foreign land, to which the
rank and respectability of my family entitled me, but
which the laws of my country denied me at home.
After having pursued a course of study for several
years in France and Germany, I returned to my na-
tive soil, fully sensible of my civil degradation as a
Catholic, and I therefore sought all the legal and con-
stitutional means in my power in the pursuit of Cath-
olic emancipation. The liberality of the times con-
tributed much to the relaxation of the penal laws,
passed from time to time against the Catholics of
J reland ; and they were at length induced to lay their
grievances at the foot of the throne, as the most effec-
tual source of redress. They were in part relieved,
but many oppressive causes of complaint still re-
mained, and many modes of procuring their abolition
were resorted to. A various train of circumstances
occurred to produce the circular letter of the sub-
committee of the Catholics of Ireland in 1792, and
pursuant to its tenor, delegates for all the counties
and principal towns were chosen to represent them
in the general committee. I had the honor of being
elected a delegate for the county of Wexford, and I
exerted myself in that situation with all the energy
and ability in my power. The declaration adopted by
the Catholic committee in March, 1792, was sub-

10 INTRODUCTION.

scribed by a multitude of signatures, and those of the
county of Wexford I was instrumental in procuring
I attended my duty in the general committee of the
Catholics of Ireland, where a petition to his majesty
was framed and signed, in November, 1792; and a
vindication of the cause of the Catholics of Ireland,
containing an exposition of their objects and motives,
was adopted; and afterwards published and authen-
ticated. In consequence of royal interposition, by
the king's gracious recommendation, the parliament
of Ireland (which almost unanimously rejected a pe-
tition of the Catholics in 1792) was induced consider-
ably to extend their privileges in 1793. I attended
a subsequent meeting of the general committee, at
which an address of gratitude, for his gracious in-
terposition, was voted to his majesty, and a similar
one to the lord-lieutenant, expressive of the earnest
loyalty of the Catholics, and requesting the former to
be transmitted, was drawn up, approved of, and pre-
sented by deputation to Lord Westmoreland.

Along with the repeal of the most odious of the
penal laws, a new oath to be taken by the Catholics
to avow their loyalty w^as framed by parliament. All
the delegates and a great number of other Catholic
gentlemen, anxious to avail themselves of the earliest
opportunity of displaying their gratitude for the newly-
acquired privileges, and eager to satisfy the public
mind as well as to set an example to the whole nation,
attended in the court of King's Bench, on Saturday,
the 19th of April, 1793, where they took the oath
and subscribed the special declaration prescribed to
them ; and this was by the appointment of Lord
Chief Justice Clonmel, on whom a deputation from
the general committee had previously waited for that
purpose.

The magic of royalty, in earnestly recommending

INTRODUCTION. 11

" the union of all descriptions of subjects,^^ having
lately proved so effectual in altering the conduct of
parliament to the Catholics, the erection of a statue
of the king was voted as a monument of Catholic
gratitude ; but this, along vi^ith other honorable en-
gagements adopted by the general committee, was
superseded by illiberal and calumnious outcries raised
against the conduct and intentions of the Catholic
body, so as to preclude the possibility of carrying
into effect the plan of subscription formed for these
purposes. I was, however, determined to proceed in
the county of Wexford, but was at length obliged to
give up the object, in consequence of the baleful
operation of party prejudice ; and thus did the ene-
mies of the Catholics, under the mask of loyalty, de-
feat the execution of a project that would exhibit
the conduct of the Catholics in a point of view too
meritorious for their wishes.

Very serious disturbances took place in a part of
the county of Wexford, in the month of June, 1793 ;
but they were soon suppressed by the exertions of
the country gentlemen, who formed " an association
for the preservation of the peace." I constantly at-
tended their meetings, and I believe it will be allowed,
that my conduct and endeavors proved as effectual
as that of any other to restore public tranquillity.*

In January, 1795, while Lord Fitzwilliam was
viceroy, I procured a great number of signatures to
a petition to parliament, from the Catholics of the
county of Wexford, and in the same month I was one
of those that presented an address from them to his
excellency. When his lordship's recall was an-
nounced from the government of Ireland, a meeting
of the freeholders and other inhabitants of the county

* See Mr. Richards' certificate in Appendix, No. III.

•^
/■

.*;,

12 INTRODUCTION.

of Wexford was convened on the 23d of March of
the same year, when a petition to his majesty was
unanimously agreed to, and I was appointed one of
the delegates to present it to the king. I had been
as far as Dublin to take ship for England, when it
was thought advisable to have the petition sub-
scribed by as many persons as possible, and while
my brother delegates proceeded to London, I return-
ed to the county of Wexford, and, considering that I
was the chosen delegate of Protestants as well as of
Catholics, I took the precaution of consulting the
principal Protestant gentlemen of the county first,
to prevent the possibility of misrepresentation, or of
denominating my pursuit the business of party ; and
I was so successful as to procure, in the space of
one week, twenty-two thousand two hundred and
fifty-one signatures to the petition, with which I then
proceeded to London, and had the honor to present
it, along with my brother delegates, to his majesty,
at a public levee, at St. James's, on the 22d of April,
1795 ; and we met a most gracious reception.*

I think it necessary to mention that I was invited,
in the most earnest and flattering manner, to become
a member of political societies, both in England and
Ireland; but these invitations I declined, in conse-
quence of a resolution which I had formed, of never
becoming a member of any political society whatso-
ever; and to this I have ever since most scrupulously
adhered. I proposed a plan for the enumeration of
the inhabitants of Ireland, to Lord Fitzwilliam, which
met with his strongest approbation, and but for his
recall he would have patronized the undertaking, and
done every thing in his power to facilitate its execu-
tion. I had this plan long in agitation, and was in-

* See Appendix, No. VI.

INTRODUCTION.

13

duced to enter on the business particularly from a
consideration that, by the current statements, the
population of Ireland was vastly underrated. Some
years ago, the established clergy had made returns
of the population of their several parishes, by order
of government, and I had the curiosity to inquire
into the returns made of the population of the par-
ishes in my owrn neighborhood, and these I found
really correct, according to the general mode of cal-
culation; but as my curiosity led me to number every
individual, I found them very defective as to the ac-
tual state of the population, both in the total and
comparative numbers.

While in England on my delegation, this plan for
estimating the population of Ireland was seen at Lord
Fitzwilliam's, by the Right Hon. Edmund Burke,
who was thereby induced to do me the honor of so-
liciting my acquaintance ; and after a minute investi-
gation of its nature and extent, he earnestly encour-
aged me to proceed, as he considered it would be
productive of the greatest possible benefit to Ireland.
Backed by the authority and flattering opinion of so
much genius, and sanctioned also by the countenance
of Lord Fitzwilliam and a great number of other en-
lightened men in England, I was induced on my re-
turn to Ireland to use every exertion to put it forv^^ard,
and met such encouragement from dignity and dis-
tinction, that I submitted my plan to the inspection
of the Royal Irish Academy, who were much pleased
with it as an esseniial branch of a statistical inquiry
which they had then in contemplation to promote.
This produced the pleasing consequence to me of
being proposed to the academy by the present presi-
dent, and I had the honor of being unanimously ad-
mitted a member of that learned and respectable
body. Certainly, had not the misfortune of the times

2

14 INTRODUCTION.

prevented my success, this must have been consid-
ered as honorable and remarkable an undertaking as
any individual could have accomplished, and the na-
ture of the enco>iragement I met with, induced me
to print a great number of copies of the plan, and to
procure a sufficiency of ruled paper for writing out
the returns from every part of Ireland ; as in Appen-
dix. I am ti)us led to publish the whole plan, on the
present occasion, to show the falsity of the prejudiced
arguments adduced by reference to a part; especially
as I conceive that it wants only to be known to show
the futility of such arguments.

But I have by no means dropped the idea of
bringing this scheme to perfection, nor do I think that
my labors, even as far as I have proceeded, are
not likely to be useful to my country ; for although
I have not been able to go to the extent proposed,
yet the returns which have been made to me, are suf-
ficient to give a much more certain account of the
population of Ireland tlian can be collected from any
other statement that has appeared. I have been fa-
vored with authentic copies of all the documents on
which the late Mr. Bushe grounded his return of the
inhabitants of this country, which has gained him so
much credit, and I can positively affirm that he was
not in any degree possessed of such various and de-
tailed accounts, as those, which on my plan, have
been returned to me ; and I shall feel highly obliged
to any person, who, according to this scheme, shall
make me a return of one or more parishes, through
the country at large, or of a street or streets in any
town or city, together with any remarks tending to
show the increase or decrease of population since the
year 1795. I shall also feel extremely thankful to
any person, who at that period proceeded in any de-
gree on this plan, for letting me have the result of that

INTRODUCTION. 16

inquiry, whether returned to me formerly or not ; as I
can the more readily compare the former and present
accounts, on getting them together, than by the trou-
ble of searching out the original returns. If it can be
cstabhshed beyond a possibility of doubt, that there
are vastly more inhabitants in Ireland than they are
at present supposed to be, (and this I have good
reason to believe is the case,) surely the national con-
sequence must be enhanced, and our importance in
the scale of nations raised in proportion ; and as I al-
ready feel a well-founded expectation that I shall be
enabled to perfect this desirable object, I hope it will
induce every real lover of his country to make me
those returns, which the simplicity of the plan will
enable any person to execute in his own neighbor-
hood ; and I trust I have already given such proofs
of the sincerity of my intentions, as to entitle me to
this information from any friend to the country, as it
is self-evident that this plan does not in any degree
partake of party-spirit, but is merely concerned with
general information. How can the wants of a nation
be properly supplied if the extent of its population be
not accurately knovi^n ? or how can the redundancy
of one nation be applied to the benefit of another,
where this important fact is not ascertained? — For
example's sake, the crops of Ireland, in the year 1801,
were supposed to be better able to supply the wants
of its inhabitants than those of Great Britain were to
supply her own at that period. How was it possible
to ascertain this but from surmise? In England it
was a measure of parliamentary inquiry to ascertain
the state of the population exactly. Why should not
the like policy obtain with respect to Ireland ?— Sure-
ly, since the union of both nations has been formed,
Ireland is entitled to the same advantages with Eng-
land. In short, a knowledge of the real state of any

16 INTRODUCTION.

country is of such material importance to any one
wishing to promote its welfare, as to be evident on
first contemplation, since without it conjecture must
supply the place of certainty, and so perhaps occa-
sion material error and confusion. As this object is
of such national consequence, I hope my countrymen
will be kind enough to furnish the means to render
me able, as T am willing, to make them acquainted
with their real importance ; and in proportion to the
extent of documents will be the accuracy of the re-
sult ; but I esteem even a partial return of such mo-
ment, that I earnestly request every person inclined to
promote so desirable an object not to withhold his
particular information ; for such communication may
in time occasion the entire plan to be brought to per-
fection ; and as I mentioned before, it is astonishing
how a few returns from different parts of Ireland,
according to this model, will contribute to ascertain
its true state better than it has been ever hitherto ac-
complished.

Different motives of private concern induced me
to resolve to quit Ireland, in the year 1797, and to go
to reside in America, and this I purposed to do as
soon as the regulation of my affairs would permit me.
I was mostly in the county of Wexford in the latter
end of 1797, and beginning of 1798 ; but my attend-
ance in Dublin was sometimes necessary upon law
business, which I at length flattered myself I had
finally got rid of by compromise. In the latter end
of April, therefore, I took leave of my friends, as my
proposed short stay in Ireland would not allow me
the opportunity of seeing them again ; as I had de-
termined to go immediately to England, and from
thence to America. In this project I was most un-
happily disappointed, as a part of tlie compromise,
which was, that my furniture should be taken at a

INTRODUCTION. 17

valuation, was not complied with ; and I was, there-
fore, reluctantly obliged to remain in the country, un-
til I could, as I thought, dispose of them by auction,
which I advertised would take place on Monday the
28th of May. I am thus particular, to counteract
the malevolent insinuations of my enemies, and as it
was this disappointment that occasioned my detention
in the county of Wexford until the commencement
of the disturbances ; by which I lost all my furniture,
and all else that could be taken from me, except what
I had on my back, and about my person. Had I had
any possible intimation of the calamities that ensued,
I most undoubtedly would have preferred settling my
property even at a loss, and securing the value, to
waiting to be detained against my will in that unfor-
tunate country ; and I would thus have escaped en-
during those sufferings and persecutions that after-
ward fell to my lot. The particulars of the situation
I was in previous to, and at the breaking out of the
insurrection comes more properly in my general ac-
count. Until the 28th of May I got on board a ship
in Wexford harbor, and did all in my power to in-
duce the captain to sail for England ; and on its be-
ing objected that there was not a sufficiency of pro-
visions on board the Adventure, which was the name
of the ship, just then arrived with a cargo of coals, I
proposed we should shift on board another vessel be-
longing to the same proprietor, which had cleared
out° off the Custom-house quay laden with oats,
which I represented would, in case of necessity, sup-
ply our wants during our passage ; but the low state
of the ebbing tide and contrary winds prevented
either of these ships, both being heavily laden, from
possibly crossing the bar of Wexford harbor, which
they could not do but at high tide.

Frustrated in every wish to leave the country, be-

2*

18 INTRODUCTION.

fore and after the insurrection broke out, what could
I do but submit to my evil fate, and remain in a
place delivered up, and abandoned, by those who
should have been its natural protectors, to the mercy
of an uncontrollable multitude ? My popularity in
the country, and my intimacy with the greater num-
ber of its gentlemanly inhabitants, of whom many re-
mained in Wexford, placed me in a very unenviable
situation. It made my friends imagine that I pos-
sessed a plenitude of power, and induced them to
apply to me for protection from popular fury, either
personally or through some one of their family. I never
hesitated, on these occasions, to risk my own life to
preserve that of others, and never heard or saw of any
one in danger, that I did not use every effort for their
preservation. If greater expectations were formed
of me than what I could effect, I have to regret the
limitation of my power. I most solemnly declare,
that during the insurrection, I never omitted a single
opportunity of being as serviceable as in my power,
by administering comfort to the afflicted and dis-
tressed, or every assistance I could to those in dan-
ger. Some are found grateful enough to acknow-
ledge the fact. There were three gentlemen appre-
hensive I might resent former conduct, but when
misfortune intervened I threw away resentment.
One of them had, upon previous occasion, treated me
so ill, that I had determined to chastise him to the
utmost of my power ; but they all now acknowledge
that, forgetful of personal injury, I risked my life for
the preservation of theirs. My conduct during the
insurrection, as far as it is necessary to be known,
properly belongs to the history of the times ; and so
I shall proceed to a relation of my persecutions and
sufferings.

Lord Kingsborough and his officers conceived

INTRODUCTION.

19

themselves under such obhgations to me, that at
their entreaty I hved in the same house with them,
from the surrender of the town until the 29th ol
June, when they departed for Waterford. Being
well aware of malice and obloquy, I constantly ex-
pressed a desire, during their stay, to be brought
to trial, for any allegation that might be framed
acrainst me ; and I am now confident, that had it been
possible to procure any proof against me, it would
by no means have been neglected ; but this being
impracticable, even in such crazy times, other means
of deep mahgnity were resorted to ; and these, as
well as I am hitherto acquainted with them, 1 shall
endeavor to describe. My former intention of going
to America was by no means lessened, but aug-
mented, by the scenes of which I had so recently
been a witness in my native country. I accord-
incrly persisted in my resolution, and was deter-
mmed to get out of the country as speedily as pos-
sible. The committee that had been appointed by
Lieutenant-General Lake, to act as a kind of coun-
cil to General Hunter, then in command m Wex-
ford, and to grant passes, now began to practise
their malicious arts against me, which they avoided
before, being apprehensive, if not well aware, that
their schemes would be counteracted and defeated,
if attempted to be put in execution while the officers
who were acquainted with my conduct remained in
Wexford. I received a note from the chairman ot
this committee, (and it was delivered to me by one
of the body, whom I then considered as my friend,)
desiring I would write to him, stating what I would
wish to be done, and that my request would be
taken into immediate consideration. This induced
me to write to them, intimating the desire 1 had
so often expressed of going to America; adding,

so INTRODUCTION.

that I wished to set off the next day, in order to
sail in a ship then in the harbor of DuWin ; and this
determination I would, in all probability, have since
put in execution, but that I considered it might have
given freer sanction to the calumnies so industri-
ously raised against me. This consideration has
detained me in Ireland, as here I was the better en-
abled to vindicate my honor ; and this, indeed, my
persecutors have completely effected, quite in con-
tradiction to their inclinations and wishes. The
immediate consideration of the committee was, in
consequence of premeditation, to send back the
gentleman who brought me the note, and took my
answer, to arrest me. This he did at my lodgings,
where I was publicly known to be since the insur-
rection, and two yeomen were there placed as a
guard over me. This whole conduct, from several
circumstances of which I have since come to the
knowledge, was certainly preconcerted. Had I
been sent to jail, it would have been productive
of a trial by court-martial ; and this was a benefit
which they did not wish to allow me, as they were
well aware of the sentiments of the officers, whom I
would have summoned back to Wexford. Besides,
some individuals among them were most ungrate-
fully induced to forward the vile proceedings against
me, as they were apprehensive I might call on them
as witnesses, when their loyalty might have been
called in question, were they to do justice to my
conduct ; and it may also have been manifested, that
whatever honor some of them now possess, is owing
to their taking my advice in preference to their own ;
as, if they escaped piking on the one side, they might
have been hanged on the other, and with much more
justice than several who have forfeited their lives on
the occasion. To transport me, without further in-

INTRODUCTION.

21

quiry, was therefore considered more advisable.
Several, who had been tried and sentenced to trans-
portation, were taken, on the 3d of July, from the
lail, and put on board a sloop which had been twice
condemned during the insurrection, and which had
sunk within a foot of her deck, and was only
pumped out that morning. Afterward a guard was
sent to my lodgings, and I was marched down to the
Caistom-house quay, in the most conspicuous man-
ner, and put on board this horrid hulk, without any
trial or further investigation ! ! !

Two sloops had been prepared as prison-ships
during the insurrection ; one of them, however, was
immediately condemned as unfit for that service, and
afterward, on the occasion of Lord Kingsborough
and his officers being put on board for a few hours,
she was again, on the inspection of the butchers ot
Wexford, pronounced unfit for the reception ol a
pis; After this second condemnation, the Lovely
Kitty (for so this infernal vessel was called) was
hauled to one side of the harbor, where, from her
leaky state, she sunk within a foot of her deck, and
^o escaped firing when the other sloop which had
been used as a prison-ship was burned. 1 his was
the vessel the Wexford committee ordered to be
their prison-ship ; and accordingly, on the 3d of
July, she was hauled into the channel, a little dry
straw was shaken over that which had remained in
her hold for a month before, and the prisoners then
were sent on board. Our walking on the fresh litter
soon made it as wet as the dung underneath, so that
It was impossible to sit or lie without imbibing the
moisture ; nor indeed could we have the comfort ot
resting against her sides, as the planks were water-
soaked, and the effervescence of putrid malt, accu-
mulated between her timbers, was so strong as even

22 INTRODUCTION.

to turn silver black in our pockets, in the course of
a few hours. The stench was, besides, insupport-
able ; and there was such an infestation of rats, that
some of the prisoners were bitten by them. The
weather at the time was mostly warm, and this
raised such an exhalation, that small as the vessel
was, we could scarcely see each other from either
end of the hold. If it rained, the deck was so open,
that it was impossible, in any part of the ship, to
avoid being wetted ; and contrary to the usual state
of leaky vessels, (where the bilge-water is not offen-
sive,) we vi^ere nearly suffocated while she was
pumping. In our own defence we were obliged to
be continually at the pump, to prevent our being
overflowed ; and though our last occupation at night,
we were always summoned to the same task early
every morning ; the water, by this time, having got
above the double flooring, — a cautionary plan always
used in vessels employed in the transportation of
malt.

Among the twenty-one doomed to this dreadful
and loathsome confinement (which I believe not to
be paralleled by any dungeon in the world) there
were desperate villains and scums of the earth ; a
circumstance more degrading and offensive to a lib-
eral mind than any other punishment, when unable
to avoid such intercourse, and this was the case
aboard the Lovely Kitty, whose burden was but about
fifty tons. This aggravation was verily and avow-
edly intended by the merciless persecutors ; for
when one of them was told, on his coming on board,
of our desperate situation, / heard him assert, that
"we had no reason to complain, since the vessel had
been fitted out by the rebels, she was good enough
for us /" Our guards were, at first, seven yeomen
of the Shilmalier infantry, afterwards called Ogle's

INTRODUCTION.

m

Loyal Blues. These were relieved every twenty-
four hours; and indeed they were apparently hu
mane. One of them was an apprentice to a car-
penter who used to work at my father's, and offered
to be particularly kind to me. He promised to bring
me my bed, and represented it would not become
wet through in the course of the night, biit that he
would continue to dry it in the day-time, in which
he hoped to be assisted by another young man, his
fellow-apprentice ; and proposed to arrange it so as
that they would every day mount guard alternately.
He however, said that he could not act without the
permission of his captain, the Right Hon. George
Ogle. With this gentleman I formerly kept com-
pany, as our families were neighbors, and visited
each other. I therefore thought, as well as from the
favorable opinion which he before constantly ex-
pressed of me, that his prejudice, or bigotry, could
not make him forget good manners so far as not to
answer a letter from me on such an occasion. I did
of course address him one, but certainly not m the
strain of a prisoner, which I knew I ought not to be,
but as one gentleman would write to another, giving
an account of my distressing and unmerited situation.
This letter the Right Hon. George Ogle laid before
the Wexford committee, and declared that he would
not permit any of his corps to go on such an errand.
Of this I was informed by a letter from the secretary
of the committee, which I preserve for the inspec-
tion of the curious. It was intimated, that it i
wanted my bed, the committee would grant a pass
to any other messenger I could procure, to bring it
to me ; but this was impossible at the lime, as mil-
itary law existed in such rigor, and it was a great
while afterwards before I could procure a bed to be
brought me, The good-natured yeoman who offered

24 INTRODUCTION.

me his kind service, was checked by his captain for
demeaning himself by speaking to the prisoners,
and he soon after quitted the corps in disgust, and
enrolled himself with a captain more congenial to
his disposition and feelings.

I applied to General Hunter to be liberated under
a general proclamation which he had published, and
he asked the committee, by what authority I had
been at all confined. He was there informed, con-
trary to all truth, that I had petitioned for transpor-
tation ; and the answer I received from him in conse-
quence of this misinformation was, that it exceeded
his power to liberate me. I instantly memorialized
the general a second time, stating that I had never the
most distant idea of petitioning for transportation, and
solicited enlargement or trial. Upon this the general
again applied to the comn\ittee ; and they had the
effrontery to repeat and insist on their former asser-
tion, persisting in falsehood to sanction their iniqui-
tous proceeding. The general not being as yet sen-
sible of the extent of their persecuting spirit, and
naturally conceiving that the principal gentlemen of
the county, who composed the committee, would not
assert a lie, was induced to give them credence in
preference to a prisoner ; but still, from the consid-
eration of my statement, he advised me to address
the lord lieutenant, and that he would forward it with
his strongest recommendation. I accordingly did so,
but, as misrepresentation respecting me was practised
in every quarter, to prevent a detection of the original
villany, I had no better success then with his excel-
lency.

I cannot omit mentioning a fellow-prisoner of mine
on this occasion — Master James Lett, thirteen years
old, (but little for his age,) a near relative of Mr.
Bagnal Harvey, was a child of such undaunted spirit

INTRODUCTION.

S5

and courage, that he manifested a most heroical dis-
position at the battles of Ross and Fook's-mill, and
was after the insurrection taken up and put in jail.
He was threatened to be hanged ifhe did not sign a
petition for transportation presented to him as a
great favor ; and as a further inducement he was told,
That he would be let go off with Mr. Hay, (this in-
timation was signified to Master Lett before I was
arrested, or had written to the chairman ot llie W ex-
ford committee, which letter was their excuse tor
their premeditated scheme lo entrap me.) The little
hero signed the paper required, and on my being
dropped down into the hold of the Lovely Kitty,
where he was before me, he clung to me and ex-
claimed, "/ don't care ichere I go, when I am to be
with you '" If nothing else was attracting in the
child, surelvin this instance I could not be insensible
to such pathetic feeling. Captain Keen of the royal
navy hearing of this wonderful boy, asked him wheth-
er he would be glad to go with him ? which he con-
sented to, and in a day or two after he was conducted
by the captain on board the Chapman, and where i
understand he was intended for a midshipman 1
. reioiced in the release of my little companion but had
the mortification of seeing him brought m a lew days
back to the infernal prison-ship ! His return is said to
have been occasioned by the representations ot the
committee lo Captain Keen : " That he had no right
to release any prisoner, as they claimed the exclusive
privilege of the management of their prisoners ! ! !
On my removal to the jail the child grieved immod-
erately, which being made known to (general Hun-
ter he was ordered to be sent to me. Notwithstand-
mo-' many applications had been made for his release,
thev were counteracted through the representations
of the committee ; and to the eternal shame ot those

26 INTRODUCTION.

concerned — persons of distinction were the promo-
ters !

In January, 1799, a writ of habeas corpus was
obtained, and Master Lett was brought by the sub-
sheriff of the county of Wexford, from Wexford jail
to the court of King's Bench, in Dubhn, and on in-
quiry for the prisoner he was held up on a man's
ara^to the utter astonishment of Lord Kilwarden,
and thus was prejudice scouted out of the court by
his liberation. This, I believe, unexampled case,
took place in the presence of a full attendance of the
gentlemen of the bar, who had crowded to see such
a phenomenon, as from the child's appearance it was
thought he wanted the superintendence of a nurse
more than a jailer.

After a few days the Wexford yeomen infantry
were appointed to guard the prison-ship, and were
restricted not to depart for twenty-four hours. Among
them were gentlemen of my acquaintance, from
whose society I experienced much comfort in my
calamitous situation ; but the loathsome station of
duty soon deprived me of this alleviation of suffering.
All those of the better sort rejected the hateful ser-
vice and paid smartly for substitutes. The hirelings
considered spirits as the only specific against conta-
gion, and the use of them did not improve the man-
ners of the lowest description of yeomen. Two of
our guards died, in consequence of sickness con-
tracted in this service, but none of the prisoners, al-
though some got dangerously ill.

In consequence of the opinion of a most eminent
physician in Dublin, that it would be more humane
to order me to be shot, than to leave me in such a
situation, being made known to General Lake, through
General (now Sir John) Craddock, he sent down or-
ders to inquire more particularly into the state of my

INTRODUCTION.

27

case ; and General Hunter accordingly sent Doctor
Jacob to visit me. The result was, that after five
weeks' confinement, in such a mansion of wretched-
ness, I was removed to the jail ; but my health had
become so impaired, that I much fear it may never
be perfectly re-established. Doctor Jacob paid me
two visits : I paid him for his attendance and wished
him to continue ; but such was my lot, that however
much I stood in need of it, I could not procure med-
ical assistance ! In my own conception this neglect
was occasioned by a complaint of the hardship of
my case to Doctor Jacob, upon which he promised
tobring me a copy of what 1 had written to the com-
mittee, which they alleged to be a petition for trans-
portation. He brought me an application of mine to
General Hunter, which he said was the only paper
that he could see or find relative to me ; and he af-
terwards avoided me, lest in visiting me he might let
out any thing that should lead to a detection of the
schemes of the committee. I could not even after-
wards procure his attendance as a magistrate, on dis-
covering in the jail of Wexford, the murderer of Mr.
Nowlan, of Greek-street in Dublin, whence he had
fled, but was apprehended as a stranger, not being
able to give a good account of himself, and lodged m
prison. Apprehensive that this man might be let
out, I sent to Doctor Jacob, as mayor of Wexford,
to state to him the reasons for his detention until I
could get an answer of a letter T had written to Dub-
lin, but Doctor Jacob did not attend ; yet so right
was I, that on my information, the man was ordered
to Dublin, where he turned king's evidence against
his accomplices, who were accordingly brought to
trial, condemned, and executed. The same reason
I do suppose operated on the doctor, on this as well
as former occasions ; and had it not been for the

99 INTRODUCTION.

jailer, who prevailed on the military commander to
detain this lellow, who had been taken up only as a
suspicious stranger, he might have escaped.

Brigade-major Fitzgerald was sent to me from
General Hunter, to inquire particularly into my sit-
uation, and I demonstrated it to him, from most au-
thentic and convincing documents, in such a manner,
that I cannot convince the world of his conviction of
the iniquitous practices of the committee against me,
belter than in his own words, in a letter written to
me at a subsequent period, which is inserted in the
Appendix, No. II.

I presented in all thirteen or fourteen memorials
to be liberated or tried, but the active malevolence
of my persecutors prevented them from being attend-
ed to. In the month of January, 1799, I made an
application to be removed to Dublin. A writ of ha-
beas corpus was accordingly issued from the court
of King's Bench, ordering the sheriff of the county
to bring me up, and a notice was served on the at-
torney-general to come forward, if he had any charge
against me. This was however superseded by a
secretary's warrant being sent to General Grose ; he
detained me upon it, and, although I then became a
state prisoner, I had none of the advantages or in-
dulgences allowed people in that situation, and of
which, from my state of health, I stood in utmost
need. The suspension of the habeas corpus act
obliged me to put up with my situation, and I must
have remained a prisoner, God knows how long, had
not my persecutors overshot their mark, by endeavor-
ing to smuggle me off in a manner contrary to every
law known or enacted in this country ; not resting
content with having me a state prisoner, from which
situation I could not have extricated myself, if not
enabled by their iniquity.

INTRODUCTION. 29

The prisoners which had been first tried by court-
martial in Wexford, and sentenced to transportation,
previous to the passing of the law that legahzed trial
by court-martial, were held over till the spring assizes
of 1799. My name was returned in the crown-book
as under sentence of transportation, and I should
have been sent off immediately after the assizes, along
with all the rest of the proscribed, had I not made an
application, by letter, to Judge Chamberlain, denying
that I had ever been tried, or petitioned for transpor-
tation; and that, as he himself had granted a writ of
habeas corpus, to have me removed to Dubhn the
January before, I considered myself under his pro-
tection, and that of the court of King's Bench ; and
hoped that my situation, as unfortunate as unmerit-
ed, which I was ready to prove, would induce him
not to sanction any sentence of transportation agamst
me. My letter was delivered to him as he was going
into court, and he held it in his hand, while he pub-
licly declared from the bench, that, "although he
did not usually attend to private letters in his judicial
capacity, yet he had received a letter from Mr. Hay,
a prisoner then confined in the jail of Wexford, and
that, if the contents of it were true, his situation must
be deplorable indeed ; and he added, that if nothing
appeared against him, he would liberate him next
day." The letter at the request of the grand jury
was delivered to them, and it was now found abso-
lutely necessary, for my detention, to procure infor-
mations against me. Accordingly a magistrate came
down to the jail, and called for a noted informer,
(since condemned to be hanged for murder, but w-hose
sentence was commuted to transportation, for his
services,) brought him into the jailer's apartments, in
an adjoining house, called the bridewell, over which
I was confined, and the ceiling under me was so bad,

3*

30 INTRODUCTION.

that, listening with attention, I could hear a great
deal of what passed below stairs. In such a situa
tion, it is natural to suppose I availed myself of this
advantage, and could distinctly hear the informer
threatened to be hanged if he would not swear against
me ; and it was promised that his life should be
spared if he would. Conversation followed now and
then in a higher tone, so that I was able to under-
stand that the informer would not swear to the ex-
aminations first proposed and brought ready written,
in the magistrate's own handwriting, and he now, out
of fury and disappointment, tore them to pieces.
Threats, however, at last prevailed on the murderer
to swear to other examinations framed in a more pal-
atable form against me. The name of another gen-
tleman I also heard mentioned ; but the point of
swearing against him was not insisted on. When
the magistrate departed, I asked to be let out to walk,
and accosted the informer on meeting him, to know-
how was it possible for him to swear any thing against
me ? He told me, that as he had heard me say I
was not afraid of any thing that might be sworn
against me, he thought it no harm, as it was to save
his own hfe ; and that certainly what he had sworn
could not affect mine. After minutely relating the
story of his being so obliged to swear, (and which
perfectly coincided with what I was able to hear,) he
put me in the way of getting the scraps of the torn
examinations, which I immediately set about arrang-
ing, and have them now pasted together in regular
order, as an existing, incontrovertible proof of the
subornation, and unravelling the whole of the nefari-
ous plot formed against me, as well as exposing the
atrocious deed of the magistrate. This I meant to
have proved on my trial, by producing the identical
magistrate, and putting the document into his hand

INTRODUCTION.

31

for avowal ; but my lawyers would not suffer me to
produce any evidence, when counsel for the crown
save up the prosecution ; otherwise the public would
have been in possession of several transactions in a
far fuller manner than I can set forth at present. I
was nine months confined before any charge on oath
was made against me ; and this, it must be thought,
was sufficient time to bring forth any human concep-
tion, and ought then to have naturally entitled me to
a political delivery. ^ • t

The grand jury now found bills of indictment
against me for higli treason. There were several
ladies and gentlemen at tea with me, and some of my
fellow-prisoners, (who were afterwards honorably ac-
quitted,) in the evening, when a gentleman came to
visit me, as he had done several times before, and, in
the presence of the whole company, he declared that
he had been hooked in to prosecute me. He men-
tioned, that, while listening to the trials in the court-
house, he was summoned before the grand jury,
where he was questioned about a conversation he had
unguardedly held respecting me, which it was repre-
sented as his duty to swear to, and he was bound
over to prosecute. He however imagined that what
he had sworn could not injure me, and he then re-
lated to us many other circumstances that completely
did away what he had said before the grand jury.
Several others also came and informed me, that upon
being summoned and sworn before this tribunal, they
were asked if they knew any thing concerning me
during the insurrection ; and that they acknowledged
they did, with gratitude, as I had saved their lives or
properties, or comforted them in one way or other m
their afflictions. It was then put to them on their
oaths whether I could do so without having great
authojity ? But this they considered I had tiot, as

32 INTRODUCTION.

they declared that it was for giving them information
of their danger, and advising them how to act, they
were indebted to me, and on stating that they knew
nothing against me, they were dismissed. I was
brought down to the court-house to be arraigned, and
when the indictment was read, I declared myself
ready for trial upon getting a list of the witnesses to
be produced against me. This Mr. Justice Cham-
berlain ordered to be given to me, but said I should
not be tried those assizes, and would not listen to any
argument I could urge, but instantly remanded me
back to jail. I have been informed, and have good
reason to believe, that my persecutors represented
" they had not entertained an idea that I should not
be transported, and were therefore totally unprepared
to proceed against me ; and that what made me so
anxious to hurry on my trial was, that the evidence
they had to produce against me was not in Wexford ;
but that, against the ensuing assizes, they hoped to
be able to convict me ! !"

Some time after this, in the summer of 1799, a
distinguished gentleman of property, and constant
grand juror of the county of Wexford, mentioned pub-
licly in the canal passage-boat, on his way to Dublin,
that " Mr. Hay wanted several times to be tried by
court-martial, which was unfortunately prevented, as
a military tribunal would pay too much attention to
ladies and officers as witnesses for Mr. Hay ; but
that a Wexford jury would not be so squeamish. It
was a providential circumstance that Mr. Hay had
himself demanded a trial by jury, as it would inevit-
ably iprove fatal to him, instead of the boon of trans-
portation intended for him." This and many such
declarations the assertors are since ashamed of.

On all occasions that I possibly can, I avoid men-
tioning names, as I consider several have been led

INTRODUCTION. 33

into error through party prejudice, which comph-
ment I hope may secure the concurrence of many
crentlemen in promoting union and harmony among
all descriptions of their countrymen. I regret that the
character of an historian obliges me to mention some,
however, on my part, free from any mtention of per-
sonahty or offence, but a correct statement of lacts
from authorities I deemed undeniable; however,
bhould I have been led mto any involuntary error
and if any gentleman should think himself nijured, I
shall be proud to be undeceived, and shall be happy,
on a candid investigation, to do ample justice to him,
by declaring truth in the most conspicuous manner.
On the other hand, the times have been such, that I
have omitted many at their own request, whose meri-
torious actions might be recorded to their honor,
which, along with other unavoidable wants may,
when prejudice is dissipated, be published at a future

' Six magistrates of the county afterwards formed
themselves into an inquisitorial court, consisting of
the Right Hon. George Ogle, James Boyd, Richard
Newton King, Edward Perceval, Ebenezer Jacob,
M.D., and John Henry Lyster, Esqrs. They assem-
bled at the house of James Boyd, and summoned
hundreds before them, whom they swore to give
such information as they could concerning the rebel-
lion. About fifty persons have informed me, that
they were principally questioned concerning me,
and upon their acknowledging that they were in-
debted to me for life, property, or consolation, as the
case may have been, they were strictly questioned,
evidently with a view to"' criminate me, whether I
could have done so without great power or authority
with the insurgents ; but the consciences of these
persons, on their oaths, did not warrant them to

34 INTRODUCTION.

make such a deduction ; and on being finally inter-
rogated whether they knew any thing against me,
and answering in the negative, they were dismissed.
These persons also informed me, that they had
heard several others declare, that they had been
questioned about me, and even some who had no
personal knowledge of me whatsoever ; so that I
have strong reason to believe, that no means were
left untried to criminate me. My conduct has cer-
tainly undergone stricter investigation than that of
any other person in Ireland, and such, as I believe,
that of the most unexceptionable of n)y persecutors
would not pass through unblemished ; while mine is
irreproachable in the utmost degree, having passed,
with unimpeached honor, the ordeal of the We.xford
inquisition. We read of nothing that has gone such
lengths in foreign countries. Even the inquisitors
are, by duty and oath, to seek out all evidence as
well for as against their prisoners !

The summer assizes, in 1799, began in Wexford
on Monday the 24th of July, and being brought up
that day to be arraigned, I was asked whether I was
ready for trial. This question I said I would an-
swer when furnished with a list of the witnesses to
be produced against me. This Baron Smith, (now
Sir Michael Smith, Master of the Rolls,) the sitting
judge, ordered to be delivered to me ; and it Avas
sent to me that evening by Mr. William Harvey, the
agent for the crown. On receipt of this I sent off
several witnesses, whom I had summoned, but for
whose attendance I now considered myself to have
no occasion. At last my long-wished-for trial came
forward, on Thursday the 27lh of July ; and al-
though I was advised that I might have availed my-
self of the defectiveness of the indictment, in point
of form, and although I might also have protected

INTRODUCTION.

35

myself by the Amnesty Act, if necessary, yet I dis-
dained to adopt such subterfuges, and declared
myself ready to meet the whole of the charges
acrainst me. Two only, out of the four witnesses
named to me, were brought forward; but their
cross-examination completely did away any thing
injurious that could be inferred from their direct tes-
timony. One of these was William Carty, the in-
former, who afterwards pleaded guilty to an indict-
ment for murder, and was condemned to death,
which sentence, in consideration of his services, was
commuted for transportation to Botany Bay ; and
although half what he had sworn was false, and in-
vented to criminate me, yet in the event it turned
out so much to my honor, that my counsel thought
It not necessary to impeach his credit, which I was
well prepared to do, he being the principal evidence
for the crown. Although it be obvious to infer, that
furnishing me with a list of the witnesses was a pal-
pable consent to produce no others against me but
those named therein, yet on the disappointment of
the failure in the evidence of the first two, other
witnesses, not named in the list with which I was
furnished, were produced ; and the most material of
them was sworn of the jury then trying me ; and to
him I certainly would have objected, had I not been
thrown off my guard by the trick practised for that
purpose. I was therefore totally unprepared to re-
but or explain any evidence he might offer, as, on
receiving the list, I had sent off witnesses whose
testimony would have particularly borne upon any
thing he could allege. I must, however, excuse
Counsellor O'Driscol, the leading counsel for the
crown, from having any concern in this vile transac-
tion, as he most honorably declared, that he was as-
tonished I had not been furnished with this man's

36 INTRODUCTION.

name, as the purport of his evidence was set forth
in his brief, which he held up and pointed to ; how-
ever, he said duty obhged him to insist upon his
being examined ; for that although it was the privi-
lege of prisoners accused of high treason in Eng-
land, that no other witnesses but those named in the
lists furnished should be produced against them, yet
the law did not entitle them to such an indulgence
in Ireland. Notwithstanding all these disadvantages,
I was honorably acquitted. Baron Smith declared
in his charge, that I had undergone the most virulent
persecution, that my loyalty was unimpeachable, and
that if the jury attempted to find me guilty, as some
juries had acted contrary to law and justice at those
assizes in Wexford, I might take advantage of the
Amnesty Bill, by moving arrest of judgment, and
that I should be instantly discharged ; so that they
might as well give me, at once, the acquittal I de-
served,

I walked about the town publicly that evening,
and on the ensuing days, until the judges and law-
yers left Wexford, on the conclusion of the assizes.
On Saturday evening, the 29th of July, however,
Genera] Grose arrested me in the street, and gave
me in charge to the jailer, then along with him. I
remonstrated ; but was informed by the general, that
it was repi-esented to him that he could not leave
me at liberty until he knew the lord lieutenant's
pleasure, as the secretary's warrant, by which I was
before detained, had been directed to him. 1 urged
my honorable acquittal, which the general acknowl-
edged, but still he would not leave me at liberty. I
then requested, that, if he considered it necessary to
detain me, he would make the town my prison, and
might consider my honor as his best security ; but
that I would procure him any other security he

INTRODUCTION. 37

would require. This request was not complied with,
and I was conducted back to my former situation in
the jail, and lodged there without any kind of indul-
gence above any other prisoner. After a lapse of
four days, however, the general permitted me to
walk out, followed by a military sergeant. A near
relation of mine, on my arrest, set off for Waterford,
where the astonishment of all the gentlemen of the
Leinster bar was excited upon hearing of my appre-
hension, after such an acquittal as that of which they
had been witnesses ; particularly Counsellor O'Dris-
col, the leading counsel for the crown on my trial,
who offered to prove and substantiate my honorable
acquittal in any manner that my lawyers might sug-
gest. A memorial to the lord lieutenant was now
framed in my behalf, referring to Baron (now Sir
Michael) Smith, Master of the Rolls, and to Justice
Chamberlain, for the truth of its contents ; and pray-
ing that no reference should be made to the Wexford
gentry, who had already alleged so many falsehoods
against me, but to any liberal man, of independent
mind, at all acquainted with the circumstances of
my case. This memorial was presented to his Ex-
cellency Marquis Cornwallis, by the Earl of Don-
oughmore, at whose residence he was then on a
visit. The consequence was, that orders were im-
mediately sent to General Grose to liberate me ; and
I was then released from a confinement altogether
of thirteen months.

I went to England in November, 1799, and re-
mained there until the month of February, 1800.
Four days after my arrival in Ireland, a forged letter
was written in my name to Doctor Jacob, in so un-
gentlemanly a style as I hope I shall never be guilty
of, against the measure of the union. This letter
was also one of the dark contrivances of my perse-

4

38 INTRODUCTION.

cutors, (who have never come forw^ard against me in
an open or manly manner,) and was evidently fab-
ricated in order to get me confined, and this I fortu-
nately discovered time enough to prevent its execu-
tion. A member of parliament, belonging to a
strong party in favor of the union, luckily for me,
drank a little more than ordinaryj and declared that
he understood I had spent some time in England,
where I had paid visits to noblemen of the first dis-
tinction, and had concerted plans against the union.
These sentiments of opposition I had luckily dis-
covered in a letter to Doctor Jacob, but that I should
be taken care of and secured ; that certainly my
talent for procuring signatures could not be denied,
but that I should have no opportunity of exerting it,
as I should be taken up, to prevent the danger to be
apprehended from my opposition in the county of
Wexford. This plot I had the good fortune to dis-
cover, as the information was conveyed to me with
all the anxiety of friendship, and I found it to be but
too true. My object then was to wait on persons of
distinction, well acquainted with my determination,
as a Catholic, not to interfere about the union, and I
was promised their utmost interest and protection,
should any sinister measure against me be attempted.
Without this precaution against an intended blow,
of which my friend got intelligence by mere acci-
dent, I should have been taken up and confined
without knowing why or wherefore ; as it was
touching government, at the time, in the tenderest
point, and had the appearance of zeal for the unioii,
under the mask of the basest imposition. I now
wrote to Doctor Jacob to send me the letter, that it
might enable me to find out its author ; but was not
favored with an answer, although I had learned that
the doctor had declared that I did not w^ite the let-

INTRODUCTION. 39

ter, which, I beheve, he perfectly knew on receiving
it. An officer, who was a friend of mine, was going
down to tlie spring assizes of Wexford, in April,
1800, and I commissioned him to wait on the doctor,
to let him know, that if he would not produce the
letter, I should consider him as its author, and treat
him accordingly. In consequence of this, the doctor
condescended to write to me, excusing himself for
not having answered my letters sooner, not being
able to find the forgery, which he then enclosed to
me ; the author I have not yet been able to dis-
cover.*

This is a curious specimen of party prejudice.
Those who had influence could have any one for
whom they entertained a personal dislike, taken up on
the score of public justice ; and too many instances
of the kind occurred, suggested by private malice.
The circumstance of my discovering this letter in
time was rather fortunate, as it secured me powerful
support in case of any future attempt. The times
were such, however, that I considered it better to be
peculiarly cautious and circumspect, to prevent the
possibility of my actions being misrepresented ; and
1 even thought it prudent to overlook many things
which I should have properly noticed at any other
period ; but, as I had dreadful experience of the
hardship of confinement, I was not willing to risk
again being in the same predicament, although I
could defy the utmost malice of my enemies, if they

* Sir — Allow me to acknowledge the favor of two letters from
you, on the subject of one which I tjome time since received from
Dubhn, to which your name was, as I am convinced, forged ; if I
could sooner have found the forgery, I should have immediately,
according to your desire, enclosed it to you.

I am, sir,
April 20, 1800. Your obedient humble servant,

To Edward Hay, Esq Eben. Jacob.

40 INTRODUCTION.

would dare openly to avow themselves ; but during
the suspension of the habeas corpus act, no man
could be secure from the rancor of party-spirit,
which I fear it will still take much time to allay, be-
fore numbers are brought back to their sober senses.
I have had constant opportunities of observing the
baleful effects of being led away by party. I have
known men, whom I believe to be naturally well-in-
clined, if their dispositions were not warped by the
virulence of such companions as they think it neces-
sary to associate with, lest their loyalty may be oth-
erwise impeached, join in acts of outrage and excess;
varying their conduct according to the temper of
their associates, or the circumstances that may occur,
and condescending now and again to speak only to
individuals whom it was happy for them to meet in
the hour of misfortune, and to whom they owe any
share of character they still retain ; but so lost to all
sense of gratitude, that the mere condescension of
speaking is never exhibited in the presence of certain
individuals, or where there may be any possibility
of its being observed by such characters. As for
myself, I was so calumniated and reviled during my
confinement, when I had not the power of counter-
action, that evil rumor wrought so much on some of
my former acquaintances as to occasion their as-
suming the appearance of not knowing me ; but I
was even with them in pitying their pusillanimity and
littleness. I was well prepared for such occurrences,
and I have made it an invariable rule with myself,
not to appear to know any former acquaintances, un-
til first known by them ; considering that my misfor-
tunes entitle me to the first compliment ; and some
have after a time returned to former civility, and ex-
cused themselves on being undeceived, as having
been misled by false information. Indeed the spirit

INTRODUCTION, 41

of mistaken loyalty was so zealous, that it induced
many to fabricate lies which required numberless
others to support them ; nay, the public mind was
so led astray, that truth itself, by various miscon-
structions, was perverted into absolute falsehood. I
remember on my first coming to Dublin after my ac-
quittal, that several persons told me how distressing
it was to them to hear many falsehoods related of
particular instances of which they had themselves
been witnesses, but which their timidity prevented
them from contradicting. On my mentioning that I
would not act in a manner that might sanction false-
hood, by remaining silent in the presence of its
known assertors, I was entreated not to give them as
authority.

I have afterwards chanced to fall into company
with these retailers of fabricated reports, and on my
mentioning facts as they happened, but which I was
informed they had previously misrepresented, they
remained as silent as those who some time before
were overawed by their arrogance. Others of my
acquaintance anxiously inquiring about the heroism
and magnanimity of their friends, have been vastly
disappointed at my not confirming the accounts they
had before received, and my being in truth obliged
to declare the contrary. Upon being informed that
the facts were reported quite otherwise, I always
answered by expressing a desire to be confronted
with the narrators, where it would be easy to judge
who told truth. So many and so various have the
impositions on the public been, that it is truly aston-
ishing how such a compilation of falsehoods could
be fabricated and heaped together ; and it would,
mdeed, be an Herculean task to attempt to answer
them, as it would in general take ten times the ex-
tent of a false story to disprove and set it aside ; so

4*

4S INTRODUCTION.

that it would be too tedious and tiresome for public
perusal, and would prove an endless source of con-
troversy and contradiction. I therefore do not enter
the lists against any one, but endeavor to give a true
statement of what has happened, without attempting
to palliate or falsify ; and I request the reader to
consider that I have been an eye-witness of some of
the principal events, and therefore could not readily
be imposed upon. I have besides the corroboration
of persons of all parties to support me in such a
manner as to prove convincing to every one inclined
to hearken to truth ; and I am sure it must prove
grateful to every benevolent mind to be convinced,
that all the horrors perpetrated in the year 1798,
were the consequence of party prejudice, now gen-
erally supposed to have been urged forward from
political motives to weaken the country, by setting
the people by the ears. Troops were at first em-
ployed, as it were to crush disturbances, in order to
put down one party ; and those on the other side
were not aware of their situation until a power was
established superior to all parties ; and the bitterest
complaints have been made by the opposers of the
union, that they themselves contributed most, without
knowing it until it was too late, to carry that meas-
ure. A dissertation on the union is not my present
object : I only want to make all ranks and degrees
of my countrymen sensible that union and harmony
among themselves will prevent the possibility of
their being put down by any power on earth. Every
point of view in which this desirable object is put,
must contribute to show its heavenly principle, and
I hope this may have due weight to cause sincere
endeavors for its accomplishment.

What I consider most lamentable in Ireland, is the
dreadful prevalence of religious prejudice, and its

INTRODUCTION.

43

baleful consequences. This is so inculcated even in
] infancy, that it is scarcely to be eradicated by any
i future conviction or experience, however evident its
, mischief and absurdity. I shall endeavor to exem-
plify this by a comparison, of the aptness of which
every one must be sensible. Among the many
odious and lamentable impressions made on the ten-
der minds of children, when in the care of ignorant
and iUiterate persons, none is so general as the terror
of ghosts and hobgoblins, related to make them obe-
dient. Although this all-powerful remedy may tor
the moment diminish the trouble of the keepers by
makincT the children more subservient, yet it often
prevents the parents from coming to the knowledge
of any thing it may dictate. I believe it has come
within the observation of every one, that there are
persons of the most undoubted courage, who would
be afraid to go up stairs in the dark, although they
would face a cannon in the day-time ; and of this
weakness they cannot divest themselves, although
they may be long convinced of the absurdity of such
notions ; for so deep a root do false ideas take m the
infant mind, that mature good sense and conviction
are unable to shake off their shackles. So it is with
all early impressions. How lamentable then is it to
inculcate prejudice in the tender mind of youth, so
as to make them imbibe bigoted sentiments almost
with their milk ; enslaving their understanding in
such a manner, that it can scarcely ever beconie tree
from their influence ! I venture to hope that this ad-
monition may have the effect of making parents en-
deavor to prevent their children from being led astray
by such hateful impressions in early life, that they
may be brought to maturity unbiased by any preju-
dice, and thus may judge of things impartially ot
which they must be otherwise utterly incapable.

44 INTRODUCTION.

Parents cannot be so selfish as not to wish their chil-
dren as much happiness as possible, or as they can
at all procure them, and to this it materially contrib-
utes (and it is a duty incumbent on all who have the
care of children) to prevent false impressions.
Should this salutary precept be carefully attended
to, we may hope to see the rising generation grow
up free of those prejudices, which have, unfortunate-
ly for Ireland, produced such dreadful consequences.
What a melancholy reflection is it, that any person
should be reared and educated with the belief that
the great majority of his countrymen have vowed his
destruction ! Does not such a conce|ftion naturally
inculcate all kind of distrust, blasting all confidence,
and destroying the happiness that would result from
harboring more charitable opinions ? Such notions
it is not at all wonderful to find strongly rooted in vul-
gar minds, that have not had the benefit of a good
education ; but it is truly a national grievance, that
men of the first rank and rearing should be brought
up with such horrid and absurd prejudices. I have
heard some of the most dignified and exalted per-
sonages in Ireland, declare that great pains had been
taken, in the course of their education, to impress
their minds with an inveterate dislike to Roman
Catholics ; and that so forcibly dictated were these
bigoted precepts, that they firmly believed them to
be true, and that it was not without great exertion of
mind they were afterwards able to bring themselves
to keep company with people of that communion.
The terrors, however, diminished by more frequent
intercourse ; and in proportion as this was cultivated,
they became sensible of the inculcated error, and of
the absurdity of the prejudice against their country-
men, and at length became the greatest supporters
of the Catholic cause. As for myself, although I

INTRODUCTION.

45

now profess the Roman Catholic religion, I should
not be of that comnaunion one single hour, were the
principles such as they are represented ; but Catho-
lics I know, abhor and detest the principles that
^ prejudice has thought proper to attribute to them.
Had those absurdities any other than a speculative
existence in the minds of fanciful and designing men,
wishino- to bring public sentiment to second their
views, "would the parliament have voted a free exer-
cise of their religion ? If Catholics did not reverence
oaths, what could keep them from enjoying the hon-
ors of the state, since an oath would completely qual-
ify them ? Or, if they were as represented, would
such monsters be suffered to exist, instead of being
protected and cherished by king, lords, and com-
mons ^ I will only observe that the greatest villains
and hypocrites generally assume the mask of rehgion,
as the robber does that of honesty, in order to cover
sinister desii^ns ; and they are both, for private ad-
vantage, adepts in the art of deception. History
furmslies too many dreadful examples of the shock-
incT effects of religious bigotry ; but it is the misap-
phcation of religion, and not its essential principles,
that urge inordinate fury. Of this we have had a
striking example in our own days. The riots in
London in 1780, when the mob was unquestionably
composed of Protestants and dissenters, forming an
immense multitude, were excited for the avowed de-
struction of pope and popery. It was impossible
that their views could be mistaken, as they proceed-
ed not only in avowed enmity to the Catholics them-
selves, by destroying their property, by burmng their
houses and places of worship, but they even demol-
ished the houses of members of parliament, who had
supported a bill previously passed for the rehet ot
the Catholics of England ; and although the saraa

46 INTRODUCTION. |

spirit was manifested at Edinburgh, Bath, Bristol,
and other parts of England, yet the parliament did
not seem aware of the object of the rabble. The
last riots in Birmingham are also of the same nature,
and tend to prove that religion is only the pretext
generally assumed to cover the greatest enormities ;
but it is not at all to be inferred, that the religion of
any Christian sect inculcates such principles as their
adherents exhibit by their actions, otherwise it might
be said with equal feasibility, that the Christian re-
ligion encourages sin, because Christians commit
sin ; but the parable of the good Samaritan, one
would think, should do away all prejudice between
all sorts of Christians. Were I absurd enough to
advance, that the Protestant religion inculcated the
destruction of Catholics, and that it could be clearly
demonstrated from many examples, but particularly
could be adduced from the acts and avowals of the
people of the capital of the Church of England, as
before stated, I think I should be more justifiable
than those who venture to assert, (what is very as-
tonishing that many are led to believe,) that Catho-
lics are vowed for the destruction of Protestants. In
the transactions even of the year 1798, in the county
of Wexford, such a principle was not maintained,
but the contrary manifested by every public avowal ;
but in different parts of England and Scotland, and
in Ireland itself, in the county of Armagh, in the
year 1795, dreadful sentiments appeared against
Catholics. There are truly individual monsters of
all parties, who would destroy every one not of their
own way of thinking, were they not restrained in
their evil inclinations by fear or force ; and their
principles are unfortunately too widely diffused, and
encouraged by those, who without actually commit-
ting murder themselves, frequently occasion its com-

INTRODUCTION. 47

mittal by subtle assertion and implication of princi-
ples too dreadful to be admitted among Christians !

I shall not by any means pretend to excuse any
bad action, let it originate from what cause it may ,
and although I maintain that the Cathohc religion in-
culcates the principles of charity and general morali-
ty as much as any other on earth, I shall condemn
the bad actions of Catholics a^ much, if not more
than those of any other religious persuasion. My
whole object in giving this account to the public s
10 promote union and harmony, as much as it lies m
my power, among all descriptions of my country-
men ; and if I knew of any other and better mode to
effect this desirable object, I certainly would adopt
It But I conceive it mainly necessary to give an
account of what I think I am master of now, and tor
this reason it is that I confine myself for the present
to the county of Wexford, where, quite contrary to
my inclinations and wishes, I was so critically placed
as to be an eye-witness of what passed ; but this en-
ables me now to be the better judge of hearsay evi^
dence, let it come from what quarter it may ; and 1
hope my execution of this sketch will procure such
satisfactory intelligence as will enable me to give a
general history of Ireland, with the causes leading to
Slucidate the events of that unfortunate period of 1798.
To accomplish this, I call on my countrymen m gen-
eral for assistance ; and although it would be impos-
sible for me to relate every transaction that happened
it will, however, be necessary that I shall be m pos-
session of many occurrences that may tend to prove

theleadmg features of a g^"^^^-^ f ^^.^n'old the r
ticular instances, though not recited, will hold the i
place essentially upon a general principle. 1 trust
[his will prove a'sufficient apology to those who have
favored me with documents, which the limits of my

48 INTRODUCTION.

present work would not permit me to give at full
length ; however, their advantage and use in the
compilation have been very great ; so that what
might, at first view, appear a trivial circumstance, I
shall be glad to have an opportunity of perusing. I
also hope that the precaution I have already recom-
mended may be used ; of sending it to a friend in
Dublin, who may be good enough to apply to my
printer, where my address may be known, and for-
warded to me without any disappointment, where, on
delivery, he may get it inserted in a book, which is
to be kept for that purpose, with his address, as well
as that of the writer, in order, that if any further ex-
planation should be required, I may not be at a loss
where to apply. All this precaution is easy to be
taken by such as may be kind enough to transmit
matter of information ; and what would be little
trouble to each individual, would save me immense
labor in detail. I hope, therefore, I shall be excused
for being so particular, as I wish to lose as little time
as possible in contributing my mite for general infor-
mation.

Had I not the conciliation of all my countrymien
very much at heart, I should not venture on the ar-
duous undertaking of giving a history of the present
times. The various and contradictory materials pro-
duced by contending parties, have existed to that de-
gree, that the same occurrence is represented, as
prejudice and interest operate, in as opposite views
as light and darkness. I cannot hope to please par-
tisans of any description, nor shall 1 attempt it. The
cool and dispassionate philanthropist I flatter myself
will approve of my intentions, and lend his assistance
in endeavoring to dissipate the cloud of prejudice
that has overpowered the good sense of many of
my countrymen ; and through those sentiments I

INTRODUCTION. 49

may obtain the indulgence of the public, which I
stand so much in need of.

Now that peace is established with all foreign
powers, it behooves every well-disposed person to
cultivate its blessings at home ; I therefore hope this
will induce many to step forward to promote my
present undertaking. As for my own part, I confess,
I considered it prudent not to lay my account before
the public, until I was secure from the malevolence
of those from whom I had good reason to apprehend
danger ; as my persecution might be renewed if I
ventured to arraign the supposed justice and merits
of my persecutors, before I could be certain of not
being sacrificed to party-spirit : which, I presume, I
have sufficiently shown to have been violently and
unwarrantably exerted against me ; and if the ac-
count of it shall in any wise contribute to promote
the union and consequent happiness of my country-
men, I shall endeavor to forget my sufferings in
the blessings which such an event must ensure to
Ireland.

5

IRISH REBELLION. 61

THE IRISH REBELLION.

Before entering on the narrative of the late insur-
rection in the county of Wexford — the causes that
produced it, and its calamitous consequences — I
think it necessary to give a general sketch of its geog-
raphy and local circumstances, together with a short
topographical outline of its boundaries, principal
rivers, harbors, and remarkable places, to render ref-
erences more easy and obvious ; adding the esti-
mate of its computed population in 1788, slated by
Mr. Bushe, in the transactions of the Royal Irish
Academy, and published in 1790.

The county of Wexford is a maritime tract on the
southeastern coast of Ireland, taking the utmost lim-
its within the fifty-third degree of north latitude, and
between the sixth and seventh of longitude west from
London; being about thirty-nine miles long, from north
to south, and twenty-four broad, from west to east;
bounded on the north mostly by the county of Wick-
low, and in a very small part (towards the west) by
the county of Carlow; on the east and south, by that
part of the Atlantic Ocean denominated the Irish Sea,
or St. George's Channel; and on the west, from north
to south, partly by the county of Carlow, and partly
by the Barrow, a fine navigable river, deemed second
only to the Shannon in Ireland, which divides it from

52 HISTORY OF THE

the counties of Kilkenny and Waterford. In a direc
tion from southwest to northeast, the boundaries of
the county of Wexford, between it and the county of
Carlow, are the long ridges of mountains called
Black Stairs and Mount Leinster, which are divided
by the defile of Scollagh-gap, the only high road into
it from the Barrow to the Slaney, at Newtownbarry,
which, together with Clonegal two miles farther up,
is situated partly in the county of Carlow, and partly
in the county of Wexford ; but, southward of the
county of Wicklow, a chain of lofty mountains, open-
ing with different defiles, rivers, and high hills, form
a strong natural barrier to the county of Wexford,
which, thus physically fortified by sea and land, ap-
pears naturally formed into a district, which it has
certainly been by all ancient divisions of the country,
whether ecclesiastical, civil, or militar3\ The bish-
opric of Ferns, one of the oldest in Ireland, founded
in the latter end of the sixth century, is nearly co-
extensive with the county, only a small strip of land
about Carnew, in the county of Wicklow, forming a
part of the diocese of Ferns, while the see of Glenda-
lough includes two parishes in the neighborhood of
Coolgreny, in the county of Wexford. The English
adventurers having first landed here under Fitzste-
phen, in the reign of Henry the Second of England,
to assist in the restoration of M'Morragh, king of
Leinster, it became the strongest military station of
the invaders, while they were endeavoring to estab-
lish themselves in the country, and was one of the
first demarked counties of the English pale.

Wexford — sixty-four miles distant from Dublin,
called by the old natives Loch-Garmain, by the
Danish invaders Weifsford, and after them by the
English, Wexford — is the capital, or shire and assizes
town of the county, situated in a hollow beneath a

IRISH REBELLION. 63

rising hill, with a southern aspect, at the mouth of
the beautiful river Slaney, which rises in the county
ot vVicklow, and takes a southern direction, with little
variation from Newtownbarry, until it passes some
miles below Enniscortliy, then shapes its course from
west to east, and empties itself by the harbor of
Wexford, into the Irish Sea, or St. George's Chan-
nel. This harbor is formed by two narrow necks of
land, bending towards each other like two arms clo-
sing after an extension from the body, which appear-
ance the river's mouth assumes by its banks, not
very unlike the old Piraeus of Athens. The extremi-
ties of these peninsulas, denominated the Raven on
the north, and Roslare on the south, form the en-
trance into the harbor, which is about half a mile
broad, defended by a fort erected at the point of
Roslare. The harbor itself, in superficial appear-
ance, and from the view of a delightfully expanded
sheet of water, m.ust be considered extremely beau-
tiful ; but unfortunately, it is so shallow, that vessels
drawing more than eleven /eet of water cannot enter
it, being impeded by a bar which is continually shift-
ing. The harbor, however, is certainly capable of
vast improvement ; and, from its situation, attention
to this object must prove of great national import-
ance. Wexford was formerly possessed of some
general traffic, but now it is nearly limited to the corn
trade ; and the manufacture of malt is so consider-
able, that this district was some years ago computed
to produce one-fourth of the revenue raised on that
article in Ireland. The town is surrounded by its
ancient wall, still perfect, except at the public en-
trances, which have been broken down for public
convenience. The ruins of churches and abbeys are
to be seen, which, even in neglect and decay, exhibit
marks of ancient magnificence ; and the Protestant

5*

54 HISTORY OF THE

church, Roman Cathoh'c chapel, market-house, and
barracks, buildings which are not inferior to those of
othPT places, of equal, or perhaps superior import-
ance. The general appearance of the town is, how-
ever, very indifferent, the streets being very narrow,
and having but few good houses ; yet it is in a state
of improvement, and when the quay shall be filled in
and well banked, an operation now in progress, it
will, in all likelihood, induce people to pay more at-
tention to the art of building, as the situation is invi-
ting. The remarkable wooden bridge built in 1795,
over the mouth of the Slaney, leading northward from
the town, is undoubtedly a very great curiosity, being
fifteen hundred and fifty-nine feet long, with a portcul-
lis, and thirty-four feet wide through its whole extent,
with a toll-house at each extremity. On each side
are foot-ways, ornamented with Chinese railings sup-
ported by strong bars. There are also two recesses,
with seats for shelter .against sudden showers ; for it
is the beau walk of the town, and thus contributes
much to the tolls collecte«l to defray the expense of
the building. About two miles up the river, there is
also another wooden bridge with a portcullis, at a
place called Carrig, where the first square castle
built in Ireland was reared by Filzstephen after the
landing of Strongbow. Many other castles are to be
seen throughout the county, particularly in the baron-
ies of Forth and Bargy. There do not at present ex-
ist any traces of round towers ; but there are innu-
merable Danish forts and raths. Wexford returns
one member to the imperial parliament.

Taghmon is on the road from Wexford to Ross,
at the foot of the mountain of Forth. It lies inland,
has a market, fairs, and a post-oflice, also the re-
mains of an old castle, and is surrounded by good
lands.

IRISH REBELLION. 55*

New Ross, sixty-seven miles from Dublin, and
nineteen west of Wexford, is situated on the Barrow,
and well stationed for trade, in which it is rapidly
improving, as well as in the appearance of the town
itself, which has been greatly retarded from the want
of proper encouragement. It is built on the side of
a hill, commanding a beautiful view of the river, and
part of the county of Kilkenny, the passage to which
over it, is by a fine wooden bridge, from the upper
part of the quay, with a portcullis, foot-ways, Chi-
nese railings, and recesses in the centre. Here are
the ruins of abbeys and some churches ; part of one
of the latter now forms the Protestant church. The
old town walls were standing until lately, and their
partial destruction was much regretted on the attack
of the insurgents in June, 1798. It returns a mem-
ber to parliament.

Enniscorthy lies fifty-eight miles from Dublin, fif-
teen from Ross, eleven from Wexford by land, and
fourteen by the windings of the Slaney, which waters
it, and whose banks are unrivalled in beauty ; but it
is to be lamented that its navigation has not been at-
tended to, as at a small expense it could be so im-
proved as to render Enniscorthy a very flourishing
town, which also feels the disadvantage of not pos-
sessing the fostering care of a resident landlord. It
would be a most excellent situation for carrying on
any kind of manufacture. When woods were in
greater abundance in Ireland, it was remarkable for
its iron-works, some of which are still existing near
it ; there now remain the extensive woods of Kilaugh-
ram in its neighborhood. The town now exhibits
a melancholy picture of the devastation consequent
on civil war, being mostly destroyed during the in-
surrection in 1798, which, among other effects, has
occasioned its not being, what it otherwise would

56 HISTORY OF THE

have been, one of the representative towns of Ireland.
A fine old caslle is still in tolerable repair, and the
town is rebuilding very fast.

Gorey, or Nevvborough, is forty-two miles from
Dublin, nine from xirklow, twenty-two miles north of
Wexford, and fifteen from Enniscorthy. It lies in-
land, has little or no trade but what arises from fairs
and markets, and is a post-town.

Ferns lies six miles from Enniscorthy, and nine
from Gorey ; is a bishop's see, since tlie Reforma-
tion united to Leighlin in the Protestant, but never
annexed in the Catholic church. It was founded by
St. Maod'og, (pronounced by the inhabitants, and
written at this day, St. Mogue,) in reverence of whom
the primacy of Leinster was transferred to it from
Kildare, towards the latter end of the sixth century.
Part of the very large old church, now grand even in
ruin, dedicated to him as first bishop, constitutes the
present cathedral. His sepulchre is even still pre-
served and in good repair, in part of the parent
church, having been rescued from obscurity by one
of the late bishops. The episcopal palace is con-
tiguous to the town, and is its principal ornament.
Here also stand the ruins of an abbey, and of the
memorable castle of Dermod M'Morracrh, kins of
Lemster, whither, as his principal residence, he re-
tired with the beauteous and fatal Dervorgal, daughter
of O'Malfechlin, king of Meath, and wife of O'Rorke,
prince of Breifny, now denominated the county of
Leitrim, from wiiom, by every wily contrivance, he is
said to have seduced and persuaded her to elope with
him, which eventually produced one of the most mo-
mentous epochs, as marked with one of the greatest
and most serious revolutions that occurs in the history
of Ireland, producing a complete and total change in
its laws, customs, government, and proprietors ; and,

IRISH REBELLION. 67

in a great extent, even in its population ; and, finally,
in our own days, in its imperial dominion and inde-
pendence. This libertine and licentious deed intro-
duced the adventuring Anglo-Norman chiefs, at the
head of the Welsh or British and English invaders ;
who, by long and persevering efforts, established a
transcendent ascendency in Ireland. For Dermod,
odious as notorious for other acts of tyranny and vio-
lence, attracted, by this flagitious crime, the aggra-
vated execration and resentment of Roderic O'Con-
nor, the reigning monarch, as well as of all the other
chiefs and princes of the land; who, making common
cause against the execrable outrage, forced him out
of the island, whither he ere long returned, intro
ducing those invaders (from one of whom I am myself
descended) who ultimately succeeded in its utter re-
duction. Hence it cannot be fantastical to deem, in
similitude, Dermod the Paris, Dervorgal the Helen,
Ferns the Troy, and the Anglo-Norman and Welsh
adventurers, the Greeks of Ireland ; and, were there
another Homer in existence, he might rejoice in hav-
ing a second equivalent subject to display anew his
powers. At all events, the Irish have to exclaim in
sympathy witli the Trojans in Virgil, from a similari-
ty of circumstances —

-fuimus Troes, fuit Ilium et ingens

Gloria Teucrorum-

" For there were Irish — they possessed dominion
— they were greatly renowned — but they are now no
more !"

•The English, when established in the baronies of
Forth and Bargy, willing to extend their dominion
over the whole county of Wexford, encountered very
vigorous resistance. Forced by various oppressions, the
natives rose under a youthful hero of the ancient royal

68 HISTORY OF THE

blood, Arthur M'Murchad O'Cavanagh, who defeated
them in several rencounters, and brought the pale to
the verge of destruction. On this occasion, Richard
II. of England hastened to its assistance with forty
thousand men, but, foiled and defeated by the Lein-
ster chieftain, he was glad to purchase present safety
by a dishonorable peace ; and, perhaps, this expedi-
tion was the cause of his losing both life and crown.
The chiefs of the pale, after repeated and fruitless
contests, in which the best English generals were
defeated, thought themselves happy in obtaining tol-
eration to remain in Ireland, on condition of paying a
yearly tribute to the chieftain of Leinster. This tax
is well known under the name of Black Rent, which
continued to be paid until the reign of Henry VIII.
In fine, the inhabitants of that quarter of Ireland, in-
cluding Wexford, were always remarkable for their
bravery ; and, in latter times, the Wexfordians had
the firmness and courage to resist Cromwell, after
the rest of the island was intimidated, partly by the
fame and partly by the experience of his cruellies
and victories.

Were it not for these circumstances, Ferns would
at present excite little consideration, being otherwise
mean and of little importance.

Bunclody, now Newtovvnbarry, is situated partly
in the county of Wexford, and partly in the county
of Carlow, forty-nine miles from Dublin, and ten
north of Enniscorthy on the Slaney, where the
situation is admirably beautiful ; and although New-
tovvnbarry cannot assume the name of a town, in its
strictest sense, it is incomparable as a village. Its
importance in a military point of view% pronounces it
one of the principal keys of the county of Wexford.

Feathard, Bannow, and Clomines, were boroughs,
but long since have fallen into decay ; the silver and

IRISH REBELLION. SB

lead mines in their neighborhood, when worked, made
them of some consequence.

The high and extensive mountains of Black Stairs
and Mount Leinster, already mentioned, separate the
county of Carlow from the county of Wexford ; as
Croghan Mountain, with others of inferior note, divide
the latter from the couniy of Wicklow. Within the
county itself are the mountains of Forth, between
Wexford and Taghmon ; as are Camarus, Carrig-
byrne, Slieykeltra, and Brie, between Ross, Tagh-
mon, and Enniscorthy ; Slieye-buy, which rises coni-
cally, and Carrigrew, near Ferns, and Tara Hill,
north of Gorey ; intermixed with several small hills
and eminences, forming an undulative appearance, in
such a manner that no part of the county can be
termed level, except the baronies of Forth and Bargy,
south of the town of Wexford. On the southern coast
are two bays, of little note but for their superficial
appearance — those of Ballytiegue and Bannow, into
the latter of which runs the river of that name, which
is passable at the point called the Scar, at low water.
The Saltee Islands, round which there is a consider-
able lobster and crab fishery, and which in the times
of falconry were famous for producing the most ex-
cellent hawks, lie nine miles off the coast, opposite
the Bay of Ballytiegue. Duncannon Fort is a mili-
tary station on the shore, commanding the entrance
of the Barrow, of which and the Slaney there is suf-
ficient mention and observation made already ; and
surely of " Bannow'' s banks" we have heard enough.
On the Barrow are three ferries, between the county
of Wexford and those of Kilkenny and Waterford :
the two first are, one at Mountgarret, above Ross,
and another at Balhnlaw, below Ross, into the county
of Kilkenny ; the third is below the confluence of
the Suir and Barrow, between the trifling villages of

60 HISTORY OF THE

Ballyhack, in the county of Wexford, and Passage,
in the county of Waterford. The Bann rises in the
county of Wicklow, passes by Ferns, and joins the
Slaney above Enniscorthy.

Lough Tra, or the Lake of the Ladies' Island, is
very singularly circumstanced ; it receives into its
bosom two or three small rivulets, whose currents,
however, are not strong enough to force a passage in
opposition to a powerful tide rushing directly against
them, and continually drifting quicksand, which ac-
cumulates so as to form the southern bank of the
lake. This every three or four years occasions an
inundation of the adjacent country, obliging the peo-
ple with vast labor to open a way through the mound
for the collected waters to disembogue ; but this is
soon choked up again by the like agglomeration as
before. The lake of Tacumshin is nearly adjoining,
but the currents with which it is supplied not being
so abundant as the former, the task of letting out the
waters does not occur for many years together.

The ruins of several abbeys appear throughout
the county ; but those that preserve the greatest re-
mains of magnificence are, J)unbrod3% Tintern, and
one in Wexford, founded by the Earl of Pembroke,
Filzstephen, and De Moresco. From this stock the
family of Morres, in Ireland, claims descent. In
Wexford there were two other abbeys also. The
rest we take in the order of precedence, from the
best authorities. Clomines ; Dune, on the little
river Derry ; the abbey of St. Mary's, in Ferns ; St.
Mary's of Glass-carrig, or Green Rock, on the sea-
coast ; Hore-town, near Fookes's-mill ; one at En-
niscorthy, and another at the village of St. John's,
not far distant from that town ; Kilclogan, on the
Barrow, below Dunbrody ; and two at Ross, of
Minorets and Augustins.

IRISH REBELLION. QX>

The county of Wexford contains eight baronies,
namely, Gorey, Scarawalsh, Ballaghkeen, Bantry,
Shelmaliere, Shelburne, Bargy, and Forth, in which
are one hundred and forty-two parishes ; and the
acreable extent of the whole is computed to be three
hundred and forty-two thousand nine hundred, or
five hundred and thirty-five square miles. Its pop-
ulation, according to Mr. Bushe's estimate, taking
the houses to be twenty thousand four hundred and
forty-eight, is one hundred and thirty-two thousand
nine hundred and twelve inhabitants. The town of
Wexford itself contains one thousand four hundred
and twelve houses, and upwards of nine thousand
souls ; but I apprehend the population is underrated
by Mr. Bushe, as I hope to be enabled to show at a
future period.

The count}^ of Wexford has been long remarkable
for the peaceable demeanor of its inhabitants ; and
their good behavior and industry have been held out
as exemplary for other parts of Ireland : so little and
so seldom infested with disturbance or riots of any
kind, that an execution for a capital crime rarely
took place there ; and in the calendar of its crim-
inals, it has as few on record as any part either of
Great Britain or Ireland. This county bore such
reputation, that landed property was considered of
higher value in it than in man}'- other parts of this
country ; purchasers not hesitating to advance some
years' rental more for lands in the county of Wex-
ford, than for the like in most other parts of Ireland.
Even at the time that different parts of the nation
were disturbed by the riots of Whiteboys, &c., they
scarcely made their appearance here, owing to the
vigilance and exertions of the gentlemen of the
county. These formed an armed association at En-
niscorihy, for the preservation of the peace, under

, p

•i . >"»

-• ■:■■..:.) '^

t

62 HISTORY OF THE

the command of Sir Vesey Colclongh ; and this as-
sociation afterwards became a corps of volunteers,
the first of the kind in the land ; and thus can the
county of Wexford boast of having set the example,
and of being the first to promote the illustrious in-
stitution of the volunteers of Ireland. Having set
so conspicuous a precedent, the volunteers of the
co\mty of Wexford, by their printed resolutions,
fully coincided with those of all other parts of the
nation, and, in the spirit of the times, adopted the
memorable resolutions of the meeting at Dungannon,
and sent their deputation to the grand provincial
meeting of Leinster, assembled at the guild-hall, in
the thoisel of Dublin, on Thursday, the 9lh of Oc-
tober, 1783, and afterwards to the general conven-
tion of the volunteers of Ireland, held at the rotunda
on the 10th of November following.

The liberality of the times invited men of all per-
suasions to the volunteer ranks. Catholics stood by
their Protestant fellow-soldiers in the glorious cause,
and proved themselves worthy of the liberal confi-
dence that dictated their admission, which the exist-
ing laws did not strictly sanction. Amidst this gen-
eral spirit of toleration, however, I am sorry to
remark that there was no admission for a Catholic
among the volunteers of the county of Wexford — a
circumstance the more remarkable, as it was the
only county in Ireland that exclusively held up this
prejudice. There were, indeed, some Catholic gen-
tlemen of the county of Wexford volunteers ; but
they belonged to corps in other counties, and on this
account their number was but inconsiderable, as few
of them could undergo the expense, or waste the
time necessary for attending meetings out of their
own county ; and thus the great body were pre-
vented from manifesting their sentiments to the ex-

IRISH REBELLION. 63

tent of their wishes. This exclusion, as unwise as
impohtic, must be attributed to that bane of society,
the odious prejudice of rehgious bigotry, so gener-
ally inculcated in early youth, and blended with
education; which sad experience proves to have
been so fatal to the interest of Ireland, — the per-
petual bar to her otherwise infallible prosperity. If
men would but so far divest themselves of prejudice,
and indulge sentiments of Christian charity, as not
to avoid the society of their fellow-men on account
of a difference in religious opinion, the great advan-
tage would be soon perceptible. It would be quickly
found, that uncharitable principles could not be
cherished by any denomination of people professing
the religion of peace and love ; the delusion would
vanish, and the unhallowed monster of bigotry and
prejudice would soon be abhorred and abandoned.
Every man of serious and feeling mind must think
it a very awful misfortune to be born and reared in a
country where the great majority of the people is an
object of hatred and horror to most of the superior
order. A person of high rank, entertaining unfavor-
able sentiments of a community, must prove a hor-
rible scourge to a nation. The balance of justice
may be placed in his hands, while his prejudice must
inevitably prevent its impartial administration ; for it
is the nature of prejudice to warp and supersede all
other affections, so far even as to pervert the fair
dictates of moral truth, and of mild and generous
humanity. Alas ! that Ireland should verify the re-
flection ! But let our regret avert our contempla-
tion, and direct our view to better prospects.

Since the time of volunteering, till of late, noth-
ing very remarkable happened in the county of
Wexford. It continued to flourish from the memor-
able period of 1782 with the same progressive im-

64 HISTORY OF THE

provement of the nation at large, still holding up its
pre-eminence in the value of landed property. The
peasantry were certainly more comfortably situated
here than in most parts of Ireland, soulh of Dublin,
but far from enjoying the happiness experienced by
the like class of people in other "countries ; and al-
though their condition was less wretched than that
of the greater portion of their countrymen, yet this
amelioration must be attributed more to their own
industr}^ than to any encouragement or indulgence
of their landlords. Many gentlemen, becoming
needy by dissipation and extravagance, feel indis-
pensable necessity to support accustomed luxury by
wresting occasional supplies from the hard labor of
a wretched and dependent tenantry, Vv'hose calami-
tous appearance (enough to send horror to the soul
of hunuj^nity) is unnoticed in the general view of
misery and distress which Ireland exhibits as a sin-
gular and melancholy spectacle to the world. Such
are the men who detest the simple hind that culti-
vates their lands, and who calumniate to other coun-
tries the subdued and crawling peasant of their own
— whose ears are to be gratified, whose hearts are
cheerfully delighted by a defamatory, rancorous, and
indiscriminate reviling of their countrymen — calum-
nies that, if directed against their fellow-natives,
would excite horror and indignation in the breasts
of the gentry of any other country in Europe, or
perhaps on the globe.

In Ireland, a good and kind landlord is a rare
blessing ; and a traveller, in his passage through the
country, must readily distinguish the fostering care
and benevolent superintendence of such, wherever
to be found. It is easy to gain the affections of the
warm-hearted Irish. If a person of rank deigns but
to pay them those attentions which are accounted

IRISH REBELLION. 65

but common care of the lower classes in other coun-
tries, he is universally beloved, and on his approach
delight beams on the countenance of the neighbor-
hood around him ; so that it is much to be won-
dered at, that more are not found to purchase, at so
easy a rate, the love and attachment of a generous
and ingenuous people. This, however, the gener-
ality of landlords forfeit for a rack-rent on their
lands ; and not unfrequenlly even some who may
feel a better disposition, see their lands occupied by
a still more miserable peasantry, if possible, and in-
cur equal disgrace with the unrelenting, by parcel-
ling out, to support a false consequence, their estates
in freeholds, to middle-men — a set of liarpies so
hardened, as to view with the coldest unconcern the
most distressing scenes of misery ; who hold it
meritorious to wrest the last farthing from the toil-
some and laborious industry of starved and naked,
wretchedness. This evil was most severely felt by
the Catholics, who could not, till very lately, become
freeholders ; and the grievance arose from their be-
ing deprived of the right of elective franchise, which
constituted the lower Protestants middle-men. By
the restoration of this right, however, it is to be
hoped that, by degrees, as leases shall fall in to the
landlords, they will be induced, even by self-interest,
to multiply their freeholders, by setting their lands
to the occupiers of the soil ; and this will prevent
the intercourse of landlord and tenant from being
intercepted by the hated interference of the odious
tribe of middle-men, and restore some degree of
comfort and happiness to the people at large.

Some years ago, the proprietors of land in the
baronies of Forth and Bargy determined themselves
to farm the soil occuJDied by their tenants, who were
on this account obliged, to seek out new situations in

6*

66 HISTORY OF THE

Other parts of the county of Wexford. Their ap-
proved mode of tillage was soon adopted in the sev-
eral neighborlioods where they settled, and through
them a new spirit of industry was generally diffused,
and the face of the country assumed an appearance
of much superior advantage to its former state. For
although the county of Wexford produces vast quan-
tities of grain, particularly barley, it is obtained
more through the industry of the cultivators, than
from the fertility of the soil, whose barrenness is
overcome by the labor and exertions of the inhab-
itants. The baronies of Forth and Bargy are occu-
pied by the descendants of an Enghsh colony, who
came over with Strongbow, in the reign of Henry
II. They have ever since, in the course of upwards
of six hundred years, lived entirely, with little or no
admixture, within themselves. Until of late years
it was a rare thing to find a man among them that
had ever gone farther from home than Wexford.
They have even preserved their language, probably
without alteration or improvement, as may be pre-
sumed, if not absolutely concluded from this fact —
that although there was no regular intercourse kept
up between these and a sister colony from Wales,
who at the same time settled at Fingal, in the county
of Dublin, and have continued of similar unmixed
Jiabits, yet upon the accidental meeting of indi-
viduals from both places, they can completely un-
derstand each other.

Early in the year 1792, the CathoL'cs of Ireland
were invited by a circular letter, inserted in the
public papers, signed Edward Byrne, to depute from
all the counties and principal towns, delegates, to
meet in Dublin, to frame a petition to the king for a
redress of the grievances under which they labored.
The Catholics of the county of Wexford elected

IRISH REBELLION.

^7

delegates, according to the plan proposed, the July
following, and the whole kingdonn, at the same time,
made like returns. Resolutions of many grand
juries and corporations were published soon after,
reprobating this circular letter. Counties were as-
sembled for the purpose of joining in the outcry.
The county of Wexford was convened on the 22d
of September, by Mr. Derenzy, the high sheriff, to
take into consideration this circular letter of the gen-
eral committee of the Catholics of Ireland, signed
Edward Byrne, The court was opened at one
o'clock, Avhen Mr. Maxwell was about to produce •
resolutions, but the Hon. Francis Hutchinson having
first risen, and being in possession of the chair, after
a manly and eloquent speech of some length, pro-
posed resolutions declaratory of the rights of the
subject. The first resolution, which asserted the
right to petition the throne, or either house of parlia-
ment, though for some time attempted to be got rid
of by Mr. C. Dawson, and an objection upon a point
of order, was at length unanimously adopted ; but
the other resolutions proposed by Mr. Hutchinson,
though equally constitutional and self-evident, were
rejected by the party who avowedly came to oppose
every measure which might either tend to gratify the
feelings, or administer a hope of obtaining justice to
the Roman Catholics. Mr. Hutchinson, however,
most ably supported his motion, and was powerfully
assisted by his brother, the Honorable Christopher
Hutchinson, (the present member for the city of
Cork,) and Captain Sweetman, who, in the most
energetic language, dehvered a speech very pro-
phetic of events that have since taken place ; but no
one argument was adduced by his opponents to con-
■ trovert the principles which he sought to establish.
On the question, a division took place, when tne

68 HISTORY OF THE

number of the silent freeholders who opposed a de-
claration of the unalienable rights of the subject, ap-
peared to be one imndred and ten against forty-five ;
three or four gentlemen of the respectable and liberal-
minded minority possessed more landed property in
the county than the whole of the majority, so that the
Roman Catholics had the satisfaction to see almost
every man of considerable landed property, and of
legal and constitutional information, go out on the
division with them.

The business being then disposed of, Mr. Maxwell
produced his string of resolutions, but declined
making any comment on them, alleging, that it was
intended they should be presented by another gentle-
man, whose attendance at the meeting was prevented
by family reasons, and that they had only that morn-
ing been put into his hands. It was expected, that
as the proposer of the resolutions had declined to go
into the discussion of them, some other gentleman
who acted with him would have undertaken to ex-
plain to the freeholders the expedience or necessity
of entering into measures which appeared to be calcu-
lated for no other purpose but to create animosities
between Protestants and Roman Catholics, and to
divide the former. The other gentlemen continuing
silent on the merits, but confident in their strength
of numbers, and loud in tlieir call for the question,
though an adjournment was proposed, it being dark
night, and several moderate men declared their wish
to have a day's time coolly to consider before the
county should be committed to an angry measure, it
became necessary for the gentlemen on the other side
to commence a debate, which continued until past
ten o'clock, when, without even attempting to answer
one argument of the many that were urged against
the resolutions, the same majority, who had rejected

IRISH REBELLION.

69

the constitutional and conciliatory motion made m
the mornins by the Honorable Francis Hutchinson,
carried their point * An address to the county mem-
bers was then proposed, of the same purport as the
resolutions, but was afterwards withdrawn.

The next public meeting of the county, convened
bv the magistrates in the absence of the sheriff, was
held in Wexford, on Friday the 11th of January,
1793 at which Walter Hore, Esq., presided Ihe
meeting manifested, by public resolutions, their at-
tachment to the constitution, in king, lords, and com-
mons ; the necessity of a reform m the conamons
house of parliament, including persons of all rejigious
persuasions-an object which they declared they
would endeavor to accomplish by every legal and
constitutional means in their power. It was further
resolved that the people in the county of Wextord
were perfectly peaceable and quiet ; no kind oi se-
ditious practices known; nor the least symptom of
or tendency to not ; but that lest such should be in-
tended by any faction, they declared that all attempts
to introduce any new form of government into tiie
country, or in any manner to impair or corrupt the
three essential parts of the constitution consisting ot
kino-, lords, and commons, they would resist with all
thefr force and energy. These resolutions were for-
warded to the representatives for the county in par-
liament, and inserted in the public papers.!

On the same day a society was formed in the town
of Wexford, under the denomination of the Iriends
of the Constitution, Liberty, and Peace. This asso-
ciation was attended by a great many of the most
respectable and independent gentlemen of the county ;
and their number increased considerably at diflerent

« See Appendix, No. I. t See Appendix, No. II

70 HISTORY OF THE

successive meetings. They from time to time passed
and published resolutions expressive of their senti-
ments, views, and opinions, similar to those passed
and published by societies of the like nature in Dub-
lin, and many other parts of Ireland. But they have
long since ceased to exist, and never tended to dis-
turb public tranquillity. They were, indeed, the
friends of peace and harmony ; but their powers
were not proportionate to their wishes, and their be-
nevolent efforts failed of the intended effect.

When, in the spring of the year 1793, the militia
regiments were, pursuant to an act of the legislature,
embodied in Ireland, it occasioned great commotion
in different parts of the country, from some silly mis-
conceptions that were dispersed through the popu-
lace with regard to the object of the enrolment. It
had been rumored that the people were to be cajoled
into the militia regiments, to be torn from their fam-
ilies, and sent on foreign service. But notwith-
standing this, the measure was carried into effect in
the county of Wexford, perhaps with less ferment
than in any other part of Ireland. I had the best
possible opportunity of knowing the fact, having been
appointed a deputy-governor of the county.

In the summer of this year, some tithe-farmers
took tithes in the county of Wexford, which had been
formerly rented by others. These, unwilling to lose
their prey without an effort to retain it, excited the
populace to resist the demands of the new underta-
kers, whom they called innovators and mtruders.
• Soon after, oaths were framed in imitation of similar
practices in Munster. From the neighborhood of
Tottenham Green, extending towards Mount Lein-
ster, and to Ui^it part of the county of Wexford called
the Duffrey, the inhabitants were generally sworn.
On Sundays, a great concourse of people attended at

IRISH REBELLION. 71

the different places of worship — as well Protestant
churches as Catholic chapels— and swore the several
congregations to resist paying tithes under certain re-
strictions, with a modification of the fees of the
Catholic clergy, and an injunction to swear their
neighboring parishes. Thus about one eighth of the
county was sworn, and, m all probability, the delu-
sion might have generally spread, but for the timely
exertions of several of the country gentlemen, who
used all their influence to prevent their tenants and
neighbors from joining in such unlawful pursuits.
Different magistrates also attended, with parties of
the military, at several places of worship, and so put
a stop to the general diffusion of this symptom of

riot.

On Sunday, the 7th of July, however, a man was
taken in a chapel-yard near Enniscorthy, in the act
of administering those unlawful oaths, and sent into
the town a prisoner. The report of this fact being
quickly circulated through the country, excited those
that had been already sworn to rise in a body on the
Monday immediately following, for this man's libera-
tion. Intelligence of the approach of these people
having been received at Enniscorthy, a party of the
fifty-sixth regiment, under the direction of Mr. Vero,
a magistrate, came up with the rioters at the hill of
ScobTe. Here Mr. Vero received an anonymous
letter, as a message from the populace, requesting he
would liberate the prisoner, who was represented to
be a silly, insignificant fellow. Mr. Vero, from mo-
lives of humanity, it is to be presumed, although he
had a military force to act with him, thought it most
prudent not to resist the demand. The prisoner was
set at liberty ; and this so pleased the people, that
the air was rent with their shouts of joy ; and after a
general volley of what fire-arms they had that would

72 HISTORY OF THE

go off, ihey dispersed to their several homes, without
committing further outrage, and the mihtary marched
back to Enniscorlhy.

On the same day, Mr. Maxwell, (now Colonel
Barry,) at the head of a troop of horse, in the capa-
city of a magistrate, set out from Newtownbarry,
scoured the country all along as he passed ; found
sixteen men drinking in an alehouse on his way, took
them all and conducted them to Enniscorthy. The
sight of so many prisoners, being a very extraordinary
event in the county of Wexford, alarmed the peace-
able inhabitants of the town. Mr. Richards,* the high-
sheriff, repaired immediately to Enniscorthy, from
whence, with all possible speed, he dispatched mes-
sengers to convey this alarming intelligence to all the
gentlemen of the neighborhood ; requesting their as-
sistance at a meeting appointed to be held the next
day at Enniscortiiy. Notwitiistanding the shortness
of the notice, a great number of geriilemen attended
on Tuesday, the 9th of July, at the Bear Inn, in the
town of Enniscorthy. I was one of those present.
An association was then formed for the preservation
of the peace of the county ; all the well-disposed
were invited to join, and subscriptions were immedi-
ately entered into, to prosecute the disturbers of the
public peace. In a short time this association was
composed of almost all the resident gentlemen of the
county ; and their meetings were afterwards held,
from time to time, at Enniscorthy.

On the first day of meeting, an inquiry into the
case of the sixteen prisoners took place ; and various
were the opinions offered on the occasion. I was
sorry to observe in the onset, that an inclination pre-
vailed to attribute the riots to a spirit of religious

* See his certificate to Hie author, AppendiX;^ Na UL

IRISH REBELLION. t3

bigotry ; but the futility of the prejudiced arguments
were so manifestly contrary to the facts, that this
ground was soon abandoned. The result of the in
quiry proved that the rioters had assembled the
day before, in great numbers, on Scobie Hill, in a hos-
tile manner, determined to liberate the prisoner by
force, if attempted to be detained. The magistrate
who attended on the occasion, was deemed to have
acted as he did from an idea of mistaken lenity, al-
though his indulgent conduct had so pleased the peo-
ple, that they dispersed without having committed
any act that the laws of the country could punish ;-
for at that time it was necessary to read the riot act,
to constitute any assemblage an illegal meeting.
This measure was not resorted to in the present in-
stance, and if it had, the consequent dispersion of the
multitude must have disarmed the law.

It was, however, thought necessary to impress on
the minds of the people, that tlie magistracy would
at all times resist the demands of a riotous and armed
force with determined firmness ; and as among the
sixteen prisoners there were two taken with fire-arms,
it was judged expedient to commit these to Wexford
jail, and liberate the other fourteen, on giving bail
for good bejiavior. Accordingly these two men
(whom the law could not punish any more than those
who were liberated) were conducted under a milita-
ry guard from Enniscorlhy, through a part of the
country that escaped being sworn, to the east of the
Slaney, and lodged in the jail of Wexford.

On the morning of tiie 1 1th, great numbers of peo-
ple assembled from Newtownbarry to the Duffrey,
and to Tottenham-green, searching the different
houses on their way, on the western side of the river
Slaney, making towards Wexford, and forcing every
man they met to come along with them. This con-

7

74 HISTORY OF THE

course of people being observed by many of the coun-
try folk, such as coulcl procure boals to convey them
to the eastern side of liie river, fled on their approach,
and thus escaped being compelled to constitute a
part of the multitude ; but still their numbers were
considerably accumulated in the course of their pro-
gress.

On this morning, also, an anonymous letter was
received in Wexford by a respectable inhabitant of
the town, requesting he might apply to the magis-
trates to liberate the two prisoners — threatening, in
case of refusal, that a body of some thousands would
come to take them by force. Little notice was
taken of this threat, nor did the inhabitants appre-
hend any alarm, until about three o'clock, a gentle
man, who had been forced along by the multitude,
was seen galloping into the town, declaring lliat he
had been sent to inform the magistrates that an im-
mense concourse of people, then not more than a
quarter of a mile distant, and of apparent determina-
tion, were coming to enforce the enlargement of the
prisoners. Lieutenant Buckby, of the fifty-sixth,
who had been in Wexford that day alone, on regimen-
tal business, was. on his return to join his command
at Taghmon, seized upon, and forced to come back
with the rioters to Wexford. In a few minutes,
about fifty soldiers of the fifty-sixth regiment, with
three magistrates, headed by the brave Major Vallot-
ton, marched out to meet the rioters, who were all
drawn up at the upper end of John street, on the
road leading to Taghmon, in readiness to receive
them. The major, humanely intending to expostu-
late, advanced a few paces before his party ; but on
seeing one of his officers a prisoner with the rioters,
his benevolent intentions were dissipated ; and losing
all patience, he made a blow with his sword at the

IRISH REBELLION, 75

man who had been induced to meet him in expostu-
]alion, and wounded him severely. This provoked
resistance, and he in return received a desperate
wound in the groin, of which he languished for some
days and died.

Thus perished the gallant Vallotton, who had dis-
tinguished himself at the siege of Gibraltar, under
tlie immortal Elliot, as first aid-de-camp to that gen-
eral ! Though parlejnng with rioters may not at all
times, perhaps, be advisable ; yet, when once enter-
ed upon, the dignity of temper should be maintained,
and it is much to be lamented, that the major did
not continue his original disposition ; for though it
should not stand the test of authoritative severity,
yet the event might have proved as bloodless as on
the previous occasion near Enniscorthy. An attack
on both sides immediately took place. The contest
was but short. In a few minutes, the rioters gave
way in all directions. Those who had been forced
along by them, were the first to sheer off, when they
found an opportunity, over hedges and ditches,
wherever they thought they could best make their
escape ; numbers not knowing whither they were
flying. It may not be unworthy of remark, that
Captain Boyd, then of the Wexford militia, had been
to Taghmon in the morning, with a parly of the fifty-
sixth regiment, to escort a prisoner ; and was now on
his return to Wexford as far as Bettiville, having no
other possible intimation of what had happened, but
the confused flight of the affrighted rabble. He lay
in ambuscade for their approach, and, from behind
the ditches, shot numbers of the fugitives. The
weather being intensely warm, occasioned the death
of a great many of the wounded, who might other-
wise have recovered ; but lest their wounds might
betray them, they did not apply for medical assist-

76

ManT, too, who were baaly wonadecu ran as
fu as the J coold, aod, being exhaDsieo, crawled for
coBCcaliBeat into die ducfaes, where ibey perished,
aaad whfix the first Jmimaiinn of their iate was con
Tcyed br die patzid exfaablkm £rona their bodies.
£ieTea fatjdeadonthesceBeof actifminJidiB-siFee:;
one of whom was a poor cobbler of the town, shot
by^aoodcAL The odias woe pabbdy e^xised ibr
SQoie tnae, and were at lengdi ideodned. Amoag
Aem dieve afipeared foor &eeh(^ers. who had beer.
palled at the pieceding deciian for the gou^. A:
that time, the Calhc&s of Ireland coold not be £ree-
holdcKS in dinr native land, by the cnsting laws of
which th^ were exdoded fniai that pnvii^e. In
die fannj and fright of the actim, eight men sought
le&^e m a haj-ldBt, wh^e they weie discoTeied af-
ter the conflict, made pnsonas, and coounitted to
JaiL One of than died of his woonds, two became
imftjimi iw. and fire were bsoogfat to tiial, condoimed
9t the enaarii^ a^zes, and executed on the 26th of
July icSkmh^. One of these men, who had been
in town that day to mazfcet, w?» on his return home
ol^ed to come back with the lioters ; and ahhougfa
he was psoved a man of most nnexceptkmable char-
actor, y^ sach was the idea entertained of the neo^
si^ a pnUic example, that his chanbcter, ot the cir-
camstance of imiocaice, did not save him.

TWe idbdbilants of Wexfond, to pceveut sodi an-
adaar smpdse, armed and embodied themselves in
Ibor diffoent divmonsL, (Peered by sevexal gentle-
■KB vdio had served in the amy ; and all mder the
command ci Coknd (now Gcairaal) Nichofls. He
gnc his ovdezs ev^y day fm parade, and different
fotials poamfaalaied the town and its vicinity everr
m^afL Two pieces of camion woe planted on tfasu
pait of the banack^hill which commands the whole

IRISH REBELLIOy. 77

Street, and the entrance to the jail ; and four others
were ready to be brought to anv quarter in case of
emersencv.

During this system of precaution, a soldier of the
fifty-sixth gave the alarm to his comrades in the bar-
racks, that, as he had been passing through a church-
yard in the town he was aVtacked by some of the in-
habitants, who threatened him and his regiment with
destruction for having fired against the people ; and
that at last, in the afiray, he had been fortunate
enough to escape with the loss of some of his fin-
gers. This story, artfully told by the wounded man,
roused the fury of the soldiers to such a pitch, that
they made preparation, and were actually on the
point of sallying forth from their barracks, to take
signal vengeance of the towns-people. It required
all the exertions and authoritv of their officers to
restrain them ; but this they at length happily ef-
fected.

The association for preserving the peace of the
county assembled always at Enniscorthy, (that being
the most central situation.) The day atter this affair
had been appointed for one of their meetings. To
this meeting a gentleman was dispatched from Wex-
ford, with the foregoing melancholy intelligence ;
and an express request, that a suitable reward would
be otfcrred for the apprehension of the perpetrators
of the horrid deed. I'his would have been immedi-
ately carried into effect, and orders sent by that
night's post to have the intelligence generally circu-
lated through the medmm of the Dublin papers, had
it not so happened that there was not a sufficient
number of the members of the secret committee of
the association present, to order the disbursement of
the necessary expenses, they having the command
of the funds. But before a competent conseaiing

7*

78 HISTORY OF THE

number of these could be collected, it was discovered
that the soldier had been the perpetrator of the horrid
deed himself, and had been induced to cut off his
fingers to prevent his going abroad with his regi-
ment, then under orders for foreign service. Had it
not been for the prudent exertions of the officers, it
is more than probable that this imposture would have
been attended with dreadful consequences before the
real discovery could be made. The peace of the
county was attended to with the greatest activity and
vigilance by the association ; but, in fact, after the
affair at Wexford on the 11th of July, 1793, before
detailed, no apparent symptom or even a disposition
to riot could be traced.

At the meetings of the association, I perceived
with regret an insidious spirit, eager and active, to
attach the entire odium of the disturbances exclu-
sively on the Catholics ; although the damning pub-
lic spectacle, on the exposure of the killed at Wex-
ford, should surely ever have deterred barefaced cal-
umny and prejudiced misrepresentation from future
exhibition. Yet, the malignant traducers of their
countrymen to foreigners believed, or affected to be-
heve, this vile reproach on mere assertion. In any
other part of the world the uttering of such gross de-
traction would bring down public execration, and
perhaps endanger the personal safety of the hated
reptile that would dare, in this unqualified manner,
to denounce a whole community. Ireland, hovi^ever,
which, by a peculiar providence, is freed from any
other, abounds with these monsters in human forni,
who batten on the ruin of public prosperity.

These groundless insinuations were carried to
such lengths, that, even in the House of Lords, in
the assemblage of the peers of the realm, Lord Farn-
ham ass-erted, with confidence, that the riots in the

IRISH REBELLION. 79

county of Wexford had become seriously alarming ;
that the people held nightly meetings, and from par-
ish to parish had sworn not to pay rents, tithes, or
taxes, and that the lower orders of Catholics had
risen in consequence of a disappointed expectation
of receiving ten pounds a year, as the consequent
advantage of their emancipation, which they had been
promised by their delegates. This Lord Farnham
alleged in the most solemn manner, on the authority
of letters received by himself from a quarter the
most respectable, he said, in the county of Wexford.*
My surprise was great, indeed, on finding such
allegations thus strongly asserted and become the
subject of parliamentary discussion ; knowing, as I
did, that the riots had never assumed this serious
complexion, nor had in any degree furnished ground
for such exaggerated statement. Being a Catholic
delegate for the county, I naturally felt an anxiety to
discover whence originated this extraordinary infor-
mation ; and thought the best appeal, at the time,
would be to a meeting of the association, composed
of almost all the respectable gentlemen of the county.
Here I complained that the country was calumniated,
and requested to know, if I could be informed who
it was that had conveyed such strange and unwar-
ranted intelligence to Lord Farnham ? I took the
liberty also to declare that, let him be who he may,
if the facts existed to his conviction, he should have
produced satisfactory evidence of that conviction to
the association, the natural and avowed guardians of
the peace of the county. I further urged, that not
above one-eighth of the county had ever been in a
state of disturbance ; that the rioters appeared to be
a motley multitude of all persuasions, to whom

* See Appendix, No. IV.

80 HISTORY OF THE

religion appeared to be an object of the least con-
cern.

The result was, after a most minute investigation,
that the monstrous charge was deemed a gross and
unfounded calumny ; and whatever latitude preju-
diced conversation might have taken at the festive
tables of some gentlemen, not one of them presumed
to come forward in support of the principles of bigot-
ry against stubborn truth and undeniable facts. But
had not this inquiry been instituted, it is very prob-
able that the unrefuted calumnies against the county
of Wexford might have led to consequences as fatal
and deplorable as happened, from like causes, in the
counties of Meath and Louth. These, however, I
will not attempt to detail, having limited myself, for
the present, to the transactions of my native county,
awaiting an opportunity of general information.

The Catholics of the county met at Wexford, on
the 30th of July, for the purpose of publicly avow-
ing their sentiments and principles. To this effect
they adopted resolutions which were given to the
world in all the public papers of the day.*

In the year 1795, when Lord Fitzwilliam's recall
from the government of Ireland was made known,
the freeholders and other inhabitants of the county
of Wexford were summoned to meet on purpose to
deliberate on this unexpected event. In the absence
of the sheriff, the summons was signed by Cornelius
Grogan, Isaac Cornock, Thomas Grogan Knox,
Harvey Hay, and John Grogan, magistrates of the
county. The meeting, which was held in the county
court-house of Wexford, on the 23d of March, was
very numerously attended. Unanimous resolutions
were entered into ; a petition to the king was voted ;

* See Appendix, Na V.

IRISH REBELUON. 81

and Cornelius Grogan, Edward Hay, and Beau-
champ Bagnal Harvey, Esqrs., were appointed dele-
gates to present it to his majesty.* An address to
Lord Fitzwilliam was also voted, and Sir Thomas
Esmonde, and Sir Frederick Flood, Baronets, and
William Harvey, Esq., were appointed, and they set
off instantly for Dublin, to present it to the lord lieu-
tenant, who was hourly expected to leave the coun-
try. The regret felt on the recall of this nobleman,
even whose good intentions produced such cordiality
and harmony among all ranks and descriptions of
])eople, is scarcely credible. From that period may
be dated the origin of that dreadful state of calamity
and misfortune in which Ireland has been since in-
volved ; for it is now evident to all, that had the-
measures intended to be carried into effect by him
been adopted, the nation would have continued its
happy career of uncommon, progressive prosperity.
It was proposed to his lordship by the British cabinet
to carry the union, at a time that he had got the
money bills passed, and was pledged to the country
to have the popular measures alluded to brought
forward in parliament. It was even suggested, that
these measures might go hand in hand with the oth-
er ; but he preferred being recalled to giving his
support to a business that so strongly met his disap-
probation ; nor, indeed, is it at all probable that the
Irish legislature and people would have consented at
that day to yield up the dignity of independence for
any consideration the ministry could pretend to
offer.

The removal of Lord Fitzwilliam must ever be
considered as one of the greatest misfortunes that, in
the revolution of ages, has befallen this devoted na-

* See Appendix, No. VI,

82 HISTOHY OF THE

tion. It originated a train of calamitous circumstan-
ces, which the disclosing information of every day
renders more and more lamentable to the friends of
Ireland. The great majority of the people was in-
sulted ; pul)lic faith was violated ; the cup of redress
was dashed from the lips of expectation, and it can-
not be wondered at that the anger of disappointment
should have ensued. Had the healing balm been
applied at the critical moment, the fever of commo-
tion had long since passed its crisis. Had the be-
nevolent measures intended by that nobleman as the
basis of his administration, been effected, the rank-
ling wounds of division and distraction were forever
closed, nor would the poison of prejudice and party-
■spirit still threaten convulsion and confusion ; but
harmony, confidence, and peace, would reign through-
out the land.

Being one of those who had been chosen to pre-
sent the petition of the county of Wexford to his
majesty, I proceeded as far as Dublin, on my way to
London, with my companions in appointment. Here
it was thought most advisable to get individual signa-
tures to the petition, rather than bear it with those
of the chairman and secretary, who had signed it by
the unanimous order of the county meeting. My
brother delegates declined going back, and 1 under-
took the task alone, at the moment I was going into
the packet-boat to sail for England : my having sailed
was even announced in the public papers. I return-
ed to the county of Wexford, was indefatigable in my
exertions, and no greater proof can be adduced of the
general public approbation of the measure, and of
the unanimity of sentiment prevalent on the occasion,
than the account of my success. In the space of
one week, I was able to procure twenty-two thou-
sand two hundred and fifiy-one signatures, among

IRISH REBELLION. 83

whom were all the independent and respectable gen-
tlemen of the county. I then proceeded to London,
and had the honor of presenting the petition, with all
the signatures, to his majesty, on the 22d of April,
1795, at the levee at St. James's, along with my
brother delegates, and we met with a gracious recep-
tion.*

Not many years ago the county of Wexford could
boast of independent principles, and the public spirit
of its gentry was conspicuous. This, it may be ob-
served, was chiefly owing to the great number of res-
ident landlords, whose properties were so equally
divided, that there were comparatively but few over-
Grown fortunes among them. While this state of
easy parity prevailed, so long lasted the peace and
])rosperity of the county. At that time respectable
characters voluntarily engaged themselves to pre-
serve and maintain public order, and it is easy to
conceive that the laws of a country will be well and
cheerfully obeyed, when the police is undertaken by
;i body of uninfluenced gentlemen, whose interest and
inclinations induce them to watch, with incessant
vigilance, over its tranquillity. The unbiased exer-
tions of such men must always ensure wdiat the Irish
have ever yearned after, an impartial administration
of justice ; Avithout which, laws, even of the best de-
scription, are nothing better than instruments of
tyranny. But the times have changed, and other
men and other measures have succeeded. Of these
we shall presently have occasion to make mention.

The principle of volunteering, while it was produc-
tive of social and liberal intercourse, appears to have
diffused a spirit of conviviality throughout the coun-
try ; and so far were the pleasures of the table in-

* See Appendix, No. VI.

84 HISTORY OF THE

dulged, that the fortunes of many were thereby im-
paired, and their distresses obhged them to resign
their independence. Representatives and their most
zealous friends and adherents fell into a dereliction
and abandonment of public concerns, at the same
time that they neglected their private interests ; and
hence the county may date the loss of its indepen-
dent character. Of this a most striking instance can
be adduced. At an election, some years back, one
of the candidates, who was esteemed bj' his party a
stanch patriot, came forward and declared to the
people on the hustings, that " no human considera-
tion should ever induce him to accept of a place or
a pension, if he became their representative." This
declaration, however, as will appear by the sequel,
he seems to have thought no more about than if he
had swallowed a jJoached egg ; (a memorable ex-
pression of his own on a late occasion.) He was
chosen a knight of the shire, and at a subsequent
meeting he was actually absolved from this solemn
and voluntary engagement ; nay, truly, it was re-
quested he would accept of some employvient ; and
he shortly after meekly condescended to gratify their
wishes, by accepting of a pension and a place, which
he still comfortably retains, and is likely to retain as
long as he lives. It must be here observed, by the
by, that the object of such a plenary indulgence
must be greatly endeared to such attached and ac-
commodating constituents ; the pleasing effect of
convivial talents anaong constant companions, who
thus constitute their favorite the king of his com-
pany; a situation so fascinating to some dispositions,
that they will risk all possible hazards for its main-
tenance. It will not be easily impressed on ingenu-
ous minds, that men who would fain uphold in the
highest degree the dignified character of indepen-

IRISH REBELLION. 85

dence, should so far forget themselves as to hold
forth to the world, in a public paper, such a metriorial
of total indifference to that character. Yet in the
case before us the fact is incontrovertible.

It has been too common a foible with some of our
gentry to aim at equal splendor and expense with
their superiors in fortune. Such men, before being
aware of their situation, have incautiously expended
largely above their incomes. A system of such care-
less dissipation and extravagant squandering must
destroy the most ample resources ; and men long in
the habit of indulging those propensities, on finding
their means abridged, and themselves deeply in-
volved, have still an aching reluctance to give up any
share of their ideal consequence. Instead, therefore,
of resorting to any rational plan of economy, they en-
deavor to get within the circle of some lord or great
man, supposed to be possessed of extensive patron-
age. They court his smiles, and if their efforts are
crowned with any degree of success, they instantly
conclude, that all their misapplied expenditure must
be amply reimbursed by this \ery often empty spec-
ulation. They count upon places and employments
of great emoluments for themselves and their chil-
dren ; and thus they abandon all idea of the certain
pursuits of industry, trade, and honorable profession.
They launch into the lottery of patronage, and yield
up their spirit of independence, and all their actions,
(out of the circle of their families,) to the utter con-
trol and directing will of their adopted patron. It is
presumed, that any person acquainted with the state
of Ireland must perceive that this system has unfor-
tunately been but too largely pursued, and too much
acted upon ; and it is also pretty notorious, that the
county of Wexford has been for some time past what
is not unaptly termed lord-ridden. Slaves to their

8

86 HISTORY OF THE

superiors, but tyrants to their inferiors, these needy
adventurers become the tools of prevaiHng power.
Justices of the peace are selected from this class, and
these, by this degree of elevation, (certainly to them
the station is an exalted one,) think themselves raised
to a level of equality with the most respectable gen-
tlemen in the country. But their ignorance is so pre-
posterous, and their behavior so assuming, that men
of education, talents, and fortune, are induced to
withhold themselves from a situation they would
otherwise grace, as it might oblige them to confer
with fellows with whom they would not by any
means hold communion or keep company. Thus
are the very men who ought to be the magistrates
of the country, and who would cheerfully accept the
office were they to associate with proper companions
in duty, deterred from holding commissions of the
peace ; while the justice and police of the communi-
ty is left to ignorant, presuming, and intemperate
upstarts, devoid of all qualification and endowment,
except that alone, if it may be termed such, of un-
conditional submission and obedience to the control-
ling nod of their boasted patrons. If they faithfully
adhere to this, they may go all lengths to raise their
consequence, and eniiance their estimation with the
multitude. These creatures have therefore the ef-
frontery to push themselves forward on every occa-
sion ; and alter a series of habitual acts of turpitude,
whenever an opportunity offers ilself, they become
the scourges and the firebrands of the country. It is
much to be lamented that there are but too many ex-
amples of this melancholy truth, and that in too many
instances these wretches have been set on to commit
flagrant acts of outrage, to answer the political pur-
poses of their patrons, who shrink from appearing
personally concerned in these deeds of shame. On

IRISH REBELLION. &f

such occasions, from behind ihe curtain, the hirehng
crew are sent out to riot on the pubhc stage, and
dreadful are the consequences that foUow; while the
vile understrappers are utterly ignorant of the cause,
and never question the motive of their subornation.

In the beginning of the year 1795, parties of con-
tending rioters, denominated Peep-6' -day -Boys, and
Defendei's, disturbed different parts of the province
of Ulster, by acts of violence and outrage against
each other. Some say their animosities originated
from electioneering. To these succeeded, in the
summer of the same year, a description of public
disturbers, calling themselves Orangemen, who now
made their first appearance in the county of Ar-
magh. Their object appears to have been, not to
sufler a Catholic to remain within the limits of their
sphere of action. They posted up on the doors of
the Catholics peremptory notices of departure ; spe-
cifying the precise time, a iveek at the farthest,
pretty nearly in the following words : — " To hell or
to Connaught with you, you bloody Papists ! and if
you are not gone by'''' (mentioning the day) " we vnll
come and destroy yourselves and your properties.
We all hate the Papists hej-e." They generally
Avere as good as their words. The Catholics at first
saved themselves by flight ; but those who received
notices at a later period were able to take some of
iheir properties along with them. It is astonishing
to think that such events could take place, where
there were any men of intelligence, honesty, or
public spirit ; and still the facts are indubitable ;
nay, these enormities seem to have been connived
at, or totally overlooked, until many thousands of
the Catholics were thus driven from that part of the
country, and that it became necessary to find occu-
piers for the lands they had been obliged to aban-

88 - HISTORY OF THE

I

don. Even the gentlemen of landed interest in the
county did not exhibit, by any public testimony, a
disavowal of these horrid atrocities, until the period
of setting the forsaken territoi-y roused them from
their slumbers. Then they discovered, to their
amazement and dismay, that among the few bidders
who appeared, not one was found to offer more for
any lot, than about half what was paid for the
same before by the Catholic tenant. Then, indeed,
and not till then, did the banishment of the Catholics
appear alarming. It was seriously alarming to gen-
tlemen, thus in a moment to lose half their mcomes;
but until this fatal discovery was made, the number
of wretched poor, proscribed and violently driven
from their homes, deprived of their cabins and their
all, was a circumstance unworthy of these gentle-
men's notice.

To counteract this calamity as much as possible,
a numerous meeting of the magistrates of the county
of Armagh was held at the special instance of the
governor. Lord Viscount Gosford, on the 28th day
of December, 1795. To this assemblage, on taking
the chair as president, his lordship spoke a pointed
address on the occasion ; which, together with the
proceedings, was published in The Dublin Journal
of the 5th of January, 1796.*

A circumstantial detail of these occurrences in
the north would be inconsistent with my original in-
tention of confining myself, for the present, to the
transactions in the county of Wexford ; but I have
been led into this, I hope excusable digression, in
order to account to the reader, in a great measure,
for the dreadful impression made on the minds of
the people, at a future period, by the rumors, that

* See Appendix, No. VII.

IRISH REBELLION. 89

Orangemen were sworn for the destruction of the
Cathohcs ! Were these rumors to be grounded only
on Lord Gosford's statement, (too authentic to admit
a possibihty of denial,) and true only in the extent
his lordship has allowed them, with what terrible
apprehensions must they fill the minds of a simple, op-
pressed, and degraded people, such as the Irish peas-
antry are generally known to have been for ages past ?
But when it is considered, that the horrid acts them-
selves have never been disavowed ; and the reports
of them have rung in the ears of every individual
throughout the nation, (perhaps with aggravated cir-
cumstances, as it usually happens,) the reflecting
reader is referred to his own judgment, to estimate
how much the woful tale of the forlorn sufferers, by
its reverberation from one end of the island to the
other, must affect the mind, alarm the imagination,
and inflame the resentments of an iruitated, insulted,
and violated community. What advantage might
not be taken of a ferment thus excited, by designing
men — perhaps, too, by the greatest enemies of the
people ? For such frequently assume the mask of
friendship and condolence, and apparently affect
counteracting the sinister designs of their minions,
m order to accomplish their private views, through a
show of popularity.

Various, as has been observed, were the descrip-
tions of the disturbers of the public peace in Ulster.
Numbers went about in the night, searching houses,
and taking away all the arms they could find, with-
out violating any other property. This becoming
generally known, the houses were usually opened
upon the first summons. This easy mode of admit-
tance was afterwards taken advantage of by com-
mon robbers, who at first only assumed the charac-
ter of disarmers, to come at their prey with less

8*

90 HISTORY OF THE

trouble and more certainty. After a continued se-
ries of similar circumstances of violence and out-
rage, arising from a nation's greatest curse, the dis-
union of its people, but which our limits will not
permit us to detail at present, General Lake issued
his proclamation for disarming the inhabitants of the
north of Ireland, on the 13th of March, 1797; and
on the 21st of the same month, Mr. Grattan, after a
speech delivered with his usual force of talent and
brilliant ability, moved for an inquiry into the causes
which produced this proclamation ; but his motion
was unfortunately rejected. The persecutions in
the county of Armagh were so flagrant, and the con-
duct of many of the magistrates so contrary to law,
that applications were made to the Court of King's
Bench for attachments against several of them, but
a bill of indemnity prevented a judicial investiga-
tion of their conduct ; and thus they were screened
from merited punishment. This total disregard of
their grievances, and inattention to their complaints,
added to the barbarous outrages afterwards com-
mitted by the military in the northern counties, very
much exasperated the feelings of the suffering party.
They resorted for temporary relief to private sorrow
and secret lamentation. In this sad state, bordering
on despair, every injured person sympathized with
his neighbor in affliction ; and their united resent-
ments, like a raging flame, suppressed but not ex-
tinguished, were the more likely to burst forth with
sudden fury and unexpected violence. It may not
be impertinent to remark, that in all cases of popular
commotion, an inquiry into the alleged grievances
ought to go hand in hand with the measures of rigor
and coercion. These two principles are far from
being incompatible, and any government acting

IRISH REBELLION. 91*

upon them must be certain of conciliating obedience
and affection, respect and attachment.

The Earl of Moira, with that dignified humanity
which has ever graced his noble character, brought
the distresses of Ireland before the British house
of lords, on the 22d of November, 1797 ; when he
gave a heart-rending description, in his native strain
of elevation, of the savage cruellies practised by the
military against the people, and offered, at the mo-
ment, to produce at the bar incontrovertible proof
of his assertions. He concluded his able statement
by moving an address to the sovereign, the principal
purport of which was, " humbly hoping liiat his
majesty might be graciously pleased to take into his
paternal consideration the disturbed state of Ireland,
and to adopt such lenient measures as might appear
to his royal wisdom and benignity best calculated to
restore tranquillity and excite affection." But sad to
tell, his lordship was not more fortunate in the
British house of lords, than was Mr. Grattan, the
preceding March, in the Irish house of commons.
Both motions had the same unlucky fate of rejec-
tion. On the following day, (the 23d of November,)
Mr. Fox made a similar benevolent and patriotic
effort, (and who is unacquainted with his powers ?)
in the British house of commons, but with the like
success. He concluded a lucid and animated speech
with the following pointed and emphatic quotation
from Cicero, which I cannot resist inserting : —
" Carum esse civibus, bene de republicd mereri,
laudari, coli, diligi, gloriosum est ; metui vero et in
odio esse, invidiosum, detestabile, imbecillum, cadu-
cum ;" — To be dear to one's countrymen, to deserve
well of the commonweal, to be praised, to be re-
spected, to be beloved, is glorious ; but to be feared

92, HISTORY OF THE

and encompassed with hatred is invidious, is detes-
table, is tottering, is ruinous.

The appointoient of General Sir Ralph Abercrom-
by, on the 12th of December, 1797, to the chief
command of the forces in Ireland, gave general
satisfaction, and afforded a ray of hope to drooping
despondency. The subsequent display of his emi-
nent virtues evinced the justice of favorable expec-
tation. Having been quartered in Ireland through
most of his gradations of well-merited promotion, he
possessed a perfect local knowledge of the country ;
and he now resolved in person to visit every district,
and thus he made a tour of observation through the
whole island. After a strict review of every object
worthy of his attention, he published on his return to
Dublin general orders to the several military com-
manders, wherein, after having reprobated the irregu-
larities of the soldiery, he directed the necessary re-
straint for their disoi'derly conduct. These orders
were issued from the adjutant-general's office, in
Dublin, on the 26th of February, 1797.*

The Earl of Moira, animated by the same gener-
ous motives that always influenced his conduct, made
his last effort to avert the impending storm. With
this benevolent intention, on the 19th of February,
1798, he moved in the Irish House of Lords, " That
an humble address be presented to his excellency the
lord-lieutenant, representing, that as parliament hath
confided to his excellency extraordinary powers for
supporting the laws and defeating any traitorous
combinations which may exist in this kingdom, this
house feels it, at the same time, its duty, as those
powers have not produced the desired effect, to re-
commend the adoption of such conciliatory measures

* See Appendix, No. VIII.

IRISH REBELLION. 93

as may allay the apprehensions and extinguish the
discontents unhappily prevalent in this country."
This motion was introduced after an affecting speech
of uncommon energy, but it was negatived without
further investigation — a circumstance that furnishes
strong ground for the opinion of many intelligent men,
that the door was shut, at that time, against all in-
quiry, for purposes not then known, or even imagined
by the public ; but which, however, were foretold,
as if from a spirit of inspiration, even in the minutest
circumstances, by those elevated geniuses whose
comprehensive views in regard to the concerns of
their country were unlimited. The great measure
vi^as still in reserve, and not to be brought forward
until the country should be completely paralyzed.
Tliis unhappy crisis, it is thought, was long in agita-
tion and deeply premeditated. I crave the reader's
permission, while I endeavor to sketch a brief out-
' ine of the manner in which it is supposed to have
been finallj' effected.

During the American war, at one time, nearly all
the troops on the Irish estabhshment were drawn off
to support that unfortunate contest. The combined
fleets of France and Spain were riding triumphant in
the Channel, and. our shores were every moment
threatened with a formidable invasion. In this peril-
ous situation Ireland was advised by the British min-
istry to defend herself as well as she could, as she
was now left no other resource. The latent spirit
of the nation was roused at the approach of danger.
Upwards of one hundred thousand heroes instantly
appeared, self-clothed, self-armed, perfectly equipped
and appointed, ready to oppose with dauntless cour-
age the menacing foe that would rashly venture to
insult our coast. These were the ever memorable
and ever glorious volunteers of Ireland. Our ene-

94 HISTORY OF THE

mies were all at once completely scared, they shrunk
into their ports ; and our shores, then too command-
ing for an attempt to land, were left unmolested.
Our people were imited in harmonious resolution ;
every breast glowed with patriotic ardor, and the sal-
vation of Ireland, otherwise left to inevitable destruc-
tion, was tiie consequence. The hour of security
and social intercourse produced reflection. The
saviours of their country quickly discovered that they
existed in a state of thraldom to the British parlia-
ment. They demanded a redress of grievances ; it
could not be refused ; and the national legislature
was consequently declared independent. This great
event took place in 1782, and a rapid increase of
national prosperity succeeded ; our commerce, being
less shackled, became more extensive, and the capi-
tal of the island improved in splendor and magnifi-
cence. But it was with the utmost reluctance, and
under circumstances of imperious necessity, that
these concessions seemed to be made by the British
cabinet, while the most mahgnant envy rankled in
the bosoms of the enemies of Ireland. But there
was no alternative. A diffusion of liberal sentiment
and a unity of interests had combined men of all
ranks and persuasions in the common cause. The
unhallowed monster of religious bigotry could no
longer be introduced to foment prejudice and sow
baleful division ; all was concord and unanimity.
But the object of creating disunion and annulling the
benefits obtained was never lost sight of; and the
happy stale of Ireland continued uninterrupted only
until the dissolution of the volunteer associations,
(and this was contrived as speedily as possible,) and
till other schemes were put in practice to dissipate
the union of sentiment which so happily prevailed.
Much time was not lost, therefore, to put every en-

IRISH REBELLION. 95

gine at work for this detested purpose. In 1786, a
set of commercial regulations, denominated proposi-
tions, was drawn up in the Irish House of Commons,
and transmitted for the consideration of the British
parliament. From thence they were returned so
altered, that the Irish minister of the day found it
expedient not to press them forward. It was assert-
ed that the propositions so garbled, Avent the full
length of annihilating by implication the independence
so lately acquired ; and this proceeding excited no
small degree of irritation. The same year, among
other means of disturbing the harmony of the people,
the Right Rev. Doctor Woodward, late Bishop of
Cloyne, taking advantage of some disturbances, ex-
cited by the exactions of tithe farmers in Munster,
fulminated a pamphlet pronouncing the church and
state in danger. The trump of discord thus delibe-
rately blown, was resounded by an intemperate wri-
ter, under the assumed name of " Theophilus."
This scurrilous publication (at first acknowledged,
but afterwards denied by its reputed author) was al-
ways with good reason attributed to a civilian engaged
in the service of the established church, and now at
the head of its judicial concerns. This author's pub-
lication is notorious for virulent abuse, for gross and
foul invectives against Catholics in public — though
he had a Catholic of the gentler sex the wedded
partner of his existence, and though in private life
endeavoring to maintain habits of intimacy with many
of the Catholic clergy. But what reliance is to be
placed on the declamations of a man whose practice
is so contrary to his professions ? But he may well
play the ambidexter, when his pleadings have heaped
on him a multiplicity of profitable situations, (which
he does not admit to be places or employments,) and
in his convivial moments he is foully belied if he

$$ HISTORY OF THE

does not mightily enjoy the joke. These, and such-
hke productions, dictated by the spirit of discord,
were refuted by several able pens of the day, but
particularly convicted by the irresistible force of the
benevolent O'Leary's dignified ridicule. This di-
vine, professing the true spirit of the Gospel, excited
by the purest motives of patriotism and Christian
charity, steps forward, and by his exhortations and
example, contributed more effectually to quiet the
minds of the people and appease the tempest, by
bringing them back to a sense of their religion, and,
without the loss of a life, effected more than a host
prompted by prejudiced coercion, or a formidable
army. The happy effects of the exertions of this
extraordinary man, whose talents were so eminently
useful at this critical period, attracted the notice of
majesty, and with becoming gratitude, unsolicited on
his part, received a small annuity as a token of royal
favor; his talents were considered too conspicuous to
lie dormant, and very advantageous offers were made to
him to write for a periodical publication that militated
against his principles ; he had no other property, yet
he rejects it with scorn, although he was certain
thereby to incur the displeasure of the ruling powers
in Ireland, that would do all in their power to injure
him, which he preferred to the prostitution of his
heavenly talents, and he retires from his native coun-
try and repairs to England, where the enviable bless-
ings of the constitution are experienced infinitely
more than in Ireland. Yet all these exertions did
not allay the public ferment, and the hateful and mel-
ancholy effects of religious dissension were but too
general ; and hence may be deduced the most la-
mentable misfortunes to Ireland — the revival of re-
ligious enmity.

No means were omitted theneeforward by the

IRISH REBELLION. 97

principal actors on the occasion, of cherishing the
animosities tlius exciled ; confident that this proce-
dure alone would best bear them to their end. This
may be fairly concluded from what dropped in the
debate on the famous propositions. A leading per-
son, then high in confidence and official situation,
and who, before the final object was attained, arrived
at the chief judicial capacity of the land, pronounced
in the moment of exasperated disappointment, that
" the Irish loere a besotted people, easily roused, and
easily appeased ;" and, in terms unfit for decency to
utter, he is said to have threatened to tame their re-
fractory spirits. In truth, he then delivered the sen-
timents of his party, as well as his own determina-
tion, to which he strictly adhered ever after. This
man of narrow politics omitted no occasion of ac-
complishing the humiliation of his native country.
Opposing, with licentious petulance, all rational
schemes of reform; reprobating with plebeian ribald-
ry the justice of Calhohc claims; and provoking
public anger by insulting public feeling, he saw with
gloomy satisfaction, before his premature dissolution,
his ruthless system carried into woful effect. The
trampled populace were goaded to resistance ; their
smothered resentments burst into a flame that was
not very easily extinguished ; the nation was dis-
tracted ; and the long premeditated measure of ui-
corporating union succeeded, after a spirited but in-
effectual resistance ; and thus ended the political
drama of Ireland. But to return.

Sir Ralph Abercromby, after the publication of
his general orders, and the knowledge he had ac-
quired in his general view of the country, endeavored
in vain to impress the minds of those in power with
his own well-founded opinion, that coercive measures,
in the extent determined on, were by no means ne-

9

98 HISTORY OF THE

cessary in Ireland. Unwilling, therefore, to tarnish
his military fame, or risk the loss of humane and
manly character by leading troops to scenes of cold-
blood slaughter and civil desolation ; sooner than
sanction by his presence proceedings so abhorrent
from his nature, he resigned the chief command of
the army in Ireland, on the 29th of April, 1798. His
departure has, indeed, been a sore misfortune to this
unhappy nation ; and had any casualty detained him
here but one month longer, it would have been prov-
idential, for when the insurrection had actually bro-
ken out, he could not so well have resigned the com-
mand; and his dignified authority would have re-
strained the soldiery from the horrid excesses they
afterwards committed. He was too good and too
great a blessing for this ill-fated land to possess at
that time ; he did all in his power to prevent the
woful calamities that followed ; his splendid exploits
in Egypt have rendered his fame immortal ; and his
death, though glorious, has left an aching pang in
the bosom of every true lover of this distracted coun-
try. May the olive-branch which he waved in Ire-
land be never forgotten among his unfading laurels !
A strong confirmation, if further proof were at all
necessary, of the great discrimination of General
Abercromby's comprehensive mind, is his marked
selection of a dignified character with whom to share
his confidence, as second in command, when going
on the expedition to Egypt. His choice could not
have fallen more judiciously than on Lord Hutchin-
son, whose brilliant achievements and splendid tri-
umphs have since so largely added to Irish fame,
and adorned himself with merited honors. This
nobleman appears to have rivalled his great friend
as well in humanity as glory. Their opinions re-
specting Ireland strictly coincided. Witness his

_^.

IRISH REBELLION. 99

lordship's well-known sentiment of " I abominate
TiiE TORTURE," delivered in the winter of 1798, in
the Irish parliament, in the debate on the bill of in-
demnity, for screening the violent proceedings of the
sheriff of the county of Tipperary ; and it is happy
such sentiment did not deprive him of command.
The opposition of the entire Hutchinson family to
oppressive measures was conspicuous on this occa-
sion ; and their exertions were indefatigable for the
maintenance of peace and order throughout the
whole of the arduous period of disturbance. They
all breathed the same sentiment of benevolence and
humanity. The Earl of Donoughmore exerted all
his power and influence to throw open the gates of
mercy to the wretched people ; and his brother, the
Hon. Francis Hely Hutchinson, who succeeded Mr.
Judkin Fitzgerald as sheriff of the county of Tippe-
rary, was eminent in support of abhorrence of the
torture. In short, the affcible demeanor, the kind and
conciliating manners of this entire family, fascinated
the minds of the people, and thus prevented shock-
ing scenes of dreadful devastation, wherever they
possessed influence or had command, particularly in
the counties of Tipperary, Cork, and Galway, much
more eff'ectually than any measures of violence or
coercion could ever accomplish. I hope, at a future
period, to be enabled to do more justice to the great
merits of this family, by faithfully recording their
generous actions in Munster in 1798, a task that
must be grateful to every lover of humanity, and of
Ireland, and those of other celebrated characters,
that the limits of my present publication permits me
only to glance at.

Immediately on the departure of General Aber-
cromby, the military were sent out at free quarters
in the county of Kildare and parts of the counties

100 HISTORY OF THE

of Carlow and Wicklow. What hardships, wl^at
calamity, what misery must not the wretched people
suffer, on whom were let loose such a body as the
soldiery then in Ireland are described to be in the
general orders before alluded to of the 26th of April,
1798 ! They became masters of every house in the
country ; the real owners were obliged to procure
them every necessary they thought proper to de-
mand ; and, as their w'ill was then the only law—
and a very imperious and tyrannical law it was — the
people dare not, except at the risk of their lives,
complain of any outrage or brutality of which their
savage disposition prompted them to be guilty. The
inevitable consequence was, that such horrid acts
were perpetrated, such shocking scenes were exhib-
ited, as must rouse the indignation and provoke the
abhorrence of all not dead to humane feeling, or not
barbarized by unnatural hatred of their fellow-crea-
tures !

At this period of confusion, the first public intima-
tion of disturbance in the county of Wexford was
from a meeting of magistrates held at Gorey, on the
28th of November, 1797. There the proclaiming
of sixteen parishes out of one hundred and forty-two,
of which the county consists, was voted by a majori-
ty, of which my information does not afford me the
number; but the measure was strongly opposed by
eight of the magistrates present, including Lord
Mountnorris, who must be naturally supposed to feel
substantial reasons for his opposition to have the
part of the county proclaimed wherein his property
principally lay ; and it is to be fairly presumed,
(whatever ground may be had by some reflecting
people for thinking otherwise,) that his lordship was
not influenced, on this occasion at least, by motives
of opposition to Lord Ely, his successful rival in the

IRISH REBELLION. 101

patronage of the county. Shortly after this meeting
at Gorey, I spent some days at Camohn-park, the
seat of Lord Mountnorris, while he was soliciting
the people from parish to parish to take the oath of
allegiance. His lordship requested I would use
what influence I might possess with the priests in
my neighborhood, to induce them and their flocks to
join ill this general test of loyalty, in order, as he
said, to put the Catholic interest in the county of
Wexford on the most respectable footing ; suggest-
ing at the same time, that from his ^^ great conse-
quence and infiuence, his representation of facts
must counteract and outweigh the misreprese7itations
of other sT He also showed me the oaths he usually
administered on these occasions, and which he stated
himself to have improved from time to time by sev-
eral alterations ; he produced one, in particular,
which he conceived to be wrought up to the highest
perfection of loyalty. Although I agreed with his
lordship so far as really to think the county was then
in a state of perfect peace and tranquillity, (and
therefore thought this overweening parade unneces-
sary,) yet I never believed him, notwithstanding all
his lordship's strong professions to that effect, a sin-
cere friend to Catholics : I was rather strongly of
opinion, that he affected a show of concern for their
interests at this critical period in mere opposition to
the noble lord his competitor for influence.

I therefore took the most civil means in my power
of declining the interference to which his lordship
would have directed my exertions. Lord Mounc-
norris, however, was not singular in courting Catho-
lic popularity at that time, for all the newspapers
of the day teemed with addresses from the Catholics
throughout the island, published, not at the desire or
at the expense of the subscribers, but by the poHtical

9*

102 HISTORY OF THE

manoeuvrers who took the trouble of procuring them,
to answer their private purposes, by playing them off
against the schemes of other opponents.

Previous to the spring assizes of 1798, several
prisoners were transmitted from Wexford to abide
their trials at Wicklow, on the prosecution of an in-
former, whose real name was Morgan, and who had
been transported some years before for robbery, but
had returned to the country under the assumed name
of Cooper. This miscreant was encouraged by
some magistrates of the county of Wicklow, to swear
informations against United Irishmen ; and this he
did most copiously. On producing him, however,
at Wicklow, his character appeared so infamous, that
the gentlemen of the bar were unreserved in decla-
ring that the baseness of such a nefarious villain re-
flected not a little on those magistrates that encour-
aged him to come forward. All the prisoners were
consequently acquitted, and it was therefore not
deemed expedient to bring him on to prosecute at
Wexford, where there were also some prisoners con-
fined on his information.

At this assizes, also, one man of the name of Col-
lins, otherwise M'Quillen, was brought to trial for
spreading false news and alarming the country ; it
was clearly proved, that this man circulated a report
of the arrival of the French off Bantry, and that the
yeomen or Orangemen (indifferently supposed by the
people to be the same) were to march to resist the
invasion ; and that it was designed by them previ-
ously to commit a massacre upon the Catholics of
the country. Such implicit belief did the report gain,
that every person from Bray to Arklow, between four
and five and twenty miles extent, abandoned their
habitations and slept in the open fields ; and some
women were even delivered in that exposed condi-

IRISH REBELLION. 103

tion. It is worthy of remark, that these people must
have from some previous cause been led to form so
bad an opinion of their neighbors, when they gave
credit with so much facility to these reports.

Several had been confined in Wexford as United
Irishmen, to be prosecuted by an informer of a de-
scription quite different from that of the Wicklow
ruffian. The name of this second informer was Jo-
seph Murphy, a creature of such idiot aspect, that it
was impossible, even at first view, not to conclude
him destitute of common intellect, so that it appeared
strange that any magistrate of the least discrimina-
tion could venture to produce him : yet, this was the
man chosen craftily to insinuate himself to be sworn
a United Irishman, and then to develop this whole
scheme of the combination to a magistrate of the
county, who had employed him for that purpose, as
he afterwards asserted in the most solemn manner ;
and his testimony on the trial, when he was pro-
duced as an informer, sufficiently warrants this con-
fession. Only one trial was ventured on by the
crown-solicitor at the prosecution of this man, and on
hearing his evidence the prisoner was instantly ac-
quitted, and the remainder of those against whom he
had given information were turned out of the dock,
without any trial whatever. I should not dwell up-
on these apparently trivial circumstances, but that the
public can judge of the truth only by a faithful rela-
tion of facts ; and these facts also tend to prove that
the system of the United Irishmen had not diffused
itself through the county of Wexford to the extent so
confidently affirmed by an author, whose veracity in
almost every other instance appears equally question-
able. The truth is, that no authentic proof existed
at the time to support these arrogant assertions ; and
subsequent information confirms how little the coun-

104 HISTORY OF THE

ty of Wexford was concerned in that conspiracy, as
no return appears of its being organized, in the dis-
coveries of the secret committees of the Houses of
Lords and Commons. It would be as contrary to
truth, however, to say there were no United Irishmen
in the county of Wexford ; but by every statement
worthy of credit, that has ever appeared, their num-
bers were comparatively fewer in this than in any
other county in Ireland ; and such as were of that
description here seem to have been privately sworn
in the detached unconnected manner of the first pro-
gress of that business, before it assumed the form of
regular organization. According to this system, now
so universally known, the United Irishmen of the
county of Wexford, considering the means whereby
those were urged into the conspiracy, do not appear
to come strictly under that denomination ; for their
first inducement to combine was, to render their party
strong enough to resist the Orangemen, whom they
actually believed to be associated and sworn for the
extermination of the Catholics, and " to wade ankle
deep in their blood .'" What dreadful notions of ter-
ror and alarm must have filled the minds of people
believing themselves thus devoted to inevitable de-
struction ! so strongly, indeed, was it endeavored to
impress the horrid belief, that it was frequently re-
ported through the country, that the Orangemen were
to rise in the night-time to murder all the Catholics.
Reports of an opposite kind also went abroad, as it
appears, by a public advertisement, that a rev/ard of
one hundred guineas was offered by the Roman
Catholic inhabitants of the neighborhood of Gorey, for
the discovery of some wicked and designing persons
who had circulated a malevolent and detestable ru-
mor, that all the churches were to be attacked on
Sunday, the 29th of April, and that a general massa-

IRISH REBELLION. 105

ere of the Protestants was to follow. The advertise-
ment was signed by the priests and principal inhabit-
ants of the place, with Sir Thomas Esmonde, Baro-
net, at their head ; and thus did the Catholics do all
in their power to satisfy the minds of their Protest-
ant brethren. These reports certainly occasioned a
great deal of mischief among the ignorant and unin-
formed of all descriptions, whose minds were wrought
up to such fury and animosity, that the opposite par-
ties united for mutual defence and hostility to their
opponents.

On the 30th of March, 1798, all Ireland was put
under martial law, and officially declared to be in a
state of rebellion by a proclamation from the lord
lieutenant and privy council of the realm. In this
proclamation the military were directed to use the
most summary method of repressing disturbances.

The orange system made no public appearance in
the county of Wexford, until the beginning of April,
on the arrival there of the North Cork militia, com-
manded by Lord Kingsborough. In this regiment
there were a great number of Orangemen, who were
zealous in making proselytes, and displaying their
devices ; having medals and orange ribands trium-
phantly pendent from their bosoms. It is believed,
that previous to this period there were but few actual
Orangemen in the county ; but soon after, those whose
principles inclined that way, finding themselves sup-
ported by the military, joined the association, and
publicly avowed themselves, by assuming the devices
of the fraternity.

It is said, that the North Cork regiment were also
the inventors — but they certainly were the introdu-
cers, of pitch-cap torture into the county of Wexford.
Any person having his hair cut short, (and there-
fore called a croppy, by which appellation the sol-

106 HISTORY OF THE

diery designated a United Irishman, on being pointed
out by some loyal neighbor, was immediately seized
and brought into a guard-house, where caps either
of coarse linen, or strong brown paper, besmeared 'i
inside with pitch, were always kept ready for service. '
The unfortunate victim had one of these, well heated,
compressed on his head, and when judged of a pro-
per degree of coolness, so that it could not be easily
pulled off, the sufferer was turned out amidst the
horrid acclamations of the merciless torturers ; and
to the view of vast numbers of people, who generally
crowded about the guard-house door, attracted by
the afflicted cries of the tormented. Many of those
persecuted in this manner experienced additional an-
guish from the melted pitch trickling into their eyes.
This afforded a rare addition of enjoyment to these
keen sportsmen, Avho reiterated their horrid yells of
exultation on the repetition of the several accidents
to which their game was liable upon being turned
out ; for in the confusion and hurry of escaping from
the ferocioui? hands of these more than savage bar-
barians, the blinded victims frequently fell, or inad-
vertently dashed their heads against the walls in their
way. The pain of disengaging this pitched cap from
the head must be next to intolerable. The hair was
often torn out by the roots, and not unfrequently parts
of the skin were so scalded or blistered as to adhere
and come off along with it. The terror and dismay
that these outrages occasioned are inconceivable. A
sergeant of the North Cork, nicknamed Tojn the Devil,
was most ingenious in devising new modes of torture.
Moistened gunpowder was frequently rubbed into
the hair cut close, and then set on fire ; some, while
being sheared for this purpose, had the tips of their
ears snipped off ; sometimes an entire ear, and often
both ears were completely cut off; and many lost

IRISH REBELLION. 107

part of their noses during the like preparation. But,
strange to tell, these atrocities were publicly prac-
tised without the last reserve in open day, and no
magistrate or officer ever interfered, but shamefully
connived at this extraordinary mode of quieting the
people ! Some of the" miserable sufferers on these
shocking occasions, or some of their relations or
friends, actuated by a principle of retaliation, if not
of revenge, cut short the hair of several persons
whom they either considered as enemies, or suspect-
ed of having pointed them out as objects for such
desperate treatment. This was done with a view
that those active citizens should fiill in for a little ex-
perience of the like discipline, or to make the fasli-
ion of short hair so general that it might no longer be
a mark of party distinction. Females were also ex-
posed to the grossest insults from these military^ ruf-
fians. Many women had their petticoats, handker-
chiefs, caps, ribands, and all parts of their dress that
exhibited a shade of green (considered the national
color of Ireland) torn off, and their ears assailed by
the most vile and indecent ribaldry. This was a cir-
cumstance so unforeseen, and of course so little pro-
vided against, that many women of enthusiastic loy-
alty suffered outrage in this manner. Some of these
ladies would not on any account have worn any thing
which they could even imagine partook in any degree
of croppyism. They were, however, unwarily in-
volved, until undeceived by these gentle hints from
these kind guardians of allegiance.

Great as the apprehensions fr^m Orangemen had
been before among the people, they were now mul-
tiplied tenfold, and aggravated terror led them in
numbers to be sworn United Irishmen, in order to
counteract the supposed plan of their rumored ex-
terminators. The fears of the people became so

108 HISTORY OF THE

great at length, that they forsook their houses in the
night, and slept (if under such circumstances they
could sleep) in the ditches. These facts were noto-
rious at the time, and had the magistrates and gen-
tlemen of the country been actuated by the feelings
that humanity naturally excites on such occasions,
they might, with very little trouble, have convinced
the deluded populace of the fallacy of such reports,
and they should have promised them public protection.
In general, however, the fact was otherwise. The
melancholy situation of the people was regarded
with the utmost indifference ; few individuals felt
any concern or gave themselves any trouble about
what they thought ; and no effort whatever was
made to allay their apprehensions, or at all to unde-
ceive them. Their minds were left to the operation
of their fears, to dissipate Avhich if any pains had
been taken, it is certain that these horrid conceptions
entertained of Orangemen could never have taken
such strong hold of their scared imaginations, and
that violence would have been repressed in its
origin. I had the good fortune to succeed so far, in
my own neighborhood, as to induce the people to
remain in their houses at night ; and the trouble it
gave me to effect so much cannot be conceived
without actual experience. I was much amazed to
find that this notion was so firmly entertained by
some people of respectability, that 1 believe myself
to have been the only person that slept in a house
wherein I was on a visit. The fears of the family
had been so great, that they had formed a plan of
escape, in case of any attempt by the Orangemen to
murder them in the night, and with this plan I was
made acquainted the next morning. I endeavored
to inculcate my own fixed opinion of the impossi*

IRISH REBELLION. 109

bility of a Christian harboring the thought of putting
to death an unoffending fellow-creature. The dis-
position is too shocking for any Christian to cherish
against another ; but more especially so for a Chris-
tian boasting that of all persuasions his own disposes
most to liberality. I rejected the odious, infernal
thought with abhorrence, and railed at the weakness
that would give it a moment's reception in the mind;
and I succeeded in dispelling the fears of some of
my friends.

The minds of the people being thus greatly irri-
tated, (particularly by the impunity of the acts of
outrage already related,) and their alarms having
made them abandon their houses at night, they col-
lected in great numbers in their lurking-places.
Measures of self-defence were naturally suggested
in consequence of their apprehensions, and they were
readily led to adopt the means that were deemed best
calculated to ensure security. The United Irishmen
eagerly advanced the arguments most likely to in-
duce the body of the people to embrace their
system, and they met with powerful support and co-
operation from those of the opposite faction ; whose
violent conduct and zealous persecutions proved
more efficacious in urging on the people, than any
allurements whatsoever. Men thus desperately cir-
cumstanced uphold and stimulate each other's con-
fidence, and all consideration of the weakness of
individual exertion is removed by a reliance on col-
lective force. In this state man is no longer con-
nected in the way of civil society, but finds himself
surrounded by one convulsed and half dissolved,
and a fever of the mind ensues that banishes all idea
of calm circumspection. A soul thus impressed
cannot abide in solitude, and is therefore led by ir-

10

110 HISTORY OF THE

resistible impulse to adopt any plausible project that
holds out additional means of preservation, protec-
tion, or defence.

On the 25lh day of April, 1798, an assembly of
twenty-seven magistrates was held at Gorey, where
it was resolved, that the whole county of Wexford
should be forthwith proclaimed ; and this accord-
ingly look place on the 27lh. From this period
forward, many magistrates of the county made
themselves conspicuous in practising the summary
mode of quieting the country, by the infliction of all
kinds of torture. They seem, indeed, to have
emulated, or rather rivalled, the conduct of the
magistrates of other counties, who had made trial
of the salutary effects of persecution somewhat
sooner. In the several neighborhoods of Ross, En-
niscorthy, and Gorey, the people suffered most, as
in each of these towns a magistrate started up, eager
for the glorious distinction of outstripping all others,
each by his own superior deeds of death, deflagra-
tion, and torture ! But it is to be observed, that none
of these men had ever before possessed either
talents or respectability sufficient to entitle him to
take a leading part ; yet, if burning houses, whip-
ping and half-hanging numbers, hanging some all
out, and shooting others, with attendant atrocities,
constitute the characteristic of loyal and good
magistrates, they must be allowed strong claims to
eminence. In the mean time it must be observed,
also, that such proceedings, however sanctioned, are
contrary to the spirit of the constitution, a principal
part of the excellence of which is the exclusion of
all torture. In all the riots and disturbances that
took place in England, does it appear, in any one
instance, that an infliction of torture was ever at-
tempted ? Yet have we heard of associations there,

IRISH REBELLION. Ill

as alarming in their tendency as any that can be im-
puted to United Irishmen, ahhough no one has been
found possessed of sufficient hardihood there to try
this desperate experiment. Would the most power-
ful, the richest, or the most violent man in England
be hazardous enough to treat the meanest subject
with the barbarous severity practised, in numberless
instances, on respectable as well as humble individ-
uals in Ireland ? The attempt would be too danger-
ous. I apprehend the result would prove, that the
people would rise in a mass in resistance to such
oppressive treatment ; and it is submitted to the de-
termination of the candid and impartial, if the feel-
ings of the people of England would not yield to
such tyranny without meeting it with the most
violent opposition, whether it be not natural to sup-
pose, that it must have roused the resentments of
the people of Ireland? I am firmly persuaded, that
the conduct of the magistrates before alluded to,
(and of some others not entitled to quite such re-
nown in this cause,) supported by the yeomen under
their control, together with the co-operation of the
military, occasioned, or rather forced, the rising of
the people in the county of Wexford. While I en-
deavor to establish tiie truth of this assertion, I beg
the reader's attention to the particular dates of the
several outrages, and of the respective periods at
which different parts of the county joined the insur-
gents, as it will be necessary to take them in regular
order, to form an adequate and impartial opinion.
The proclamation of the county of Wexford having
given greater scope to the ingenuity of magistrates
to devise means of quelling all symptoms of rebel-
lion, as well as of using eveiy exertion to procure
discoveries, they soon fell to burning of houses
wherein pikes or other offensive weapons were dis-

112 HISTORY OF THE

covered, no matter how brought there. But they
did not stop here, for llie dwelUngs of suspected
persons, and those from which any of the inhabitants
were found to be absent at night, were also con-
sumed. This circumstance of absence from the
houses very generally prevailed through the country,
although there were" the strictest orders forbidding
it. This was occasioned at first, as was before ob-
served, from apprehension of the Orangemen, but
afterwards proceeded from the actual experience of
torture, by the people, from the yeomen and magis-
trates. Some, too, abandoned their homes for fear
of being whipped, if, on being apprehended, confes-
sions satisfactory to the magistrates could either be
given or extorted ; and this infliction many persons
seemed to fear more than death itself. Many un-
fortunate men, who were taken in their own houses,
were strung up, as it were to be hanged, but were
let down now and then to try if strangulation would
oblige them to become informers. After these and
the like experiments, several persons languished for
some time, and at length perished in consequence
of them. Smiths and carpenters, whose assistance
was considered indispensable in the fabrication of
pikes, were pointed out, on evidence of their trades,
as the first and fittest objects of torture. But the
sagacity of some magistrates became at length so
acute, from habit and exercise, that they discerned
a United Irishman, even at the first glance ! And
their zeal never suffered any person whom they
deigned to honor with such distinction, to pass off
wiliiout convincing proof of their attention. The
two following instances are selected from " An Ac-
count of the Late Rebellion," by Mr. Alexander, a
Protestant inhabitant of Ross, who keeps an
academy in that town —

IRISH REBELLION. 113

* I now heard of many punishments of suspected
persons, both by flogging and strangulation, being
put into execution in the barrack-yarcl, (in Ross,) to
extort confession of guilt. There were two of these
victims brought from the barracli to the court-house
to undergo a repetition of former punishments. One
of them, of the name of Driscol, was found in Cam-
lin Wood, near Ross, where he said he generally
wandered as a hermit. Upon him were found two
Roman Catholic prayer-books, with which it is sup-
posed he administered oaths of disloyalty. He had
been strangled three times and flogged four times
during confinement, but to no purpose ! His fellow-
sufferer was one Fitzpatrick of Dunganstown, near
Sutton's parish. This man had been a Newfound-
land sailor, but long utterly disqualified to follow
that occupation, by reason of an inveterate scurvy in
his legs. He therefore commenced abecedarian,
near Sutton's parish. It happened that a magistrate
who was a yeoman, and others of his corps, passed
by his noisy mansion, which was no other than a
little thatched stable, that, like a beehive, proclaimed
the history of its inhabitants. The magistrate enter-
ed, followed by the other yeomen. ' Here is a man,'
says the magistrate, speaking of the master, as I shall
call him, though his authority was now for some
months to have an end — and a severe vacation it was
— ' Here is a man who, I presume, can have no ob-
jection to take the oath of allegiance. What do you
say, Mr. Teacher V — ' O dar a leoursa,' (t. e. by
this book,) ' I will take it, sir, and thank you for
bringing it to me.' So saying, he took the book,
which the magistrate held forth, and not only took
the oath with the most cordial emphasis, but added
another expressive of his loyalty at all times. Upon
this, the magistrate regarded his companions with a

I0»

114 HISTORY OF THE

look of dry humor, and observed, that tJds must he a
loyal man indeed. ' Well, then, my loyal friend, I
suppose you will readily swear to all the pikes, and
to the owners and possessors of 'them, of which you
have any knowledge V The man swore he had no
certain knowledge of the kind ; and that he never
saw a rebel's pike in his life, or a pike of any kind
since the rebellion. ' Then,' says the magistrate,
' you shall swear that you will, to the utmost of your
future knowledge or information this way, give, in the
best manner you can, all such information to a lawful
magistrate, or other officer in his majesty's service.'
' No, sir,' answered Filzpatrick, ' I will not swear
that : I will bring no man's blood on my head ; and
if I do inform, who will support and protect me when
I have lost all my scholars, and my neighbors turn
upon me ?' Upon this he was immediately appre-
hended and escorted to Ross ; he was not strangled,
however, but flogged with great severity ; and it was
2iot with dry eyes that I saw the punishment inflicted
on this humble pioneer of literature. About a month
after the battle, both these- men were tried before
General Cowley, and matters appearing no further
against them than I have stated, they were liberated
from a close and filthy confinement. The general
presented both with a small sum of money, express-
ing a good-natured concern, that he could not then
give them any greater pecuniary assistance. He
also gave them written protections, expressive of his
opinion of their being peaceably disposed. I never
once heard an authentic account of any immediate
good effect produced by these punishments. How-
ever, it is most certain, that the severities in general
served to accelerate the rebellion, and thereby, very
considerably, to weaken its progress."*

* See Alexander's account of the rebellion, pages 28, 29

IRISH REBELLION. 115

Many innocent men were thus taken up while
peaceably engaged in their own private concerns,
walking along the road, or passing through the mar-
ket in the several towns, without any previous accu-
sation, but in consequence of military whim, or the
caprice of magisterial loyalty ; and those who had
been at market, and were passed by unnoticed, had
the news of a public exhibition to bring home ; for
the unfortunate victims thus seized upon, were in-
stantly subjected, at least, to the torture of public
whipping. People of timid dispositions, therefore,
avoided going to market, fearing that they might be
forced to display the like spectacle. Provisions of
course became dear, for want of the usual supply in
the market-towns ; and the military, to redress this
evil, went out into the country and brought in what
they wanted, at what price they pleased, the owners
thinking themselves well treated if they got but half
the value of their goods ; and in case of a second
visit, happy if they escaped unhurt, which, however,
was not always the case ; and thus were the minds
of the people brought to admit such powerful im-
pressions of terror, that death itself was sometimes
the consequence. The following is a strong instance
of this melancholy fact, related by the Rev. Mr.
Gordon :

" Whether an insurrection in the then existing
slate of the kingdom, would have taken place in the
county of Wexford, or, in case of its eruption, how
far less formidable and sanguinary it would have
been, if no acts of severity had been committed by
the soldiery, the yeomen, or their supplementary as-
sociates, without the direct authority of their supe-
riors, or command of the magistrate, is a question
which I am not able positively to answer. In the
neighborhood of Gorey, if I am not mistaken, the

116 HISTORY OF THE

terror of the whippings was in particular so great,
that the people would have been extremely glad to
renounce forever all notions of opposition to govern-
ment, if they could have been assured of permission
to remain in a state of quietness. As an instance of
this terror, I shall relate the following fact : On the
morning of the 23d of May, a laboring man, named
Denis M 'Daniel, came to my house with looks of the
utmost consternation and dismay, and confessed to
me that he had taken the United Irishman's oath,
and had paid for a pike, with which he had not yet
been furnished, nineteen-pence-halfpenny, to one
Killy, a smith, who had administered the oath to him
and many others. While I sent my eldest son, who
was a lieutenant of yeomanry, to arrest Kilty, I ex-
horted M'Daniel to surrender himself to a magis-
trate, and make his confession ; but this he positively
refused, saying that he should, in that case, be lashed
to make him produce a pike, which he had not, and
to confess what he knew not. I then advised him,
as the only alternative, to remain quietly at home,
promising that if he should be arrested on the infor-
mation of others, I would represent his case to the
magistrates. He took my advice, but the fear of
arrest and lashing had so taken possession of his
thoughts, that he could neither eat nor sleep ; and
on the morning of the 25th he fell on his face and
expired in a little grove near my house."*

The Rev. Mr. Gordon, from whose history I have
quoted the foregoing narrative, is a clergyman of the
Established Church, who resided in the neighbor-
hood of Gorey, as a curate, for twenty-three years ;
and as he was an eye-witness, his relation of the
fact deserves the utmost credit. He had every op-

* See Gordon's History of the Irish Rebellion, pp. 87, 88.

IRISH REBELLION. 117

portunity of watching the approach of the insurrec-
tion, and I sincerely wish there were many hke him
possessed of liberal sentiments and benevolent feel-
ings for the delusions and sufferings of the people.
With regard to his opinion, that they would remain
quiet in the neighborhood of Gorey, if they were
certain of being left in peace at home, I perfectly
coincide with him ; and I can confidently assert the
same of the neighborhood in which I resided. It
was not possible that the convulsed state of the
country could escape the observation of any humane
or intelligent person : an inquiry into the cause
would naturally succeed sucJi notice, and the result
must be the consequent conviction of this truth. I
have also reason to believe, that such was the dis-
position throughout the whole county, as I have
heard several respectable magistrates and other per-
sons of veracity from various parts of it express the
same sentiment ; and, as each individual was un-
doubtedly the best judge in his own neighborhood
of the conduct of the inhabitants, the inference to be
collected from these several uniform statements must
be conclusive evidence for the establishment of a
fact, to which subsequent events afford a strong cor-
roboration.

While the minds of the people were in this state
of distraction and alarm, numbers, condemned to
transportation by the magistrates of other counties,
daily passed through the county of Wexford on their
way to Duncannon fort. Groups of from twelve to
fifteen carloads at a time have gone through Ross
alone. These terrifying examples added if possible
to the apprehensions already entertained, and the
precedent was soon after put in practice in the coun-
ty of Wexford itself.

Great as the atrocities already related may appear,

118 HISTORY OF THE

(and surely they are veiy deplorable,) enormities
still more shocking to hnmanity remained to be per-
petrated. However grating to generous and benev-
olent feeling the sad detail must prove, imperious
truth imposes the irksome necessity of proceeding
to facts.

Mr. Hunter Gowan had for many years distin-
guished himself by his activity in apprehending rob-
bers, for which he was rewarded with a pension of
£100 per annum, and it were much to be wished
that every one who has obtained a pension had as
well deserved it. Now exalted to the rank of magis-
trate, and promoted to be captain of a corps. of yeo-
men, he was zealous in exertions to inspire the peo-
ple about Gorey with dutiful submission to the
magistracy, and a respectful awe of the yeomanry.
On a public day in the week preceding the insurrec-
tion, the town of Gorey beheld the triumphal entry
of Mr. Gowan at the head of his corps, with his
sword drawn, and a human finger stuck on the point
of it.

With this trophy he marched into the tow^n, para-
ding up and down the streets several times, so that
there was not a person in Gorey who did not wit-
ness this exhibition ; while in the mean time the tri-
umphant corps displayed all the devices of Orange-
men. After the labor and fatigue of the day, Mr.
Gowan and his men retired to a public-house to re-
fresh themselves, and, like true blades of game, tiieir
punch was stirred about with the finger that had
graced their ovation, in imitation of keen fox-hunt-
ers, who whisk a bowl of punch with the brush of a
fox before their boozing commences. This captain
and magistrate afterwards went to the house of Mr.
Jones, where his daughters were ; and, while taking
a snack that was set before him, he bragged of hav

IRISH REBELLION. » 119

ing blooded his corps that day, and that they were
as stanch bloodhounds as any in the world. The
daughters begged of their father to show them the
croppy finger, which he dehberately took from his
pocket and handed to them. Misses dandled it
about with senseless exultation, at which a young
lady in the room was so shocked that she turned
about to a window, holding her hand to her face to
avoid the horrid sight. Mr. Gowan perceiving this,
took the finger from his daughters, and archly drop-
ped it into the disgusted lady's bosom. She instantly
fainted, and thus the scene ended ! ! ! Mr. Gowan
constantly boasted of this and other similar heroic
actions, which he repeated in the presence of Brigade-
major Fitzgerald, on whom he had waited officially ;
but, so far from meeting with his wonted applause,
the major obliged him instantly to leave the com-
pany.

Enniscorthy and its neighborhood were similarly
protected by the activity of Archibald Hamilton Ja-
cob, aided by the yeomen cavalry, thoroughly equip-
ped for this kind of service. They scoured the
country, having in their train a regular executioner,
completely appointed with his implements — a hang-
ing rope and a cat-o'-nine-tails. Many detections
and consequent prosecutions of United Irishmen soon
followed. A law had been recently enacted, that
magistrates upon their own authority could sentence
to transportation persons accused and convicted be-
fore them. Great numbers were accordingly taken
up, prosecuted, and condemned. Some, however,
appealed to an adjournment of a quarter-session held
in Wexford, on the 23d of May, in the county court-
house ; at which three and twenty magistrates from
different parts of the county attended. Here all the
private sentences were confirmed, except that of one

120 HISTORY OF THE

man who was brought in on horseback that morning,
carrying a pike with a handle of enormous length
through Wexford town, on his way to the jaiL This
exhibition procured him the reversion of his sentence,
at the instance of the very magistrates who had con-
demned him. In the course of the trials on these
appeals in the public court-house of Wexford, Mr.
A. H. Jacob appeared as evidence against the prison-
ers, and publicly avowed the happy discoveries he
had made in consequence of inflicting the torture :
many instances of whipping and strangulation he
particularly detailed with a degree of self-approba-
tion and complacency, that clearly demonstrated how
highly he was pleased to rate the merits of his own
great and loyal services.

From the construction of the new law regarding
the discretionary power of magistrates, the ratifica-
tion of these sentences did not 'surprise me, except
in two instances, at tlie discussion of which I was
actually present. One was that of a Roman Catholic
priest of the name of Dixon, taken up shortly before
by Captain Boyd, on the information of a gardener,
who averred he had been in Wexford on a market-
day, in a public-house, where he met with the priest,
who spent a considerable time, he said, to induce
him to become a United Irishman ; very plausibly
relating a train of circumstances tending to that ef-
fect. In contradiction to this man's testimony, there
appeared three credible witnesses, describing the
situation of the house and the several companies
there assembled at the time specified ; by which it
was manifest, that the particulars stated by the pros-
ecutor were utterly unfounded, a& they could not
possibly have taken place without their knowledge.
The other was that of a man named William Gra-
ham, servant to Lieutenant Joseph Gray, of the

IRISH REBELLION. 121

Wexford yeomen cavalry. He was taken up for be-
ing out of his master's house at eleven o'clock at
night, and was supposed to be a United Irishman.
His defence was a good character given him by dif-
ferent gentlemen, and that although the general pro-
clamation of the county prohibited all persons from
being out of their dwellings at night, yet from the
peaceable demeanor of the inhabitants of the town
of Wexford, so rigorous and strict an adiierence to
its literal tenor had not been insisted on in any one
instance but against him. However, the alleged ne-
cessity of public example was a sufficient excuse
with the majority of the magistrates to condemn
these men to transportation.

The magistrates, after this public discussion, re-
tired to the grand-jury room to deliberate, from
whence the following public notice was issued,
printed, and distributed through the county —

*' Notice.

" We, the high sheriff and magistrates of the
county of Wexford, assembled at sessions held at
the county court-house in. Wexford, this 23d day of
May, 1798, have received the most clear and un-
equivocal evidence, private as well as public, that
the system and plans of those deluded persons who
Btyle themselves, and are commonly known by the
pame of United Irishmen, have been generally
adopted by the inhabitants of the several parishes in
this county, who have provided themselves with
pikes, and other arms, for the purpose of carrying
their plans into execution ; and whereas we have
received information, that the inliabitants of some
parts of this county have, within these few days
past, returned to their allegiance, surrendering their
arms, and confessing the errors of their past mis-

11

122 HISTORY OF THE

conduct. Now we, the high sheriff and magistrates,
assembled as aforesaid, do give this pubHc notice,
that if within the space of fourteen days from the
date hereof, the inhabitants of the other parts of this
county do not come in to some of the magistrates of
this county, and surrender their arms or other offen-
sive weapons, concealed or otherwise, and give such
proof of their return to their allegiance as shall ap-
pear sufficient, an application will be made to
government to send the army, at free quarters, into
such parishes as shall fail to comply, to enforce due
obedience to this notice.

Edward Percival, sheriiF, Edward D'Arcy,

Courtown, John Heatly,

John Henry Lyster, John Grogan,

James Boyd, Archibald Jacob,

George Le-Hunte, Edward Turner,

Thomas Handcock, Isaac Cornock,

John James, Cornelius Grogan,

John Pounden, Francis Turner,

Hawtrey White, William Toole,

James White, Richard Newton King,

Ebenezer Jacob, Charles Vero.
William Hore,

" Resolved unanimously, That the thanks of this
meeting be given to Archibald Jacob, Esq., for his
manly, spirited, active, and efficacious exertions as
a magistrate for the establishment and preservation
of the public peace."

I have heard some of these very magistrates give
opinions so totally contrary to what is publicly de-
clared in this resolution of thanks, that it is with the
utmost surprise I saw their names annexed to a
document, whereby they publicly approved of con-
duct whereof in private they expressed the strongest
detestation. But it often happens that well-disposed

IRISH REBELLION. 123

men are led thus to sanction proceedings they abhor;
not possessing sufficient firmness of mind to main-
tain their own sentiments, and fearing that their
humanity should appear to derogate in any degree
from their loyalty. It is remarkable, that on this
very day the rebellion broke out in the county of
Kildare, the news of which, running as it were with
the wind, quickly reached the county of Wexford.
The people in this county, however, who were pos-
sessed of pikes, or other arms, were continually
crowding in to the different magistrates throughout
the whole county, for the purpose of surrendering
them, conformable to the notice before mentioned ;
and following the like example set them by the
county of Wicklow, where it appears there had
been leaders (afterwards imprisoned) who made dis-
coveries which led the public to believe that all idea
of a rising was at that time given up.

As this notice specified that there were fourteen
days allowed for the return of the people to their
allegiance, it was reasonably concluded the protec-
tion of such as Avould submit within that time was
guarantied by the magistrates who had signed it ;
and it was also natural to imply, that all measures
would cease, during that interval, which might tend
in any degree to subvert the peaceable intentions of
the people. Would to God that even at this pe-
riod the spirit of this publication had been adhered
to ! for, in such an event, it is very probable that the
county of Wexford would have escaped the dreadful
misfortune of open insurrection. In Enniscorthy,
Ross, and Gorey, several persons were not only put
to the torture in the usual manner, but a greater
r.umber of houses were burnt, and measures of the
strongest coercion were practised, although the peo-
ple continued to flock in to the different magistrates

124 HISTORY OF THE

for protections. Mr. Perry, of Inch, a Protestant
gentleman, was seized on and bronght a prisoner to
Gorey, guarded by the North Cork inihtia ; one of
whonn — the noted sergeant nicknamed To7n the Dev-
il— gave him woful experience of his ingenuity and
adroitness at devising torment. As a specimen of
his savoir faire, he cut off the hair of his head very
closely, cut the sign of the cross from the front to
the back, and transversely from ear to ear, still
closer ; and, probably a pitched cap not being in
readiness, gunpowder was mixed through the hair,
which was then set on fire, and the shocking process
repeated until every atom of hair that remained
could be easily pulled out by the roots ; and still a
burning candle was continually applied, until the en-
tire was completely singed aAvay, and the head left
totally and miserably blistered ! At Carnew things
were carried to still greater length ; for, independent
of burning, whipping, and torture in all shapes, on
Friday, the 25ih of May, twenty-eight prisoners
were brought out of the place of confinement, and
deliberately shot in a ball-alley, by the yeomen, and
a party of the Antrim militia ; the infernal deed
being sanctioned by the presence of their officers !
Many of the men thus inhumanly butchered, had
been confined on mere suspicion ! ! !

Lord Courtown is said to have been for adopting
lenient measures ; and although it might be reason-
ably thought that his rank and character ought to
have had due influence in the neighborhood of
Gorey, yet his benevolent intentions were overpow-
ered by the disposition to severity of most of the
magistrates ; and consequently, the measures of the
most violent were adopted. The following is the
Rev. Mr. Gordon's representation of his lordship's
conduct : — " As the Earl of Courtown had per-

IRISH REBELLION. 125

formed much in providing a force lo obviate or sup-
press rebellion, so his treatment of the common
people, by his affable manners, had been always
such as was best adapted to produce content in the
lower classes, and prevent a proneness to insurrec-
tion. I consider myself as bound in strictness of
justice to society, thus far to represent the conduct
of this nobleman. Doubtless, the people in the
neighborhood of Gorey were the last and least vio-
lent of all in the county of Wexford, in rising
against the established authority ; and certainly the
behavior of the Stopford family in that neighborhood
has been always remarkably conciliating and hu-
mane."— page i04.

Can any thing be more convincing than this tes-
timony, to show of what inestimable value it is for
any country to possess good men ; but especially for
Ireland, where it is a prevalent system to treat in-
feriors with the utmost cruelty and contempt, as if
they were a different and odious species of being?
If one family could effect so much good by their
affable and conciliating manners, is it not painful to
reflect on the consequences of a contrary behavior
to a people, who, of all others in the world, are the
most generous and open-hearted, and want only the
fostering hand of humanity, due encouragement, and
a cultivation of their natural talents, to vie in excel-
lence with any race of men on the globe ?

Having spent Friday, the 25th of May, with Mr.
Turner, a magistrate of the county at Newfort, he
requested of me to attend him next day at Newpark,
the seat of Mr. Fitzgerald, where, as the most cen-
tral place, he had appointed to meet the people of
the neighborhood. I accordingly met him there, on
Saturday the 26th, where he continued the whole
day, administering the oath of allegiance to vast

ir

126 HISTORY OF THE

numbers of people : a certificate was given to every
person who took the oath, and surrendered any of-
fensive weapon. Many attended who offered to
lake the oath, and also to depose that they were not
United Irishmen, and that they possessed no arms
of any kind whatever ; and earnestly asked for cer-
tificates. But so great was the concourse of these,
that considering the trouble of writing them out, it
was found impossible to supply them all with such
testimonials at that time. Mr. Turner, therefore,
continued to receive surrendered arms, desiring such
as had none to wait a more convenient opportunity.
Numbers, however, still conceiving that they would
not be secure without a written protection, offered
ten limes their intrinsic value to such as had brought
pike blades to surrender ; but these, being unwilling
to forego the benefit of a written protection for the
moment, refused to part with their weapons on any
other consideration. Among the great numbers as-
sembled on this occasion were some men from the
village of Ballaghkeen, who had the appearance of
being more dead than alive, from the apprehensions
they were under of having their houses burnt, or
themselves whipped, should they return home. These
apprehensions had been excited to this degree, be-
cause that on the night of Thursday the 24th, the
Enniscorthy cavalry, conducted by Mr. Archibald
Hamilton Jacob, had come to Ballaghkeen ; but on
hearing the approaching noise, the inhabitants ran
out of their houses, and fled into large brakes of
furze, on a hill immediately above the village, from
whence they could hear the cries of one of their
neighbors, who was dragged out of his house, tied
up to a thorn-tree, and while one yeoman continued
flogging him, another was throwing water on his
back. The groans of the unfortunate sufferer, from

IRISH REBELLION. 127

the Stillness of the night, reverberated widely
through the appalled neighborhood ; and the spot of
execution these men represented to have appeared
next morning, " as if a pig had been killed there."
After this transaction, Mr. Jacob went round to all
the rest of the houses, and signified, that if he
should find the owners out of them, on his next
visit, he would burn them. These men, whose
countenances exhibited marks of real terror, par-
ticularly from apprehension of flogging, which they
seemed to dread more than death itself, offered to
surrender themselves prisoners to Mr. Turner, who
did all in his power to allay their fears, offering to
give them all certificates, the production of which to
Mr. Jacob, he was sure would afford them protec-
tion ; but they still persisted in preferring to remain
as prisoners with Mr. Turner, rather than to place
any confidence in Mr. Jacob. Mr. Turner then
gave them certificates, declaring their absence from
home to be by his permission, to be left with their
families, and told them they might come to his
house if they pleased. Mr. Turner's feelings ap-
peared but too sensibly affected at the recital of
these excesses. He lamented that such scenes had
been exhibited, and said he had conceived that all
coercive measures were to cease, during the four-
teen days allowed by the magistrates for the people
to surrender their arms ; adding, that he greatly
feared that very desirable object would be much re-
tarded by such violence, which would prove the
more lamentable on account of the recent news
from the county of Kildare. On this very day, too,
we had the mortification to be informed that the
furniture and effects of a shopkeeper at Ennis-
corthy were brought out and burned in the public
street ; and, on the next morning, a man was hanged

128 HISTORY OF THE

there, and his body dragged up and down several
tinnes through the market-place, with shocking inhu-
manity and inefficient cruelty !

I remained the whole day with Mr. Turner, who
did not go home till after ten o'clock. We indulged
the fond hope at parting, that the county of Wexford
would remain quiet, from the disposition generally
shown by the people, and we separated with the ex-
pectation of being able to pay our friendly visits to
each other as usual. Indeed, all over the county of
Wexford, the people had now given up all thought
of insurrection, of which nothing can afford a more
convincing proof than the general surrender of arms ;
and I have heard respectable magistrates, to whom
they were surrendered, declare their conviction to the
same effect. Mr. Richards, of Solborough, captain
of the Enniscorthy cavalry; Mr. Beauman, of Hyde
Park, captain of the Coolgreny cavalry ; Mr. Cor-
nock, captain of the Scarawalsh infantry ; and the
Rev. Mr. Colclough, of DufFrey Hall, distinguished
themselves by their anxiety to satisfy and calm the
agitated minds of the populace ; and were busily
employed in granting certificates to such as surren-
dered their arms. Many other magistrates attended
at different places for the same purpose. Mr. Bag-
nal Harvey had collected the arms of all his tenant-
ry and neighborhood, and on this very day (Saturday,
the 26th of May) brought them into Wexford. As
it was late when he delivered them up, he did not
return home that night, but remained in town ; and
just as he was going to bed, he was arrested by-
Captain Boyd, and lodged in the jail. Mr. Perci-
val, the high sheriff, and Captain Boyd, with a strong
party of the Wexford cavalry, proceeded on the
same night to Newpark, the seat of Mr. Fitzgerald,
to take him prisoner. I had remained there that

IRISH REBELLION. 129

night, and was alarmed and roused from my bed
by a loud rapping at the door about midnight, which
I soon discovered to be the party before mentioned,
who came to arrest Mr. Fitzgerald. I requested per-
mission to accompany my friend, which was granted;
but as these gentlemen refused taking the pikes and
other arms that had been surrendered at the place
the day before to Mr. Turner, and had remained there,
I dispatched a messenger to him with the intelligence
of what had happened, before we set out with this
escort, which met with no other delay, but while they
chose to continue rummaging Mr. Fitzgerald's papers,
among which, by the by, they could discover nothing
that could in the remotest degi-ee criminate him.
We arrived a little after daylight in Wexford, where
Mr. Fitzgerald was lodged in the jail. The Wexford
cavalry then set off to Ballyteigue, ten miles from
town, from whence they brought Mr. John Henry
Colclough prisoner in the course of the day, and
lodged him also in the jail.

Early on this morning, being Whitsunday, I saw
Mr. Turner on his erUrance into Wexford. He
brought the first intelligence of the rising of the peo-
ple, from whom, he said, he could not have been so
fortunate as to escape, but for my messenger, who
had called him up before day ; otherwise he would
have been at home when his house was attacked by
the multitude for arms, as were all the houses through-
out the whole neighborhood at that time. When he
had given notice of the fact to the officer command-
ing in the barracks, I accompanied him to the jail,
and after having seen our friend, set out with him to
Castlebridge, where, finding the insurrection much
more serious than was at first imagined, all kind of
parleying being deemed ineffectual, on consultation
with the officers present, I returned to Wexford, as

130 HISTORY OF THE

they considered my situation would be too perilous
should I accompany ihem in colored clothes. The
Shilmalier cavalry, commanded by Colonel Le-
Hunte, had already assembled, before the arrival of
one hundred and ten of the North Cork militia, who
took route by the lower road along the sea-side, while
the yeomen had taken the upper road by Castle-
bridge. Both met at Ballifanock, and proceeded to-
gether as far as Ballinamonabeg, where Mr. Turner
not finding a man of the name of Darby Kavanagh,
who kept a public-house there, at home, and having
remembered that he had surrendered a pike the day
before, 'he ordered his house to be set on fire, after
getting what spirits and beer it contained to refresh
the soldiers, who were much fatigued after their
hasty march through heavy sandy roads. A propo-
sal was made to burn the chapel of Ballinamonabeg
just adjoining, which was overruled, particularly by
Armstrong Browne, Esq., who observed it would be
a very indifferent compliment to pay the Catholics to
burn their place of worship, while a considerable
part of the force then asse^nbled were of that per-
suasion,* which sentiment actually prevented the
burning of the chapel.

Having halted here for some time, they proceeded
three miles further, and came in sight of the insur-
gents collected in great numbers on the hill of Ou-
lart, distant about ten miles from Wexford. Colonel
Foote of the North Cork, seeing their position so
strong and commanding, thought it advisable not to

* Shilmalier cavalry present, viz., Colonel Le-Hunte, Lieutenant
Armstrong Browne, Lieutenant Kavanagh, Colonel Watson, Ser-
geant Edward Turner, Henry Hatchell, Samuel Maude, Richard
Gainfort, Maurice Jones, and Richard Williams, Protestants ; Ni-
cholas Dixon, Ignatius Rosseter, Walter Redmond, James Lambert,
Michael Waddick, Richard Kinselagh, Charles Dunn, Patrick
Dixon, and Murphy, Catholics.

IRISH REBELLION. 131

attack them ; but Major Lombard, of the same regi-
ment, being of a contrary opinion, orders were given
to burn two houses, situated in a hollow, between
the army and the insurgents, and Mr. Turner volun-
teered his service for that purpose. This was done
with a view to stimulate the insurgents to revenge,
and thus, if possible, to induce them to abandon the
advantage of their situation. This feint, however, not
succeeding, and Colonel Foote still persisting in his
opinion. Major Lombard instantly addressed the sol-
diers in terms animating them at once to attack the
insurgents, who, he said, would fly at their approach.
His words had the effect of making them advance.
They descended from the small eminence which they
occupied, and crossing the valley between, began to
ascend the hill of Oulart, while the Shilmalier caval-
ry took a circuitous route, round the hill to the left,
with the intention of preventing a retreat, but in fact
they caused numbers to rally, who attempted to run
off, on perceiving the approach of a serious engage-
ment. This also contributed to make the insurgents
rush in greater numbers, and with accumulated force,
on the North Cork, who were charging up the hill.
They had fired but two volleys when they were to-
tally discomfited. This success of the insurgents
was much promoted by the address of a servant boy,
who, as the military were ascending the hill, advised
such of the insurgents as were then about him, to lie
down under cover of the ditches, and wait the close
approach of the military. By this manoeuvre these
were suddenly surprised by a force not greatly out-
numbering themselves, but the impetuosity of the
attack occasioned their total overthrow, while the fact
was, at the instant, utterly unknown to the great body
of the insurgents, who attended their commanders on
the other side of the liill. Of the North Cork parly,

132 HISTORY OF THE

Major Lombard, the Hon. Captain de Courcy, Lieu-
tenants Williams, Ware, Barry, and Ensign Keogh,
were left on the field of battle. In short, none es-
caped except Colonel Foote, a sergeant, who mount-
ed the major's horse, a drummer, and two privates.
It may not be unworthy of remark, that there was a
fool who followed the North Cork, and who, when
he saw the major fall, ran to the body and embraced
it, then took the major's sword and with it dispatched
two men before he fell himself. The insurgents had
but five men killed, and two wounded. The Shil-
malier cavalry, and Colonel Foote, made a precipitate
retreat to Wexford. A large party of the Wexford
cavalry also, who had no share whatever in the ac-
tion, were involved in this retreat. Having lodged
Mr. Colclough in jail, they set out on another excur-
sion to Ballinmrrin. In their course they shot some
straggling men, and burned two houses, on finding
two men killed near them. They were thus employ-
ed in scouring the country when informed of the de-
feat at Oulart, and this determined them without
hesitation to retreat with all speed homeward.

The remainder of the North Cork regiment were
instantly under arms in the barracks, when informed
of the defeat of that part of their body which had
gone out to action. Burning for revenge, they actu-
ally marched to the bridge, as if determined to pro-
ceed and meet the insurgents ; but they were induced
to return by some gentlemen, who endeavored to dis-
suade them from so headlong and unsafe an under-
taking.

Tiie great suspense felt by the inhabitants of Wex^
ford, during the whole of this day, on account of so
sudden an insurrection, now grew into serious alarm,
such as \mexpected news like this must inspire.
The lamentations of the unfortunate widows and ort

IRISH REBELLION. 133

phans of the soldiers who had fallen in the encounter,
increased the general consternation. These, clap-
ping their hands, ran about the streets quite frantic,
mixing their piteous meanings with the plaintive cries
of their children, and uttering their bitterest maledic-
tions against the yeomen, whom they charged with
having run away, and left their husbands to destruc-
tion! Letters were dispatched to Duncannon Fort
and to Waterford with these disastrous accounts,
and requesting reinforcentients.

Those of the North Cork militia then in the town,
vowed vengeance against the prisoners confined in
the jail, particularly against Messrs. Harvey, Fitz-
gerald, and Colclough, so lately taken up ; and so
explicitly and without reserve were these intentions
manifested, that I myself heard a sergeant and others
of the regiment declare that they could not die easy
if they should not have the satisfaction of putting the
prisoners in the jail of Wexford to death, particularly
the three gentlemen last mentioned. Nor was this
monstrous design harbored only by the common sol-
diers ; some of the officers declared the same inten-
tions. I communicated all to the jailer, who informed
me that he had himself heard the guards on the jail
express their hostile intentions. He was so alarmed
and apprehensive of their putting their threats into
execution, that he contrived means to get them out,
then locked the door, and determined to defend his
charge at the risk of his life. He then, with a hu-
manity and presence of mind that would have be-
come a better station, communicated his apprehen-
sions to all the prisoners, whom he advised to remain
close in their cells, so as to avoid being shot in case
of an actual attack. He armed the three gentlemen,
and formed so judicious a plan of defence, that in the
event of their being overpowered, their lives could

12

4

134 HISTORY OF THE

not be had at a cheap rale. Of this scene I was my-
self an eye-witness, having permission from the high
sheriff to pay every attention to my friend and rela-
tion, Mr. Fitzgerald. The latter gentleman gave me
his watch, pocket-book, and every thing valuable
about him ; and we took leave, as if we expected
never to see each other more. Several of the North
Cork came to the jail door, but were refused admit-
tance. At last a party of them came with a woman,
or one who feigned a female voice, begging admit-
tance ; and the door being opened, the soldiers in-
stantly rushed forward to get in, but were prevented
by a half-door that remained still shut. The whole
door was then closed, and it jammed in a soldier's
arm, who desisted not from his design, until his bay
onet, with which he attempted to stab the jailer sev-
eral times, was wrested from him. A number of
soldiers went round the jail several times, as if to re-
connoitre, and were overheard threatening the prison-
ers with certain destruction, if they could but get in:
and I verily believe that, had it not been for the in-
defatigable exertions of the jailer, the prisoners would
have been all massacred ; and dreadful it is to think
what consequences must have ensued ! The alarms
of the three gentlemen already named were so much
increased by these circumstances, as well as by other
reports, that they made every disposition of their prop-
erties, as if on the point of death.

The rising of the people in the county of Wexford,
took place in the direction from Carnew to Oulart,
for fear, as they alleged, of being whipped, burned,
or exterminated by the Orangemen ; hearing of the
numbers of people that were put to death, unarmed
and unoffending, through the country — the deliber-
ate massacre and shooting of eighi-and-twenty prison-
ers in the ball-alley of Carnew, without trial, and

IRISH REBELLION. 135

some under sentence of transportation, who stopped
there on their way to Geneva ; among these was a
Mr. Wilham Young, a Protestant, who was ordered
to be transported by a mihtary tribunal. At Dunla-
vin, thirty-four men were shot without trial, and
among them the informer, on whose evidence they
were arrested. Strange to tell, officers presided to
sanction these proceedings ! A man escaped by
feigning to be killed ; he was one out of eighteen of
the corps of Captain Saunders, of Saunders-grove,
Baltinglass. These reports, together with all the
dreadful accounts from the county of Kildare, roused
their minds to the utmost pitch of alarm, indignation,
and fury. They were forming from the evening of
the 26lh during the whole of the night, in two bodies.
One assembled on Kilthomas-hill, against whom
marched from Carnew, on the morning of the 27th,
a body of yeomen cavalry and infantry, who pro-
ceeded boldly up the hill, where the insurgents pos-
sessed a strong and commanding situation, if they
knew how to take advantage of it ; but they were
panic-struck, and fled at the approach of the milita-
ry, who pursued them with great slaughter. They
spared no man they met, and burned at least one
hundred houses in the course of a march of seven
miles.

The Rev. Michael Murphy had been so alarmed
on hearing of the rising of the people, that he fled in-
to the town of Gorey early on Whitsunday ; on his
arrival not finding Mr. Kenny, with whom he had
lodged there, he was induced to return for him and
his family, for which purpose, not being able to pro-
cure a driver, he himself led a horse and car, and
pursued a by-road, to get, if possible, unobserved in-
to Ballecanow, by which means he did not meet
some yeomen and others, that had gone on the high

136 HISTORY OF THE

road to Govey, after they had torn up the altar, broken
the windows, and otherwise damaged the Roman
CalhoHc chapel ; uttering the most violent threats
against the priest and his flock, which specimens
were very unlikely to remove the dreadful reports of
the intended extermination of the Catholics. These
depredations had so much weight on the Rev. Mi-
chael Murphy as to induce him to alter his original
intentions not to fly to such men for protection, and
he was then led on by the multitude to Kilthomas-
hill ; the Rev. John Murphy had, from similar un-
foreseen occurrences, joined the insurgents. These
two clergymen had been remarkable for their exhor-
tations and exertions against the system of United
Irishmen, until they were thus whirled into this po-
litical vortex, which, from all the information I have
been able to collect, ihey undertook under the appre-
hension of extermination.

The Rev. John Murphy was acting coadjutor of
the parish of Monageer ; and, impressed with horror
at the desolation around him, took up arms with the
people, representing to them that they had better die
courageously in the field, than to be butchered in
their houses. The insurgents in this quarter now
began their career by imitating the example that had
been set before them. They commenced burning the
houses of those who were most obnoxious to them.
Every gentleman's house in the country was sum-
moned to surrender their arms, and where any resist-
ance was offered, the house was attacked, plun-
dered, and burnt, and many of the inhabitants killed
in the conflict. The Camohn cavalry were the first
that attacked these insurgents. In the action, Lieu-
tenant Bookey and some privates lost their lives —
the rest retreated to Gorey. On the 27th of May,
Captain Hawtrey White led out two troops of horse

IRISH REBELLION. 137

from Gorey, determined to revenge the death of their
companions. They came in sight of the insurgents
on the north side of the hill of Oulart ; but they ap-
peared in such force that they thought it not prudent
to attack them, but returned to Gorey, burning the
houses of suspected persons, and putting every strag-
gler to death on their v^^ay. Numbers were called to
their doors and shot, while many more met the like fate
within their houses, and some even that were asleep.

Thus it appears that the insurrection broke out at
first in a line from west to east, pretty nearly across
the middle of the county, unsupported by the inhabi-
tants either north or south of that direction. These
were the tracts whose natives appeared most peace-
ably inclined, and who thought to avoid joining in the
insurrection. The yeomanry of the north of the
country proceeded on the 27th against a quiet and
defenceless populace; sallied forth in their neighbor-
hoods, burned numbers of houses, and put to death
hundreds of persons who were unarmed, unoffend-
ing, and unresisting, so that those who had taken up
arms had the greater chance of escape at that lime.
I cannot avoid mentioning a circumstance, though
not a singular one, that took place amidst these ca-
lamities. Mr. William Hore, of Harperstown, on
his return home from Wexford, was induced to set
fire to the house of Miles Redmond, of Harvey's
Town, a lime-burner. This occasioned his subse-
quent confinement, and afterwards his death en the
bridge of Wexford. He had offered to build him a
better house, which Mrs. Hore, his widow, notwith-
standing her irretrievable loss, has since actually
performed.

Such was the state of the northern part of the
county, which continued, during the whole of Whit-
sunday, ignorant of the state of the south.

12*

138 HISTORY OF THE

On the evening of the 26th, Captain John Grogan,
perceiving, from a height near his house, several
houses on fire betw^een Enniscorthy and Oulart, as-
sembled as many of his yeomen as he could muster,
and proceeded with them to Enniscorthy, whence he
accompanied Captain Solomon Richards, of the En-
niscorthy cavalry, to meet the insurgents, who were
committing great devastation throughout the country,
in retaliation, as they alleged, for what they had pre-
viously suffered. In fact, there seemed to exist be-
tween the parties an emulation of enmity, as they
endeavored to outdo each other in mischief, by burn-
ing and destroying on both sides those whom they
deemed their enemies. The Roman Catholic chapel
of Boolevogue was burnt, as was the house of the
Rev. John Murphy, already mentioned ; and several
houses were set on fire, and some of the inhabitants
consumed within them. No man that was seen in
colored clothes escaped the fury of the yeomanry.
In and about Ferns, a party of the North Cork militia
and some yeomen pursued the like conduct, as Avell
as in the course of their retreat from thence to Ennis-
corthy, where they arrived on the morning of the
27th. The Shilmalier infantry, commanded by liie
Right Hon. George Ogle, were then in Enniscorthy
also. They took an excursion to Darby Gap, and
on their return they marched home. Captain John
Grogan escorted Sergeant Stanley as far as Water-
ford, on his way to Cork as judge of assize. The
town of Enniscorthy was crowded by great numbers
of people who fled into it from the country — Catho-
lics among the rest. Some of the latter were put
into confinement in the castle, notwithstanding the
deplorable evils of which that impolitic system had
been already productive ; and although it must be
naturally imagined, that a greater proof could not be

IRISH REBELLION. 139

given of not wishing to join the insurgents than that
of flying into the town for refuge.

On Monday morning, the 28th of May, every pre-
paration was made for defence, and every precaution
observed in the town. Part of the North Cork mili-
tia, comm.anded by Captain Snowe, Captain Cornock,
and Captain Pounden's infantry corps, with their
supernumeraries, and the Enniscorthy cavalry, com-
manded by Captain Richards, (the whole military
force in the town,) were on the alert, and under arms,
in expectation of an immediate attack. Many of the
inhabitants of the town offered their services, and
armed themselves as well as they could to contribute
to the general defence. Some of the most respect-
able were permitted to join the troops ; but most of
those who had offered their assistance were, during
the battle, ordered to ground their arms and retire
into llicir houses, out of winch they were perempto-
rily warned not to stir, on pain of death. Good God !
what miserable policy in such limes, to brand them
as Catholics with disaffection, when their actions be-
spoke so much the contrary, and thus to force thena
into the ranks of the insurgents ! After the battle of
Oulart, the insurgents encamped for the nigiit at
Carrigrew, from whence they set out at seven o'clock
on Monday morning, the 28th, to Camolin, from
thence to Ferns, where, meeting wilii no interruption,
or any military force to oppose them, they crossed
the Slaney by the bridge at Scarawalsh, halted for
some time on the hill of Balhoril, and from thence
they proceeded to attack Enniscorthy, where they
arrived about one o'clock, driving before them a great
nuniber of catde, with a view of overpowering the
yeoman infantry that had proceeded to the Duffrey
Gate, where the attack commenced. The assailants,
posting themselves behind the ditches that enclose

140 HISTORY OF THE

the town-parks, kept up a severe but irregular fire
of musketry, intermixed with pikemen, who were
twice charged by the Enniscorthy cavalry along the
two roads leading into the town, with little or no
effect. The battle lasted with various success for
four hours ; Captain Snowe not considering it pru-
dent to quit his situation on the bridge to support
the yeomen at the Duffrey Gate, who then fell
down by degrees into the town, leaving the suburbs,
composed of thatched houses, unprotected, which
then were set fire to, (each party accusing the other
for doing so,) and, as it turned out, nothing could
be more conducive to the success of the insurgents
during the confusion the conflagrations occasioned,
from which each party retreated, the military taking
their station in the town. Had they marched out
to meet the insurgents, and given them battle
where they might have had the advantage of the
ditches, their superiority in discipline and fire-arms
might have enabled them to break and dissipate the
tumultuary body opposed to them, that had every ad-
vantage over those placed in a hollow. The insur-
gents made an attempt to cross the river at the island
above the bridge, from whence they were so galled
as to oblige them to wade through the Slaney higher
up at Blackstoops: some were proceeding to Vinegar
Hill, which, from its commanding situation immedi-
ately above the town, gave them every advantage of
observation, while their numbers afforded a suf-
ficiency to attack the town on all sides. The mili-
tary were at length overpowered by the impetuosity
and intrepidity of the insurgents, many of whom fell
in the gallant defence made against them ; bui the
soldiers having no cannon to support them, and the
suburbs of the town being on fire in several places,
they at last sounded a retreat. While the town was

IRISH REBELLION. 141

thus circumstanced, a proposal was made to Captain
Snowe to put the prisoners to death before the evacu-
ation of the place ; but he, like a truly brave man,
would not listen to such a diabolical proposal, and
rejected it with scorn and abhorrence ; notwithstand-
ing which a party went to the castle determined to
put all confined therein to death. An ineffectual at-
tempt was made to break open the door, the keeper
having forgot to leave the key, with which he had
set olf towards Wexford ; and this circumstance
providentially saved the lives of the prisoners, as
it became too dangerous for the yeomen to wait
any longer to put their threats in execution —
threats which they constantly repeated the whole
of that morning while they stood guard over their
prisoners. Indeed, so assured were the prisoners
themselves of being put to death, that they had
continued for hours on their knees at prayer, in
preparation for that awful event, when the victors re-
leased them from confinement. Captain John Poun-
den, of the Enniscorthy supplementary infantry,
Lieutenant Hunt of the Enniscorthy yeomen, and
Lieutenant Garden of the Scarawalsh infantry, with
about eighty of the military, and some supplementary
men, fell in this action. A regular retreat being
sounded, gave the military an opportunity of bringing
away their families and friends, together with a great
many men, women, and children, who proceeded in
the best manner they could to Wexford. The only
opinion prevailing in the latter town, for some hours,
was, that Enniscorthy and all its inhabitants were to-
tally destroyed. This was occasioned by the arrival
in Wexford of Lieutenant Archibald Hamilton Jacob,
and a private of the Enniscorthy cavalry, who had
been so fortunate as to effect their escape, and who
came in with their horses all in a foam, so as to be-

142 HISTORY OF THE

speak the most precipitate flight. At the same time,
tremendous clouds of smoke were observed over En-
niscortliy, which is distant only eleven miles from
Wexford, and no news amving for several hours, left
room for no other conjecture, but seemed to confirm
the account given by these fugitives. The military
in their retreat were very confused at first; however,
self-preservation urged their keeping together, sug-
gested by a private in the yeomanry. Officers had
been induced to tear off their epaulets, and every
other mark that could distinguish them from the pri-
vates, considering themselves in more danger if they
were recognised as officers. However, not being
attacked, there was sufficient leisure to escort those
that accompanied them, and who were in such a
piteous plight as to excite on their arrival the heart)''
commiseration of all the inhabitants of Wexford, who
invited them indiscriminately to their houses, and
supplied them with every comfort and necessary in
their power, and of which they stood so much in
need. How distressing must be the situation of
many ladies who were glad to get up behind or be-
fore any person that might be tender enough, in the
general consternation, to take them on horseback !
Some had their clothes scorched about them, others
wanted their shoes and other parts of their dress,
which had been lost or torn ofi'; besides, the great
heat of the day made it doubly distressing to delicate
females, many of whom had the additional charge of
the burden and care of their children. It was very de-
plorable to observe the anguish and misery of these fu-
gitives, so suddenly and violently torn from their
homes and family endearments ; while each in mel-
ancholy detail dwelt upon the relation of private ca-
lamity.

Great as the apprehensions of the inhabitants of

IRISH REBELLION. 143

Wexford had been before, ihey were much height-
ened by the mournful appearances and heart-rending
recitals of these unhappy sufferers. All dreaded
that their houses, their properties, and themselves,
should share the fate of Enniscorthy and its inhabit-
ants. At this critical period, the Shilmalier infantry,
commanded by the Right Hon. George Ogle, march-
ed from their homes into Wexford. Every possible
preparation was now made for defence. The sev-
eral avenues leading into the town were barricaded,
and cannon were placed at the different entrances.
The inhabitants universally manifested a zeal to de-
fend their habitations, their properties, and their
families against the insurgents ; and numbers offer-
ed themselves for the ranks, and to perform military
duty. Upwards of two hundred were consequently
embodied, there being arms for no more, under the
command of gentlemen who had been in the army,
and officers of the militia then in the town on leave
of absence. These occasional soldiers mounted
guard in the same manner with the more regular
troops of militia and yeomen ; and every precaution
was taken to guard against a nocturnal surprise,
which was strongly apprehended. The gentlemen
confined in the jail were visited by numbers of those
in town, who entreated Messrs. Harvey and Col-
clough to write to their tenants and neighbors, to in-
duce them to remain quiet at their homes, and to
avoid joining the insurgents from the other side of
the Slaney. This the gentlemen readily complied
with, in the presence of those who besought them,
urging it in the most strenuous and persuasive terms
they could ; and messengers were accordingly djs^
patched to every person, who, it was suggested to
them, possessed influence enough for the purpose,
or who was imagined capable of contributing to keep

144 HISTORY OF THE

the inhabitants of the baronies of Forth and Bargy
from rising.

On the morning of the 29th, tlie dispositions for
the defence of the town were continued with unaba-
ting vigor. Two hundred men of the Donegal mi-
litia, commanded by Colonel Maxwell, with a six-
pounder, marched in at eight o'clock in the morning,
and were billeted throughout the town to get re-
freshment, of which they stood in great need, having
marched all night from Duncannon Fort, accom-
panied by the Healthfield cavalry, commanded by
Captain John Grogan. This gentleman having es-
corted Sergeant Stanley to Waterford, returned to
Duncannon Fort, where he met General Fawcett,
whose determination he now announced of coming
to the assistance of Wexford with an additional force
as soon as possible. With this detachment also ar-
rived Colonel Colville, Captain Young, and Lieuten-
ant Soden, officers of the thirteenth regiment, giving
the glad tidings of the approach of their body with
General Fawcett, and the Mealh militia. A gentle-
man was, however, dispatched to the general, to
urge in the most pressing terms the immediate ne-
cessity of the reinforcement. The Taghmon cavalry,
under the command of Captain Cox, arrived in town
in the course of the day. The apprehensions of the
inhabitants increased every moment. Every boat in
the harbor was busily employed in the conveyance
of women and children, with the most valuable ef-
fects, on board ships, which now were in great re-
quisition, occasioned by the vast numbers of people
who crowded these vessels, in order to escape from
the town, which it was dreaded would be burnt.
To guard against such a disastrous event, all the
fires in the town were strictly ordered to be put out
at diiFerent intervals ; and, during the prohibited

IRISH REBELLION. 145

time, even the bakers were not allowed to heat their
ovens. A further measure of precaution adopted on
this occasion was, that of stripping all the thatched
houses within the walls of the town, which last, by
the by, were slill standing in full preservation, ex-
cept the gateways, that had been long broken down
for public convenience, i)ut were now strongly bar-
ricaded. In short, the utmost activity prevailed for
purposes of defence. Tiie guards were augmented,
and patrols of cavalry were constantly sent out to
reconnoitre. The widows of those of the North
Cork nn'litia who had fallen in the action at Oulart,
slill continued inconsolable about the town, uttering
their piteous lamentations. The bodies of the offi-
cers who were slain on that occasion were this day
brought in by Major Lombard's servant, who had
gone out for that purpose ; and this contributed not
a little to dispirit the military in the town.

Some of my friends then in Wexford intimated to
me, that it seemed to be the general wish of all the
gentlemen in the place that I should go out to the
people, and endeavor to induce them to disperse —
my great popularity and family influence, it was
suggested, pointing me out as the fittest person to
undertake such a mission ; which from these cir-
cumstances it was hoped might prove successful.
My answer was, that I would not refuse to do any
thing that was imagined to be for the general good,
although I thought the experiment most hazardous,
provided a magistrate whose honor might be depend-
ed on would accompany me ; besides, that I should
have my directions in writing, a copy whereof I
would leave with my friends, in order that if I should
fall in the enterprise, nothing might be left in the
power of misrepresentation to state to my dishonor.
No magistrate being found, as I suppose, that would

13

146 HISTORY OF THE

venture on this dangerous service, it was then in-
quired whether the liberation of Messrs. Harvey,
Fitzgerald, and Colclough, might not appease the
people ? On this question I declared myself incom-
petent to decide. I was then asked, whether if en-
larged on bail, but particularly Mr. Fitzgerald, whose
residence lay in the country then disturbed, they
would undertake to go out to tlie insurgents and en-
deavor to prevail on them to disperse ? On this in-
quiry my opinion was, that as the lives of these gen-
tlemen were in danger from the fury of the soldiery
while they continued in prison, I thought they would
comply with this requisition. The matter now be-
came public, and the prisoners were accordingly vis-
ited by the most respectable gentlemen in the town ;
several requesting of me to accompany them to the
prison, for the purpose of introduction. Indeed, so
marked was the attention paid to them on this occa-
sion, that an indifferent spectator would be led to
consider them rather as the governors of the town,
than as prisoners. On the SSlh and 29th, I had
many conversations on this subject with the officers
and gentlemen of the place ; and at length I was my-
self, together with five other gentlemen, (two for
each of the three prisoners,) bound in five hundred
pounds severally ; and Messrs. Harve}^ Fitzgerald,
and Colclough themselves individually in one thou-
sand pounds security for their appearance at the next
assizes. It was further conditioned, that although
they were all three bailed, two only should be at
large at any one time ; but that they might take their
turns of going abroad interchangeably at their discre-
tion, provided that one should always remain in jail
as a guarantee for the return of the rest. This com-

})act was entered into with Captain Boyd particular-
y. Mr. Harvey was then fixed on to remain, and

nilSII REBELLION. 147

Messrs. Fitzgerald and Colclough were immediately
liberated, and sent out to endeavor to prevail on the
people to disperse. They wei'c escorted from the
jail by several gentlemen, who conducted them be-
yond the outposts ; and then a yeoman was sent to
attend them till they passed the patrols, and so they
set off towards Enniscorthy.

The entire military force at this time in Wexford
consisted of three hundred of the North Cork militia,
commanded by Colonel Footc ; two hundred of the
Donegal militia, under the direction of Colonel Max-
well ; five troops of yeomen cavalry, viz. those of
Wexford, commanded by Captain Boyd — the Ennis-
corthy, hy Captain Richards — the Taghmon, by
Captain Cox — the Heallhfield, by Captain John Gro-
gan — and the Shilmalier, by Colonel Lehunte : the
infantry yeomen were those of Wexford, under Cap-
tain Jacob, M. D. ; the Enniscorthy, under Captain
Pounden ; the Scarawalsh, under Captain Cornock ;
and the Shilmalier, under the Right Hon. George
Ogle, with their supplementary men, altogether as
many as their original number, and two hundred of
the townsmen, amounting on the whole to twelve
hundred men under arms ; who, as the town-wall
was in good condition, might defy as many thousand
assailants, not supported by a great superiority of
ordnance. It would be difficult to state who held
the chief command then in Wexford ; but Colonel
Watson, (formerly lieutenant-colonel in the army,)
who now filled the rank of sergeant in the Shilmalier
cavalry, seemed to take the lead more than any other
person in the place in stationing the different posts ;
and really, from the ability he displayed, seemed the
fittest of all present to be intrusted with the direction
of affairs, having left nothing undone, as far as the
exigency of the moment would allow, to put the

148 HISTORY OF THE

town in as complete a state of defence as possi-
ble.

The insurgents, after having taken Enniscorthy
on the 28th, encamped that evening on Vinegar Hill.
Several parties were dispatched from thence during
the night, to bring in all the respectable persons re
maining in the county, with menaces of death in
case of refusal : their recent successes having ren-
dered them altogether imperious. One party was
particularly directed to Newcastle, for Mr. John
Hay, in whose professional talents they placed great
confidence, as he had been an officer in the French
service. On being summoned out of his bed to
come to camp, he endeavored to expostulate, but all
in vain ; and at last he absolutely refused going, not
withstanding the most violent threats uttered against
him. At length, however, menaces proceeded to
such extremity, that his house should be set on fire,
and he and his family consumed within it ; and
preparations were instantly making to put their
threats in actual execution, when turning, with looks
of anguish and despair, towards his wife and daugii
ter, whom he loved most passionately, with the ten-
derest emotions he surrendered his judgment for
their safely, and was led to Vinegar Hill, where he
met several who had been summoned thither out of
their beds, as unexpectedly as himself; for, as the
military had abandoned the whole country, the in-
surgents, who were now the generality of the peo-
ple, had every one who remained under uncontrol-
lable command. Mr. John Hay finding, upon in-
quiry, that the multitude had no ammunition, no
warlike stores, nor any degree of preparation,
strongly remonstrated on their defenceless situation,
representing that they could not possibly stand
against a regularly appointed military force, as any

IRISH REBELLION. 149

soldiery, knowing their duty, must cut them to
pieces. Various and confused were the consuUa-
tions that ensued in this tumukuous assemblage. It
was at once proposed, by different persons, to attack
Ross, Newtownbany, and Gorey, as each lay more
contiguous to their several homes; for Wexford was
then considered too formidable to be at all at-
tempted ; while others labored to persuade the
whole body to proceed to their respective neighbor-
hoods, to protect them from the ravages of the mil-
itary ; and each party persisted so obstinately in
their several determinations, as not to yield or listen
to any reasoning from another side, in opposition to
their favorite opinions ; no kind of concert, no unity
of design, no sort of discipline or organization
appearing to influence their councils or their con-
duct ; which distraction sufHciently indicates that no
preconcerted or any digested plan of insurrection
existed in the county, previous to the rising; — for in
such case, the populace would have been rendered,
in some degree at least, subordinate to some con-
stituted authority ; whereas they now acted, even
after considerable successes, not obedient to any
control, but with the greatest anarchy, violence, and
confusion. In fine, each individual dreaded the
devastation of his house or his properly. Most
of the multitude was dispersed, and on their way to
their several homes, in all directions, from Vinegar
Hill, when some of them met Messrs. Fitzgerald
and Colclough (whose arrests were publicly known)
near the village of St. John's, and finding them lib-
erated, and sent out to them, they were immediately
welcomed by a general shout, which, communicating
from one to another, like electricity, was re-echoed
all the way to Enniscorthy, and so on to the top of
Vinegar Hill, and thence through all the county

13*

150 HISTORY OF THE

round. The reverberation of the shouts thus widely
diffused, arrested the attention of the astonished
multitude, who instantly returned to discover the
cause of such sudden exultation ; so that when the
deputed gentlemen arrived on Vinegar Hill, the
camp, so deserted but a moment before, now be-
came as thronged as ever. Were it not sufficiently
established by the universal acknowledgment of ail
the inhabitants of the county of Wexford, officers
and men, who bore a part in this insurrection, that
there was no concert between this rising and the
plan of a general insurrection in and about Dublin ;
and that it was no more than a tumultuary and
momentary exertion of popular resistance to a state
of things found, or considered insupportable, the
sole object of which was an attempt to get rid of
oppressions, and to retaliate, with equal violence,
what they had been for some time experiencing ;
this inclination of each man, and every body of men,
to return home, and apply the general force to the
correction of their individual sufferings, would fur-
nish a strong proof of the fact ; as otherwise the
idea of some general system, however confused,
would be floating in their imagination ; and it is the
confirmed opinion of most impartial people, that I
have heard discuss the subject, that the insurrection
in the county of Wexford must have subsided at
that period, but for this intelligence extraordinary
from the town by the deputation of the prisoners,
who, of necessity, informed the people, that they
had been liberated, and sent out for the express pur-
pose of remonstrating with them ; for this served
only to concentrate their wavering opinions, and to
point to some object their previously fluctuating
determinations. It was but the resolution of a mo-
ment to march in a body to attack Wexford. Mr.

IRISH REBELLION. 151

Fitzgerald they detained in the camp, and Mr. Col-
clough they sent back to announce their hostile in-
tentions.

Mr. Colclough arrived in Wexford early in the
evening, and waited in the bull-ring (a small square
in the town so denominated) until the officers and
other gentlemen in the place had there assembled,
when he informed them, in a very audible voice,
from on horseback, that having gone out, according
to their directions, to the insurgents on Vinegar Hill,
he found, as he had already suggested before his
departure, that he possessed no influence with the
people, who had ordered him to return and announce
their determination of marching to the attack of
Wexford ; adding, that they had detained Mr. Fitz-
gerald. Mr. Colclough then requested to be informed
if it was intended to make further trial of his ser-
vices, or to require his longer attendance, as other-
wise they must be sensible how eager he must be to
relieve the anxiety of his family by his presence.
He was then entreated to endeavor to maintain tran-
quillity in his own neighborhood, which having
promised to do as much as in his power, he called
at the jail to visit Mr. Harvey, with whom he agreed
(according to the compact with Captain Boyd) to
return next day and lake his place in the jail, and
then set off, through the barony of Forth, to his own
dwelling, at Ballyteigue, distant about ten miles from
Wexford.

If any thing could add to the general consterna-
tion in Wexford, it was to learn the determination
of the insurgents to come to attack the town. Ships
became in greater requisition than ever, and all the
■vessels in the harbor were stowed with amazing
numbers ; the stteets were quite deserted, and the
shops and lower windows of all the houses wete

152 HISTORY OF THE

shut up. Late in the evening, as two of the Tagh-
mon yeomanry were going home, and had pro-
ceeded as far as Areandrish, about four miles from
Wexford, they descried the advanced-guard of the
insurgents ; with which intelligence they imme-
diately posted back with all speed to the town,
which was already in expectation of being attacked
every instant. Every degree of vigilance and pre-
caution was now exerted, and the mihtary kept on
the alert all night. The portcullis, on the remark-
able wooden-bridge over the Slaney, was hoisted,
whereby the greater part of it was left defenceless,
while one piece of cannon would have perfectly
protected the whole ; and this mismanagement be-
came the more to be regretted, as about break
of day, the toll-house on the country side, on the
end of it, was discovered to be on fire, and burned
with great fury, the materials being of deal ; and
pitch and tar had been spread over the entrance of
the bridge, to increase the rapidity of the flames
Some boat-loads of sailors from the harbor were the
first that ventured to extinguish the fire, having
taken their buckets for the purpose. These found
the place deserted, as the business had been exe-
cuted by a party of about twelve insurgents, who
fled at their approach. The sharp smoke from the
burning wood, drifted by the wind, which blew right
along the bridge, retarded much the progress of
some yeomen, who at length moved towards the
fire ; but these, leaving the sailors to their own ex-
ertions, made a cut across the bridge, at some dis-
tance from the conflagration. The fire, however,
was soon put out, and none of the oak-beams, that
principally support the bridge, were burned through ,"
the floor and railings only, which were of deal,
being consumed. The cries of the womeu and

IRISH REBELLION. 153

children throughout the town were so dismal and
alarming as to rouse the military from their beds,
when they had scarcely time to have fallen asleep,
since they had retired from their several posts, to
which they were thus summoned back in a hurry,
to repel the attack of an enemy which was every
moment expected. The insurgents were now en-
camped on the Three-rocks — the end of the low
ridge of the Mountain of Forth, about three miles
from Wexford, — and did not seem so willing to ad-
vance as was apprehended in the town.

General Fawcett having ordered his forces to fol-
low, set out alone from Duncannon Fort, on the
evening of the 29th, and stopped at Taghmon, where
he lay down to rest until his advanced guard should
arrive. Captain Adams, of the Meath militia, with
seventy men of his regiment, and Lieutenant Birch,
of the artillery, with two howitzers, arrived from
Duncannon Fort in the course of the night, at
Taghmon, where not finding, as they expected, the
thirteenth regiment, nor Meath militia, and not
knowing any thing about the general, after a short
halt they marched on towards Wexford, apprehend-
ing no kind of interruption. They had already as-
cended the road along the side of the mountain of
Forth, when perceived by the outposts of the in-
surgents, who poured down upon them with such
rapidity, that they were in a few minutes cut oif,
except Ensign Wade and sixteen privates, who
were taken prisoners. The magazine was blown
up in the conflict, which circumstance rendered the
howitzers not so great a prize as they otherwise
would have been to the victors. General Fawcett,
on getting out of bed, having learned the fate of his
advanced guard, ordered the thirteenth and the rest
of the troops, who had by this time come up, to re-

154 HISTORY OF THE

treat to Duncannon Fort, whither he also set off in
great haste himself.

From Wexford, in the course of the morning,
vast crowds of people were observed assembling on
the high ground over Ferry-bank, at the country-side
of the wooden-bridge, which contributed not a little
to heighten the alarm already prevailing in the town.
The different posts on the town-wall were guarded
with the utmost vigilance, and intrusted to the pro-
tection of the yeomen infantry, supplementaries,
and armed inhabitants, while the North Cork mi-
litia undertook to defend the barracks. It was ex-
pected that General Fawcelt, now supposed on his
march from Taghmon to Wexford, must fall in with
the insurgents, and thus keep them so well em-
ployed on that side as to afford a favorable oppor-
tunity for a sally from the town to attack them on
the other. It was, therefore, resolved to try the
success of this manoeuvre, and accordingly, Colonel
Maxwell, with two hundred of the Donegal militia,
and Colonel Watson, with the Wexford, Ennis-
corthy, Taghmon, Healthfield, and Shilmaher yeo-
men cavalry, marched out to the encounter. They
had advanced as far as Belmont, when Colonel
Watson, eager to reconnoitre, proceeded up the hill
farther than prudence would permit, and was shot
from one of the outposts of the insurgents. Tiie
Donegal militia then retreated to Wexford, preceded
by the cavalry, who pressed upon them very much
along the road. Immediately after this, a hasty
council of war was held, at which it was determined
to evacuate the town.

A general and gloomy consternation now pre-
vailed ; every countenance appeared clouded and
distrustful, and every person was cautious and cir-
cumspect how he spoke or acted, as all confidence

IRISH REBELLION. 155

was entirely done away, and each individual thought
only of his own personal safety. Some yeomen
and supplementaries, who during the whole of the
morning had been stationed in the street, opposite
the jail, were heard continually to threaten to put
all the prisoners to death, which so roused the atten-
tion of the jailer to protect his charge, that he bar-
ricaded the door, and on hearing of a surrender, to
manifest more strongly the sincerity of his inten-
tions, he delivered up the key to Mr. Harvey. This
gentleman was, indeed, so apprehensive of violence,
that he had climbed up inside a chimney, where he
had lain concealed a considerable time, when some
gentlemen called upon him, but could not gain ad-
mittance until they gave the strongest assurances of
their pacific intentions. Upon being admitted at
length, they still found him up the chimney, and
while so situated, entreated him to go out to the
camp of the insurgents, and announce to them the
surrender of the town, on condition that lives and
properties should be spared. Mr. Harvey made an-
swer, that as the insurgents on the Three-rocks
were not from his neighborhood, and as he was not
himself at all known to them, he imagined he could
have no kind of influence with them, adding, that
they might possibly consider him even as an enemy.
He was then requested to write to them, which he
declared himself willing to do in any manner that
might be judged most advisable. When he had
thus consented, it became a task of no little diffi-
culty to bring him out of his lurking-place, as in the
descent his clothes were gathered up about his
shoulders, so that it required good assistance" to pull
liim out of the chimney by the heels. When he had
arranged his apparel, and adjusted himself so as to
put off the appearance of a chimney-sweeper, about

156 HISTORY OF THE

two hours before the troops retreated from Wexford,
Right Hon. George Ogle, captain of the Shihnalier
infantry ; Cornehus Grogan ; John Grogan, captain
of the Heahhfield cavalry ; James Boyd, captain of
the Wexford cavalry ; Solomon Richards, captain
of the Enniscorthy cavalry ; Isaac Cornock, captain
of the Scarawalsh infantry, and Edward Turner of
the Shilmalier cavalry — all magistrates — along with
Lieutenant-colonel Colvillc of the thirteenth regi-
ment of foot, and Lieutenant-colonel Foote of the
North Cork mihtia, visited Mr. Harvey in the jail,
and at their express request, he wrote the following
notice to the insurgents on the mountain of Forth :

** I have been treated in prison with all possible
humanity, and am now at liberty. I have procured
the liberty of all ihe prisoners. If you pretend to
Christian charity, do not commit massacre, or burn
the property of the inhabitants, and spare your prison-
ers' lives.

'' B. B. Harvey.

" Wednesday, 30th May, 1798."

This note was undertaken to be forwarded by

Doyle, a yeoman of the Healthfield cavalry, who of-
fered to volunteer on this hazardous service, when
the proposal was made to his corps by Captain John
Grogan. He had the precaution to put off his uni-
form, and to dress himself in colored clothes : but
when ready to set off he was discovered to be a Ro-
man Catholic, and therefore reflected upon, for so
the whisper went about, " How could a papist he
trusted?" The yeoman finding his zeal meet with
a reception so contrary to his expectation, again
put on his uniform and retreated with his captain ;
thus proving himself to the full as loyal as any of

IRISH REBELLION 157

those who on the occasion displayed their ilHberaUty ;
which even common policy, it might be well im-
agined, should repress at so critical a juncture. Dr.
Jacob then proposed the enterprise to his corps, and
Counsellor Richards with his brother Mr. Loftus
Richards, were appointed to go out to the Three-
rocks on this expedition, to announce the surrender
of the town to the insurgents, whose camp they
reached in safety, though clad in full uniform.
Scarcely had these deputies set out upon their mis-
sion, when all the military corps, a part of one only
excepted, made the best of their way out of the town.
Every individual of them seemed to partake of a
general panic, and set off whithersoever they im-
agined they could find safety, without even acquaint-
ing their neighbors on duty of their intentions. The
principal inhabitants whose services had been accept-
ed of for the defence of the town were mostly Catho-
lics, and, according to the prevalent system, were
subject to the greatest insults and reflections. They
were always placed in front of the posts, and cau-
tioned to behave well, or that death should be the
consequence. Accordingly, persons were placed be-
hind them to keep them to their duty, and these were
so watchful to their charge, that they would not even
permit them to turn about their heads ; and yet these
determined heroes were the very first to run off on
the apprehended approach of real danger. Thus were
the armed inhabitants left at their posts, abandoned
by their officers, and actually ignorant of the flight of
the soldiery, until the latter had been miles out of
the town, and were therefore left no possible means
of retreating. Lieutenant William Hughes of the
Wexford infantry, with a few of his corps, was, it
seems, the only part of the military left uninformed
of the intended retreat, and this was owing to his be-

14

158 HISTORY OF THE

ing detached with these few yeomen to defend a dis-
tant part of the town-wall, and he and they were ap-
prized of their situation, as were also the armed in-
habitants, only by the approach of the insurgents ; so
that Mr. Hughes and his few yeomen, together with
the armed inhabitants, are the only people that can
be said not to have abandoned their posts in Wex-
ford on this occasion. The confusion and dismay
which prevailed were so great, as no kind of signal for
retreat had been given, that officers and privates ran
promiscuously through the town, threw off their uni-
forms, and hid themselves wherever they thought
they could be best concealed. Some ran to the dif-
ferent quays, in expectation of finding boats to con-
vey them off, and threw their arms and ammunition
into the water. All such as could accomplish it em-
barked on board the vessels in the harbor, having
previously turned their horses loose. Some ran to
the jail to put themselves under the protection of Mr.
Harvey. Officers, magistrates, and yeomen of every
description thus severally endeavored to escape popu-
lar vengeance ; and in the contrivance of changing ap-
parel, as there was not a sufficiency of men's clothes
at hand for all those who sought safety by this means,
female attire was substituted for the purpose of dis-
guise. In short, it is impossible that a greater ap-
pearance of confusion, tumult, or panic could be at
all exhibited. The North Cork regiment on quitting
the barracks set them on fire, which, however, was
immediately put out. Lieutenants Bowen and Paye,
with Ensign Harman, and some sergeants and pri-
vates of this regiment, remained in the town.

It has been already observed, that thousands of peo-
ple were seen to assemble, during the entire morning,
on a hill over Ferry-bank, marching and countermarch-
ing in hostile appearance, and seemingly waiting only

IRISH REBELLION. 159

for the moment that the town would be abandoned
by the miUtary, to take possession of it themselves ;
but their entrance, when this took place, was retard-
ed, until boards were procured to supply the place of
the flooring of the wooden-bridge where it had been
burnt. In the mean time, Messrs. Richards, after
having run great risk, arrived at the camp at Three-
rocks, and making known that they were deputed to
inform the people that the town of Wexford would
be surrendered to them on condition of sparing lives
and properties ; these terms would not be complied
with, unless the arms and ammunition of the garri-
son were also surrendered. Mr. Loftus Richards
was therefore detained as a hostage, and Counsellor
Richards and Mr. Fitzgerald were sent back to the
town, to settle and arrange the articles of capitulation;
but these gentlemen on their arrival, to their great as-
tonishment, found the place abandoned by the mili-
tar}^ The bridge being at this time nearly made
passable, the vast concourse of people that had col-
lected at the other side of the Slaney, was just ready
to pour in and take unconditional possession of the
town. It was therefore necessary to treat with these,
(it being yet unknown who they were,) in order to
prevent the misciiiefs likely to ensue from such a tu-
multuary influx of people. Doctor Jacob, then may-
or of the town and captain of the Wexford infanlr}^
therefore entreated Mr, Fitzgerald to move towards
the bridge, and announce to the people rushing in
that the town was surrendered ; and to use every
other argument, that his prudence might suggest, to
make their entry as peaceable as possible. Mr. Fitz-
gerald complied, and instantly after this communica-
tion thousands of people poured into the town over
the wooden-bridge, shouting and exhibiting all marks
of extravagant and victorious exultation. They first

160 HISTORY OF THE

proceeded lo the jail, released all the prisoners, and
insisted that Mr. Harvey should become their com-
mander. All the houses in town not abandoned by
the inhabitants now became decorated with green
boughs, or green ornaments of one description or an-
other. The doors were universally thrown open, and
the most liberal offers made of spirits and drink of
every kind, which, however, were not as freely ac-
cepted, until the persons offering had first drunk
themselves, as a proof that the liquor was not poi-
soned, a report having prevailed to that effect ; and
which was productive of this good consequence, that
it prevented rapid intoxication, and of course, in the
beginning, lamentable excesses.

The insurgents having now got complete posses-
sion of the town of Wexford, many persons who had
been yeomen, after having thrown off their uniforms,
affected a cordial welcome for them, and endeavored
by an exhibition of all the signs and emblems of the
United Irishmen, to convince them of their sivorn
friendship ; and it is indeed not a little remarkable,
that many of those who, in this change of affairs,
boldly marched out as occasion demanded, to meet
the king's forces, now display themselves as stanch
Orangemen of unimpeachable loyalty Almost every
person in the town threw open their doors with offers
of refreshment and accommodation to the insurgents;
and the few who did not suffered by plunder, their sub-
stance being considered as enemies' property. Some
of all descriptions indeed suffered in their property
by plunder, on deserting their houses, and leaving
none to protect or take care of them. The house
of Captain Boyd was a singular exception. It was,
though not deserted, pillaged, and exhibited marks
of the hatred and vengeance of the people.

As the station of the insurgents' camp on the Three-

IRISH REBELLION. 161

rocks, on the eastern end of the mountain of Forth,
only three miles from Wexford, commanded a full
view of the conflagrations and other excesses com-
mitted by the military, it required the utmost exer-
tion and prudential efforts of their chiefs, and of
others in whom they placed any confidence, to pre-
vent them from rushing into the town and taking in-
considerate vengeance, being utterly ignorant of its
abandonment by the troops, and unacquainted with
the fact of its being possessed by a different party.
They entered the town, however, in tolerable temper,
but all moderation was banished upon discovering
that the arms and ammunition had not been surren-
dered, so that it was with the utmost difficulty the
town was preserved from being set on fire and con-
sumed ; the inhabitants being charged with treason
for not insisting on and seeing this article executed.
After various scenes of disorder, hurry, and confu-
sion, naturally attendant on such occasions, parties
were dispatched in boats to bring on shore all the
men, arms, and ammunition they could find in the
ships, and other vessels in the harbor, which in the
morning had fallen down towards the bar, neither
wind nor tide being favorable ; two only out of the
whole had actually sailed for Wales. By these
means, all the men, as well yeomen as other inhab-
itants, were directly brought on shore in the evening,
and the vessels with the women and children imme-
diately followed to the quay.

Amidst this scene of tumult and confusion, not
easily conceivable to any one who has not witnessed
popular commotion, while all wished to accommodate
themselves as much as possible to the exigency of
the moment, and to appear the friends of their newly
denominated conquerors, it was ludicrous to observe
a gorgeous military uniform clandestinely changed

14*

162 HISTORY OF THE

for loathsome, tallered rags, with more address and
expedition than actors on the dramatic stage assume
different dresses and appearances.

Among those brought on shore from the ships, was
Mr. John Boyd, brother to Captain James Boyd, of
the Wexford cavahy. He was immediately recog-
nised ; and he and his family being obnoxious to the
people, he ran off on landing, was chased, overtaken,
piked, and left for dead, but he lived in excruciating
agony until the next morning, when he expired. I
had been brought out of one of the ships myself, and,
on landing, was proceeding througii the general con-
fusion, when, arrivmg near the bull-ring, a man of
the name of George Sparrow, a butcher from Ennis-
corthy, chased by the people through the streets, ran
up to me and clasped me round the body, imploring
protection — beseeching I might save him. I instantly
endeavored as much as in my power to give him suc-
cor, and to defend him by extending my arms and
body over him, wiiile swords and pikes were pointed
and brandished for his destruction; but my endeavors
proving ineffectual, and rather dangerous to myself,
and the unfortunate man perceiving I could not afford
the protection I intended, burst from me, and while I
lay prostrate in the street, occasioned by his effort to
get off, he had not run many yards when he was de-
prived of existence. Some ladies who were so situ-
ated at the instant as to be spectators of the scene,
have since assured me, they thought I had been also
killed at that moment ; and, considering the dreadful
circumstances, I think it most providential that, when
thrown down, I was not regarded as the devoted vic-
tim by the infuriate populace. To describe my feel-
ings on this occasion, v/ould be utterly impossible.
Ushered into the town against my will, to witness, in
the first onset, such a specimen of popular vengeaijce,

IRISH REBELLION. 163

and naturally imagining that acts of the like violence
were perpetrating in every quarter of the tovi^n, I
could l)ave but little expectation of escape ; particu-
larly when the dreadful denunciation resounded in
my ears, that the people would put every one to
death who would dare to decline joining them ; and,
indeed, in consequence of this menacing cry, many
gentlemen who boast of loyal acts, (the very contrary
of truth,) I have observed "to go further on the oppo-
site side than could be considered, either since or
before, consistent with their honor or their safety.

The town of Wexford was not only most shame-
fully abandoned, but even surrendered, to all intents
and purposes, when it might have been easily de-
fended, although no one will now acknowledge having
been concerned in so scandalous a transaction ; and,
notwithstanding that the very persons who ought to
have been its most strenuous protectors, from their
situation and circumstances, were not only the first
to yield it, and fly so clandestinely as to put it utterly
out of the power of all others besides themselves to
retreat, but left even their own wives and families to
the mercy of an irritated and ungovernable multitude.
In any other country, such a manifest dereliction of
duty would be punished in the most exemplary man-
ner— the lives of such craven deserters would be
forfeited for the miseries they occasioned ; but in ill-
fated Ireland, a display of unprincipled enmity and
illiberal animosity to the great bulk of its people, con-
stitutes loyalty and desert sufficient to wipe away the
blame of misconduct, and even to obliterate the in-
delible stigma of cowardice. The conduct of the in-
habitants of Wexford, in accommodating themselves
to the circumstances of the moment, after their aban-
donment, must be considered as totally blameless ;
particularly of such a;^ subsequently took the earliest

164 HISTORY OF THE

opportunity of returning to their allegiance. Of all
laws, that of self-preservation is acknowledged the
most imperious, and to attain this in times of civil
commotion, compliance with the exigency of the in-
stant is indispensable, and warranted by the irresis-
tible force of necessity ; for otherwise, as all moral
writers agree, there would be an end of justice and
civilization. Allowances have certainly been made
for numbers, whose conduct, in an abstract point of
view, was evidently treasonable, but perfectly excu-
sable, considering the situation in which they were
placed, by the fundamental laws of all nations of
regulated society. But why an exculpation should
hold good for some individuals, and not for all those
in a similar predicament, is a paradox not happily
explained by arguments derived from the sources of
bigotry and religious prejudice. With cordial satis-
faction I acknowledge it perfectly just, that Protest-
ants have been generally exculpated of treason, on
the ground of the urgency of circumstances, but why
Catholics should be excluded from the like charitable
consideration, will not be fairly or easily answered
by those who would fain exhibit the unfortunate con-
test of this period — a war of religion, which, upon
the whole, had but very little to do in it, till forced
into action by the upholders of prejudice.

Those of the military who first retreated from
Wexford were part of the North Cork regiment,
commanded by Captain Snowe, and the Scarawalsh
infantry under Captain Cornock. These in their
flight met Mr. Colclough with his lady in a phaeton,
coming to release Mr. Harvey, by taking his place
in the jail, according to his promise the preceding
evening. On falling in with the troops, Mr. and
Mrs. Colclough were ordered to wheel about, and
led along, while swords drawn and pistols cocked

IRISH REBELLION. 165

threatened their Hves on either side, if the people
should attempt to attack the military. Mr. Colclough
was frequently ordered to stand up and wave his hat
to several groups who were seen collected on the
rising grounds, led by curiosity, from the disturbed
state of the country, to observe what was going for-
ward. These signals were for the people not to ap-
proach, with which they complied, and so the par-
ties got safe to the Scar at Barrystown ; where Mr.
Colclough and his lady were dismissed without fur-
ther violence. The next division of the military
who made their appearance at the Scar were part
of the Wexford cavalry under Captain Boyd, who
had himself it seem* at first attempted to get off by
sea ; but notwithstanding that he most pathetically
entreated a friend of his, who had just put off in a
boat only a few yards from the quay, to return and
take him on board, yet so strongly did the motive of
self-preservation operate upon the person, that he re
fused to comply. The captain then seized upon his
horse, which he had before turned loose, mounted
directly, and overtook Colonel Maxwell on the road,
with whom however he did not continue ; but drove
forward with all speed till he arrived at Mr. King's
of Barrystown. After getting eome refreshment
here, he and some favorites of his corps embarked
on board a boat, the tide being too high to pass oth-
erwise, and so proceeded in safety to Duncannon
Fort. Mr. Colclough met several of these flying
gentry at Barrystown, and the impression of their
fears was such, that they all declared that a revolu-
tion must inevitably succeed in the nation, for ihat
as the rising was general, (so they then supposed it
to be,) nothing could withstand the people. They
even congratulated Mr. Colclough on the happiness
of not being obliged to quit his country, as he liad

166 HISTORY OF THE

taken no active part against the people, and as his
recent confinement, on suspicion of being their friend,
was greatly in his favor. They next pathetically,
many of them in sobs and tears, lamented the unfor-
tunate necessity under which they lay of quitting
their native land, as they feared the people would
consider their former exertions so inimical to their
interests, as to render it unsafe for them to remain
in the country ; and after this they took a cordial
leave of Mr. Colclough. The escape of Archibald
Hamilton Jacob was most wonderful, as when he
had gone out with the troops that advanced towards
the Three-rocks, before any others had thoughts of
retreating, he got off under the mountain, and by
keeping by-roads, he most providentially arrived in
Ross, where, considering the state of the country,
he did not stop, but hastened to Waterford, and was
finally induced to sail for England.

Had the retreaters liad the presence of mind to wait
at the Scar until the tide should have fallen, they
would have been able to have proceeded with much
greater ease than they did to Duncannon Fort. Their
halting there would probably have enabled many of
the stragglers (numbers of whom were cut off) to
come up with them, and it would have taken much
less time than it did by the circuitous route which
they adopted ; but their panic and trepidation were
such, that they believed the insurgents were at their
heels, which brought them into great hardships, du-
ring a confused and precipitate flight, continued even
through the night, which occasioned many to lag
behind, who thereby became devoted victims of de-
struction ; the cause of which we shall presently
have occasion to mention. The last of the military
that left Wexford were the Donegal militia, com-
manded by Colonel Ma.xwell, accompanied by Col-

IRISH REBELLION. 167

onel Colville, Captain Younge, and Lieutenant Se-
dan, of the thirteenth foot ; the remaining part of
the North Cork regiment, headed by Colonel Foote,
the Shilmalier yeomen infantry, under the Right
Hon. George Ogle, and the Enniscorthy infantry,
under Captain Pounden, with some of the Wexford
infantry, some of the Wexford, Shilmalier, and En-
niscorthy cavalry ; and the rear was brought up by
the Healthfield cavalry, under Captain John Grogan,
who covered the retreat. These were followed and
overtaken by Captain Boyd, and a few of his troop,
who pushed forward till they came up with the van
of the retreaters as before related.

Great numbers of people, from motives of curios-
ity, assembled in different groups to view the mili-
tary in their passage through the country, not im-
agining that they should be any more molested than
they had been by the first parties who passed them
quietly by ; and had any general orders to this effect
been issued to the retreating troops, it is probable
they would have been attended to and productive of
good effect ; but although Colonel Colville did all in
his power to prevent the soldiery from firing on the
people, yet his humane and wise remonstrances
were not successful. The first victims of military
fury, however, on the retreat, were two men found
with arms in a house in Wexford, near where the
Shilmalier yeomen infantry, commanded by the
Right Hon. George Ogle, had been stationed in the
town. These upon the evacuation were brought
away by the corps and shot at Maglass, where the
soldiers, giving a loose to their rage, pursued the
unoffending populace, and shot numbers of them,
who endeavored to conceal themselves in the ditches,
which were well searched for their discovery. The
Roman Catholic chapel of Maglass was set on fire, as

168 HISTORY OF THE

were a great many other houses in the course of
their march, while others were plundered ; and not
a countryman that was seen and overtaken could es-
cape being sacrificed to military vengeance : nay,
not unfrequently did neither feminine weakness nor
helpless infancy aiford protection, as they obtained
in several instances no mercy from the indiscriminate
fury of the retreating troops, who immolated some
of the women and children of the affrighted peasant-
ry as they fell in their way. These acts of unpro-
voked, cold-blooded, and unmanly cruelty, were
avenged on the poor stragglers who were by any
casualty separated from the retreating body, as the
exasperated country people, goaded as they had been,
considered every person in a military garb as a san-
guinary and relentless enemy. Several soldiers who
had been followed by their wives and children, were
induced to stay behind to afford them assistance on
so distressing a march, which cost many of them
their lives ; but none of the women or children were
intentionally hurt by the people : even Some children
who were abandoned by or lost their parents on this
occasion, are still remaining in the country, cherish-
ed and protected by the inhabitants. The tide still
continuing too high at the Scar for even the rear of
the retreating troops to pass, they took the like cir-
cuitous route with the rest, and arrived at Duncan-
non Fort on the morning of the 31st of May, worn
out with hardship and fatigue, having lost many of
their men, and in the utmost confusion and disorder.
On the night of the 30ih, the town of Wexford,
considering all that had happened, was remarkably
quiet, all finding repose necessary after their various
hardships. In the evening, vast numbers went to
visit their several dwellings in the country, to be in-
formed of the condition of their families and proper-

IRISH REBELLION. 169

ties ; but very early on the morning of the 31st, the
streets were as crowded as before, and the confusion
and plunder of the day preceding now recommenced.
The people were much discontented with the inhab-
itants for not detaining for their use the arms and
ammunition of the garrison ; as the entire of their
military stores at this time amounted to no more than
three barrels of gunpowder found in the barracks, a
few hundreds of cartridges, with some odd casks and
pounds of powder found in shops and gentlemen's
houses. Their discontent soon proceeded to threats
against different individuals, and among the rest
against Mr. Fitzgerald, who had gone home the
night before, and was not as yet returned. He was
at once accused of having betrayed the people ; ven-
geance was vowed against him, and he was threaten-
ed with instant death. On his appearance soon af-
ter, however, the ferment subsided as instantaneous-
ly and unaccountably as it had at first originated.
The principal inhabitants of Wexford very naturally
Avished to get rid of these troublesome intruders, and
to effect this desirable object, such of the better sort
as had any influence wuth the multitude, lent their
cordial assistance, and they at length succeeded.
The insurgents were induced to move out of the
town and encamp on the Windmill-hills ; where, af-
ter much confused consultation, they divided into
two bodies, one of which, consisting of those who in-
habited the Wexford side of the Slaney, marched to
Taghmon. As in such a mixed multitude there
must be many of all dispositions, it is not wonderful
that there were some who would incite to and prac-
tise outrage. Some of this description of persons
hunted for Orangemen, whom they denominated their
enemies ; while others, imitating the conduct of the
military on the day before, but in a far less degree,

15

170 HISTORY OF THE

plundered private property, burned the houses of four
respectable farmers, and put one man to death on
their way to Taghmon, outside of which town they
encamped for that night. The other division of the
insurgents, consisting of the inhabitants of that part
of the county north of the Slaney, directed their
march towards Gorey ; and in the course of their
progress, burned the houses of some whom they
considered as enemies, plundered others, and en-
camped that night on the hill of Carrigrew. The
encampment on Vinegar Hill, by the by, continued
a permanent one during the whole period of the in-
surrection.

As it is an incontrovertible fact that, before this
period, there were fewer United Irishmen in the
county of Wexford than in any other part of Ireland,
and these few only sworn, as has been already ob-
served, in a detached manner, unconnected by any
organization, it is amazing to think with what suc-
cess the insurrection appears to have been attended
in its commencement ; that a people thus roused all
of a sudden, without any previous preparation,
should gain such signal advantages. If further proof
were at all necessary of the little progress made by
the system of the United Irishmen in the county of
Wexford, anterior to the rising, in addition to no re-
turn of numbers being even stated to have been
made from thence by any leaders, that proof would
be amply supplied by the vast numbers that eagerly
came forward, desiring to be sworn, upon these first
successes ; for, in the existing state of the country,
at this juncture when men's minds were totally un-
masked and all disguise thrown away, it may be
fairly implied, that all who might have been previ-
ously sworn would not fail to come forward and take
advantage of such circumstances, by boasting in the

IRISH REBELLION. 171

moment of exultation, of prior concern in a system
then considered universally prevalent through the
island, and of the final success of which the least
doubt was not entertained at this period : besides, at
this crisis it is natural to conclude that had any or-
ganization heretofore existed, the chosen chiefs would
be induced to declare themselves and assume their
stations ; for had they concurred in their appointment
when they ran every risk of legal punishment, be-
fore the actual breaking out of the insurrection, now
that it was believed victorious and universal, they
must feel every encouragement to act without re-
serve and with their utmost vigor ; but the fact was
absolutely otherwise, as most of the leaders through-
out the disturbances in Wexford, acted in their sev-
eral stations from the irresistible force of compulsion
and constraint after it had actually existed ; whatever
representations by surmise or presumption may have
appeared to the contrary. Another circumstance of
general misrepresentation is, that the insurrection in
the county of Wexford was connected with the dis-
turbances in other parts of the nation, while nothing
can be more contrary to truth ; as on the arrest of
the Leinster delegates, assembled at a provincial
meeting in Bridge-street, in Dublin, on the 12lh of
March, 1798, there was not a delegate or any return
of numbers from the county of Wexford, as evident-
ly appears from the reports of the secret committees
of both houses of the Irish parliament ; and, during
the whole period of its continuance, this county was
beset on all sides with troops, so as to be completely
insulated, and therefore no efficient intercourse could
exist between it and any other part of Ireland ; for
scarcely any one could, in passing to or from it, es-
cape detection save in a very few instances, in which,
ivhether by connivance or otherwise, some persons

172 HISTORY OF THE

from the adjoining counties passed into it, and some
of the natives out of it ; but as neither returned to
their respective homes during the time specified,
such instances cannot efTeclually mihtate against tlie
general position here laid down, from incontroverti-
ble facts, in opposition to any unquahfied assertion
and groundless conjecture : in fact, as there was no
preconcerted plan of insurrection in the county of
Wexford, there was no similarity of circumstances
or occasion between that and the commotion in any
other part of Ireland, except in the casual incidents
of their happening at the same time, and that perhaps
the people of other counties expected like effects
from their own conduct with those hoped for by the
people of the coimty of Wexford from their own, to
rescue themselves from apprehended extermination,
which they thought could not be effected otherwise
than by the most determined resistance. These
facts are thus stated to disabuse the public, as the
direct contrary, on mere surmise, has been roundly
asserted and pretty generally believed through exag-
gerated misrepresentation.

Now, that the insurrection of the county of Wex-
ford was at its height, there existed no kind of subor-
dination or control ; individuals assumed the privi-
lege of indulging their own dispositions, and of grati-
fying private malice. The unruly populace were
furious and ungovernable, and many of this descrip-
tion remained in Wexford after the great body of the
insurgents had retired from the town : they seized
upon and lodged in the jail many persons from, all
parts of the surrounding country, who had fled thither
for protection, and were now endeavoring to conceal
themselves in the different houses of their friends, to
escape popular resentment. Many former piques,
liowever remote or trivial they might have been,

IRISH REBELLION. 173

were avenged in this manner ; so that on the 31st of
May, the jail of Wexford became absolutely crowd-
ed. On this very day Mr. Harvey, who had been
released from confinement by the people, as soon as
they took possession of the town, and was by them
appointed, whether he would or no, their commander-
in-chief, had engaged several gentlemen, among whom
there were many apprehensive of popular violence,
to an entertainment at his former lodgings, which he
had then resumed ; and all these he naturally sup-
posed under effectual protection with him, from the
nature of his appointment, against alh popular out-
rage ; but he soon had lamentable proof how ground-
less were his fond expectations. In the evening,
soon after dinner, a great mob of country people as-'
sembled in the street before the house, some of whom
knocked violently at the door, and insisted that Mr.
Turner, whom they knew to be within, should be
delivered up to ihem to be put to death, for having
burned some of their houses. I was one of those
invited by Mr. Harvey, and, as Mr. Turner was a
most particular friend of mine, I instantly went out,
and was, as I fondly imagined, so far successful as
to prevail on the populace to retire ; but to my great
mortification they returned shortly after, and insisted
with redoubled violence on Mr. Turner's being
brought out to them. Mr. Fitzgerald, who had now
come to my assistance, and myself, urged every ar-
gument that friendship could suggest, to dissuade
them from their dreadful purpose, and Mr. Harvey
also interposed for the same intent, by which means
the multitude was once more induced to retire. It
was but for a short time, however, as they quickly
came back to the house with more violence and fury
than before ; a shot was now fired at the door, as
the first notice of their approach, and they reiterated

15*

174 HISTORY OF THE

iheir demand with the loudest and most desperate
vociferations. Some of the gentlemen who on that
day dined with Mr. Harvey, now came out, and all
their united entreaties and remonstrances could ob-
tain from the enraged multitude was, that Mr. Tur-
ner might be lodged in the jail to abide his trial ; but
the demagogues denounced that if he was not sent
thither directly, Mr. Fitzgerald and Mr. Hay (mean-
ing myself) must forfeit their lives. This roused
the friendly feelings of Mr. Turner, who had over-
heard all that passed, and he accordingly requested
he might be brought to jail, as the only place of safe-
ty in his opinion, when neither the house nor the in
terference of his friends or the chief commander
could ensure him protection ; as could not indeed
the house of any one at this perturbed period, as
those of the greatest abettors and reputed favorites
and supporters of the people were searched and vio-
lated by forcibly taking out of them numbers of peo-
ple denominated enemies.

These outrages determined many to surrender
themselves, in order to be sent to jail, in hopes of
greater security, as well as it induced others to re-
main in confinement from similar expectancy of pro-
tection from the resentment of their neighbors. From
considerations of this nature, Mr. Harvey, constrained
as he was to conduct Mr. Turner to the jail, released
from thence every other person not violently accused,
and the number was considerable whom he thought
to be obnoxious to, but by these means secure from,
the intemperate vengeance of the people. During
the first days of the insurrection, indeed, any person
of previous popular character could release a friend
from confinement; but such interference soon be-
came so displeasing to the people, that most of those
who had been thus liberated were again committed.

IRISH REBELLION. 175

and destruction threatened to any one that would
presume again to enlarge them ; which prevented
numbers from interposing their good offices in favor
of such of their friends as had in any manner incurred
popular odium. Private malice was on these occa-
sions but too frequently exerted, and any accusation
was sufficient to cause any person to be sent to jail ;
which, however, was esteemed by many the safest
asylum, as it was expected that when popular fury
should have abated, the persons confined might be
permitted to return quietly to their homes. The only
effectual mode of procuring liberation from prison,
however, at this period was, to procure a certificate
in favor of the prisoner from the neighborhood in
which he lived, and in this way many were set at
liberty, who, to secure themselves against future
crimination, generally joined the insurgents. As to
the power of popularity, at all times precarious, so
difficult of attainment, and so easily lost, and which
no truly wise man ever made the scope of his actions,
or final object of pursuit, it coiild effect little in such
troublesome and turbulent times as those we are
treating of, when an insurrection prevailed, excited
by oppression, and in which there existed no regular
plan of operation or system of action ; while the
minds of the ungovernable multitude were sore and
desperate from recent irritation. Amidst such a
dreadful pubhc ferment, popularity, to a liberal mind,
proves a most tyrannical subjugation, as it enciimbers
the possessor with the oppressive weight of mobbish
applause, while it confers not on him the power of
relieving a suffering friend, who may have attracted,
inadvertently, or otherwise, the deadly resentment of
an unbridled populace ; and, what is still more af-
flicting to generous feelings, the devoted victim of the
moment perhaps imagines the popular friend all-

[76 HISTORY OF THE

jowerful for his preservation, while it is melancholy

0 reflect that, on such occasions, it is in the power
)f a villain to counteract the benevolent intentions
md humane disposition of the highest respectabihty,
ntelligence, and virtue !

After the insurgents, as has been related, moved
)ff in two separate divisions from Wexford, there
itill remained several of their number in the town,
vho assumed the office of supplying the camps with
lecessaries, and this by their own authority they de-
;lared must be done from Wexford. These self-
:reated commissaries, having put all necessaries ac-
cordingly in requisition, began to search all the houses,
md in the course of such survey, plundered them of
jvery article they thought proper, asserting that all
hey took away was for the general service. Great
ibuses were consequently committed in this arbitrary
node of levying contributions, and so great a waste
)f property, particularly of provisions, was made, that
he town and its neighborhood were threatened with

1 famine. The people of Wexford, therefore, desi-
ous to get rid of these troublesome marauders, and
o have some regulations adopted for the prevention
)f plunder, appointed twelve of the principal inhabi-
ants, as a committee, to regulate the distribution of
provisions, as well as of all other necessaries in re-
quisition ; and the generous individuals who under-
ook this arduous task (it was indeed an herculean
abor) were actuated by the most virtuous and disin-
erested motives in their exertions to protect general
IS well as individual property. As whiskey and
eather were the articles most in demand in the
camps, distillers and tanners especially entreated the
committee to issue regular orders for the supplies
"rom their stores, to prevent as much as possible the
otal destruction of their substance and concerns,

IRISH REBELLION. 177

adding, that they were very wilHng to give up their
whole stock for the general service ; yet, strange as
it may appear, some of this description of persons
were most forward afterwards in prosecuting those
very men, who, by their humane interference, were
instrumental in saving their lives and properties ;
for certainly the worst consequences were to be ap-
prehended from the indiscriminate plunder, and
consequently inordinate consumption of spirituous
liquors, by the prevention of which and other dis-
orders, through indefatigable exertions, the committee
actually proved the salvation of the country ; and,
what may not appear unworthy of observation, al-
though chosen by the inhabitants at large from among
themselves, there was but one United Irishman
among them, which could not be the case had the
people been generally sworn.

Captain Keugh was appointed military commander
of the town, which was now divided into wards, each
of which had a company of men, armed with guns
and pikes as they could procure them, and these ap-
pointed their own officers. There was a regular
parade morning and evenjng on the custom-house
quay ; guards were struck off and relieved, and a
pass-word and countersign regularly given out. The
insurrection Jiad by this time become so general in
all parts of the county forsaken by the military, that
even the inhabitants of the baronies of Forth and Bar-
gy thought it incumbent on them to show their dis-
position, and to appear in Wexford ; in short, every
person remaining in the county thought it best at this
period to come forward and make common cause
with the insurgents. The inhabitants of the last-
mentioned baronies, however, being a race of men
of peaceable and industrious habits, and not having
experienced the persecutions practised in other dis-

178 HISTORY OF THE

tricts, were not easily excited to commit those acts
of outrage which took place in other quarters ; but
they were at length terribly alarmed and roused to
resistance by the cruel and merciless conduct of the
military in their flight from Wexford ; but even then
their determination of vengeance appeared solely di-
rected against the body whose unprovoked fury had
affected them with injury. These people, on their
march to Wexford, halted near Johnstown, the seat
of Cornelius Grogan, Esq., for whom a party was
dispatched to bring him out and oblige him to join
them ; and thus this aged gentleman was constrained
to accommodate himself to the crazy temper of the
times ; and being placed on horseback, then ill of the
gout, he was conducted along by the multitude, con-
sisting of several thousands on foot, and many hun-
dreds of horsemen. On their entrance into the town,
and defiling through the streets, not many pikes could
be seen, but vast numbers were equipped with spits,
pitchforks, and such-like offensive weapons, with
which they endeavored, as much as in their power,
to imitate and assume the appearance of pikemen ;
and after having shouted and paraded for some time
through the streets, they retired peaceably to their
homes without committing further outrage. All the
forges both in town and country were instantly em-
ployed in the fabrication of pike-blades, and timber
of every description fit for handles was procured for
that purpose wherever to be found ; so that in a very
short time, no person could be seen (so general was
the principle or affectation of arming) without a war-
like weapon of some kind, a green cockade, a hat-
band, sash, or other ornament of that color. Four
oyster-boats were fitted out in the harbor, and manned
with five-and-twenty men each, to cruise outside the
bay ; and these from time to time brought in several

IRISH REBELLION. 179

vessels, mostly bound for Dublin, laden with oats,
potatoes, and different other kinds of provisions ;
which became very seasonable supplies for the town,
that must otherwise have suffered great distress, as
the markets were deseited by the country people.
Three old pieces of cannon were brought down and
mounted on the fort of Roslare, situate at the entrance
of the harbor, to prevent any sloops of war from pass-
ing, such armed vessels only being capable of enter-
mg the harbor of Wexford ; and four old sloops were
ready to be scuttled and sunk in the channel to pre-
vent any such armed vessel, in the event of her pass-
ing the fort, from approaching the town.

Money seemed to have vanished during the insur-
rection, as no person was willing to admit beintr
possessed of any currency exclusive of bank-notes'^
which were held in such little estimation, that great

quantities of them were inconsiderately destroyed

some in lighting tobacco-pipes, and others used as
waddings for firelocks ; but whatever little provis-
ions appeared at market, sold very cheaply for ready
money ; for instance, butter sold by the pound for
two pence, and butcher's meat, of any kind, for one
penny. As lo bank-notes, any one might starve
who had no other means of procuring the prime
necessaries, for which, when offered for sale, nothing
but specie would be accepted as payment. Every
endeavjif was made to have the markets well sup-
pHed and attended ; but even at the cheap rate just
stated, there were scarcely any purchasers ; so un-
willing did every one appear to acknowledge the
possession of money; but it must be mentioned,
that indeed the necessity of purchasing at market
was in a great measure superseded, for among the
various duties of the committee one was that of
supplying every person in town with provisions. On

.?

180 HISTORY OF THE

application to them, every house was furnished with
a ticket specifying the number of inhabitants, and
all persons, even the wives and families of those
considered the greatest enemies of the people, were
indiscriminately included ; and every person sent
with a ticket to the public stores appointed for that
purpose, received a proportionate quantity of meat,
potatoes, and other necessaries, free of any expense.
The bread in general was bad, as no good flour
could be obtained.

In the country, the people formed themselves
generally into parish divisions, and each division
elected its own officers. All persons capable of
carrying arms w^ere to attend the camps, on being
furnished with pikes or guns, as either could be best
procured ; some on foot and others on horseback, as
they could best accommodate themselves. Most
persons were desirous to wear ornaments of some
kind or other, and accordingly decorated themselves
in the most fantastical manner, with feathers, tip-
pets, handkerchiefs, and all the showy parts of
ladies' apparel : green was the most favorite and
predominant color, but on failure of this, decora-
tions of almost any other color were substituted ;
and as to their flags or ensigns, they were also gen-
erally green, or of a greenish hue ; but on account
of a deficiency in this respect, they displayed ban-
ners of all colors except orange, to wb»ch the
people showed the most unalterable dislike, aver-
sion, and antipathy, — even blue, black, red, and yel-
low, were remarked among their banners. Many
damsels made an offering of their colored petticoats
for the public service ; and to make these gifts the
more acceptable, they usually decorated them ac-
cording to their different fancies, and from the va-
riety thus exhibited, there appeared not two similar

IRISH REBELLION. 181

banners in the whole. Several loyal ladies, too,
both in town and country, displayed their taste in
richly and fancifully ornamenting ensigns, to ingra-
tiate themselves with the people ; but many of them,
not having time to perfect their chef-d'ceuvres before
the insurrection was suppressed, have since thought
it prudent, I suppose, to destroy these and the like
specimens of elegant accomplishment, at which I
had opportunities of observing them earnestly em-
ployed, during the short-lived period of popular
triumph. But now we must return to events which
occurred in other parts of the country.

After the battle of Oulart, which was fought on
the 27th of May, as already detailed, the yeomanry
distinguished themselves, in the northern part of the
county, by falling on the defenceless and unoffend-
ing populace, of whom they slew some hundreds.
It being Whitsunday, the people were as usual go
ing to their chapels to attend divine service, when
many of them were led by curiosity, which is gen-
erally excited by the report of fire-arms, to ascend
different eminences, from which the dreadful and
horrid scenes of devastation by fire and sword, pre-
vailing through the country round, as far as the e3'e
could reach, was presented to their astonished and
affrighted view ; and as the different groups thus
collected were perceived by the yeomanry, these
pursued and cut them down. The most inoffensive
were most likely to suffer by this mode of qui-
eting disturbances, because, conscious of their inno-
cence, they made no effort to avoid the sudden fate
which they had no reason to apprehend. Even
many who remained within their houses did not fare
better than their more curious or less fearful neigh-
bors, as numbers of them were called out and shot
at their own doors ; nay, some infirm and decrepit

16

182 HISTORY OF THE

old men were plunged into eternity by these valor-
ous guardians and preservers of the public peace !
On every occasion, however, they were not inexora-
ble to the piteous petitions for life, as a sum of
money properly offered and timely presented saved
some, who, after the insurrection was quelled, came
forward with their complaints ; and among others
who were obliged to disgorge these bloody ransoms,
Mr. Hunter Gowan, a magistrate and captain of a
yeomanry corps, on a complaint made to Mr. Beau-
man, sen., of Hyde Park, (from whom I had this
account,) was obliged to refund the money. These
people, on surrendering their pikes and other offen-
sive weapons and arms, fondly imagined that they
had secured themselves protection, and were there-
fore not at all apprehensive of attack, but they soon
found themselves miserably mistaken. Had their
intentions been for violence, they would naturally
have assembled in a large body, on some command
ing hill, as the other insurgents did, where they
would have appeared formidable ; so that their
having collected into numberless small groups is
certainly to be deemed rather the effect of curiosity,
than the effort of insurrection.

Great numbers of people, taking their families
and such of their effects as they could conveniently
transport thither along with them, fled for refuge
into Gorey, where a general panic, however, pre-
vailed, although, besides the yeomanry of the town,
a party of the North Cork militia, under the com-
mand of Lieutenant Swayne, together with the Bal-
laghkeen, Coolgreny, Arklow, Northshire, and Cool-
atin corps of yeomen cavalry — the Tinnahely and
Wingfield corps of yeomen infantry — and a com-
pany of the Antrim militia, commanded by Lieu-
tenant Elliot, were stationed there ; but, notwilh-

IRISH REBELLION. 183

Standing, on a rumor that the insurgents were ap-
proaching, it was determined to abandon the town,
and proceed to Arklow ; but, previous to its evacu-
ation, eleven men, taken out of their beds, within a
mile's distance, were brought in and shot in the
streets, where they were left for dead ; but six
of them recovered. By order of Mr. White, how-
ever, upwards of one hundred prisoners were re-
leased from the jail and market-house, and many of
them received protections, which they placed in
their hats, in order to exhibit as conspicuously as
possible ; but this precaution did not prevent some
being shot by other yeomen, whom they fell in with
on their way home ! The order for evacuation being
announced at five o'clock on the morning of the
28th, a distressing scene of trepidation and confu-
sion ensued. Affrighted crowds of people might be
seen running in all directions, preparing for flight ;
while such as could were harnessing their horses,
and placing their families on cars, with the utmost
precipitation, — all endeavoring to escape from the
town as speedily as possible. The road was soon
thronged, to a great extent, with a train of cars,
which were loaded with women and children, ac-
companied by a vast multitude on foot, among
whom were many women with their children on
their back, and from the continued heat and drought
of the weather, the dust excited by this crowded
procession distressfully obstructed respiration.

By this abandonment of Gorey, the whole of the
surrounding country was left entirely exposed, and
yet the insurgents did not at all, at this time, ap-
proach the town, but remained in their encampment
on the hill of Carrigrew ; nor did the inhabitants of
this quarter then rise or join in the insurrection ;
but strictly observed, on their part, the promises

154 HISTORY OF THE

thev had made to the magistrates on surrendering
their arms ; and vet it is a notorious fact, that there
"were more United Irishmen in this than in any other
part of the county of ^^'exford, and that it even
comprehended tlie district of sixteen parishes al-
ready stated to have been proclaimed in November,
1797. While Gorev -was thus abandoned by the
military, and by such as were allowed, or tor whom
it would be safe to accompany them, it was filled
vnih the property and effects of the fugitives, yet no
plunder was committed, and no disturbance took
place, so that on their return tbey found all belong-
ing to them in perfect security, having been pro-
tected by those that remained in the town. The
only instance of spoliation supposed to have taken
place on this occasion is, that a yeoman got some
money belonging to Mr. William Sparrow, by whose
desire he came for it on the 30th, and which the
owner never received. A party of yeomen returned
on the 29th, and brought away provisions ; but as
these were galloping into the town, one of the shoes
of a yeoman's horse struck fire against the f>ave-
ment, haply on the very spot where a quantity of
gunpowder had remained, after a small cask of that
dangerous combustible which, previous to the flight,
had fallen from a car into the street, and was burst.
An explosion instantly ensued, by which the horse
and horseman were blown up, and narrowly escaped
with hfe : the horse's hair was desperately singed,
and the yeoman himself was terribly scorched. On
the 31st, the militar}- returned to Gorey ; on which,
although left utterly defenceless since the morning
of the 2Sth, not the smallest attempt was made by
the insurgents to take possession ; and on the dispo-
sition to f>eace and order manifested by the inhab-
itants who remained in the town after the abandon-

IRISH REBELLION. ISo

merit, their laudable conduct is the best comment.
Different parties of yeomen went out from the
town, ransacked the houses throuorh the country,
brought away as much as they could carry, driving
off numbers of cattle, some belonsrinsr to Lord
Mountnorris, and put ihem into Mr. Ram's demesne.
Indeed, they were not very exact nor scrupulous as
to individual property, for they brought off cdl the
cattle they could collect in the countr}-, and took up
bacon, cheese, butter, and provisions of all kinds,
wherever tliey found them ; and to crown all, they
took a great number of men prisoners, to supply
the place of those that were h berated in the com-
mencement of the flight ; so that this must be ac-
knowledged, if not Talorous, at least rery active
service.

On the morning of the first of June, an indepen-
dent, or self-constituted bodv of insurarents, unknown
to any of the three general encampment* of Vinegar
HilL Taghmon, and Carrigrew, proceeded on a se-
cret expedition to Xewtownbarry, (anciently called
Bunclody,) garrisoned by the King's county militia,
commanded by Colonel Lestrange, and the corps of
yeomen cavalry and infantr\' belonging to the place.
These insurgents having divided into two parties,
made their attack on both sides of the Slaney, on the
western bank whereof hes the town, and of this they
were soon left in possession by the retreat of the
military ; but they instantly proceeded to plunder,
particularly whiskey, of which ihev drank very
freely, and being thus regardless of the advantage
they obtained, they afforded the military, whom they
did not attempt to pursue, time to rally and return
upon them while in this disorderly state, so as to
obhge them to fly with some loss and precipitation.

Qsx this day also, a party of iasurgenis tcom V^ae-

16*

186 HISTORY OF THE

gar Hill proceeded to join those encamped at Carri-
grew, whose numbers were greatly lessened by de-
sertions for home. They were now, however, mus-
tering pretty strongly all over the country, intending
to assemble their collective force on the hill of Bal-
lymenane ; but, while moving forward in a detached
and disorderly manner, they were met by a force
from Gorey, under the command of Lieutenant Elli-
ot, consisting of parties of the Antrim and North
Cork militia, above fifty yeomen infantry, and three
troops of yeomen cavalry. These, by preserving
their order, had great advantage in this unexpected
rencounter over the insurgents, who retreated with
some loss and in disorder ; leaving behind a great
number of horses which were brought into Gorey,
together with the plunder of many houses, which
were burnt after despoiling; among the rest that of
Mr. Kenney, a tanner and shopkeeper, confidently
asserted to be a loyal man : his character, however,
did not protect him, for he was shot in his own gar-
den, and so fell a victim to the angry indiscrimina-
ting spirit of the times, like many other innocent per-
sons. This is very strongly exemplified by a trans-
action mentioned by the Rev. Mr. Gordon as fol-
lows : — " A small occurrence after the battle, of
which a son of mine was a witness, may help to il-
lustrate the state of the country at that time : — Two
yeomen coming to a brake or clump of bushes, and
observing a small motion as if some persons were
hiding there, one of them fired into it, and the shot
was answered by a most piteous and loud screech of
a child. The other yeoman was then urged by his
companion to fire ; but he being a gentleman, and
less ferocious, instead of firing, commanded the con-
cealed persons to appear, when a poor woman and
eight children almost naked, one of whom was se-

IRISH REBELLION, 1^57

verely wounded, came trembling from the brake,
where they had secreted themselves for safety."* In-
deed the seKled practice was, to shoot all men that
were met ; and by this desperate system, the most
innocent and peaceable were generally the most
likely to suffer ; for being unwilling to join the insur-
gents, the ungenerous suspicions generally thrown
out, however unjustly, against the Catholics, which
constituted a vast majority of the people at large,
precluded the possibility of their joining the army'^or
yeomen, who professed the rankest and most invete-
rate distrust of the people, for any of whom it was
extremely unsafe to venture into their presence on
any occasion whatsoever, as numbers had fallen a
sacrifice to a confidence in their own peaceable in-
tentions and innocent demeanor; and this kind of
conduct had finally the effect of determining multi-
tudes to join the insurgents, considering it, at length,
the only means of self-preservation. The mind of
the impartial reader must be strongly impressed with
the barbarous impolicy of thus cherishing these odious
and unnatural prejudices, as well as with the despe-
rate situation in which the country was placed through
these means ; and what a dreadful misfortune it must
prove to be an inhabitant where not only such senti-
ments were very strenuously inculcated, but where
even the most shocking scenes of foulest outrage
were permitted, and perpetrated with the basest and
most criminal connivance.

From the inactivity of the insurgents encamped at
Carrickbyrne, occasioned in a great degree from their
want of an ostensible commander, constant sallies
were made out of Ross, and great havoc and devas-
tation committed throughout the country. These

* See Gordon's History, page 113.

18S HISTORY OF THE

occurrences produced a general meeting of the prin-
cipal inhabitants on the 1st of June, wherein Mr.
Harvey was called on to act as commander-in-cliief,
and various other appointments and regulations took
place for the maintenance and supply of the country.
The day after, Mr. Harvey took the command in
person at Carrickbyrne, where, on his arrival, several
fugitives appeared, giving dreadful accounts of their
suffering from the yeomanry, and at the time several
houses were on fire about Old Ross. The com-
mander-in-chief instantly ordered Mr. Thomas Clo-
ney, with all the horsemen that could be collected, to
proceed against the depredators, who fled on their
approach, and were chased in full speed to Ross. At
this critical period, the Protestant church of Old
Ross was burned, by no means with the knowledge
or consent of Mr. Cloney or his parly ; and the re-
sult of every inquiry at the time was, that the church
was set on fire in revenge and retaliation by individ-
ual sufferers, as many houses were burned, and sev-
eral unresisting persons were shot immediately pre-
ceding this conflagration. I should wish to be able
to give a more circumstantial account of this occur-
rence, as it was the only one of the kind that took
place during the insurrection, but have not been able
to procure further information ; however, a witness
on the trial of Mr. Cloney by court-martial at Wex-
ford, in 1799, mentioned the circumstance, but in
such a manner as only to attract the notice of an en-
thusiastic maniac. By having reference to the trial,
it will also appear, that Mr. Cloney's humanity and
exertions for those in any kind of distress, was as
conspicuous as his courage in the field, after he had
been forced from his house when the military had
fled, and left the insurgents in unconlrollable posses-
sion of the country.

IRISH REBELLION. 189

On the 2d of June, as one of the armed oyster-
boats already noticed, was cruising outside the har-
bor of Wexford, she fell in with a boat from Arklow,
which, upon being hailed, came to and was taken.
On board this vessel were three officers of the North
Cork militia, Lord Kingsborough, the colonel. Cap-
tain O'Hea, and Lieutenant Bourke, who were ac-
cordingly made prisoners. This nobleman and these
his officers were in Dublin when informed of the de-
feat of part of their regiment at Oulart, as before
stated, and immediately purposed to join it; for which
purpose, proceeding by land as far as Arklow, and
finding the insurrection more formidable than they
could be brought before to imagine, they there hired
a boat to carry them to Wexford, not conceiving it
possible that it had been abandoned and then was in
the hands of the insurgents. They were taken, there-
fore, at their entrance into the harbor, and conducted
without any person in town being previously informed
of the fact, to the house of Captain Keugh, then
the acknowledged military commander of the town.
Here his lordship and the two officers made prisoners
with him were entertained for some days before the
people expressed any dissatisfaction or apprehension
that they might be enabled to escape ; but these
manifestations of popular distrust being made known,
they were conveyed to a house in the bull-ring, near
the main guardhouse, where sentinels were posted
inside and outside ; and there they continued, under
these measures of precaution, until the subsequent
surrender of the town to his lordship himself as an
officer in the king's service.

The people of the barony of Forth, having by this
time sufficiently equipped themselves with pikes,
joined the encampment now formed on the hill of
Carrickbyrne, whither, it must be observed, the in

190 HISTORY OF THE

surgents of the camp near Taghmon had shifted on
the first of June. A small party from Wexford also,
denominated the Faith Corps, joined the encampment
on Carrigrew.

The committee of general regulation appointed in
Wexford, and already noticed, waited on Mr. Har-
vey, commander-in-chief of the insurgents, expressing
their hopes that the service in the Protestant church,
which had been hitherto interrupted, might be no
longer discontinued ; as they wished to do all in their
power to dissipate religious animosities, by incul-
cating the absurdity of fear on this account alone, and
to undeceive the numbers of sudden converts who
were applying to the Catholic priests to be baptized,
beseeching in the most earnest manner to be thus re-
ceived into the bosom of the Catholic Church, from
an idea that it was then the only plan of safety. Nay,
so persevering were the generality in their piteous
entreaties, that the Catholic clergy found themselves
very distressingly circumstanced ; for should they re-
fuse to comply with the wishes and earnest solicita-
tions of such Protestants as offered themselves in
this way, they perceived that they would be subject
to the most violent animadversions for any fatal acci-
dent that might befall any of them ; and on the other
hand, knowing that imagined necessity alone was the
motive of apparent conversion, they must have con-
sidered it improper to accept their conformity without
serious and solemn probation. On this occasion,
however, the humanity of many superseded the dic-
tates of duty, so far as to induce them to risk the
profanation of a sacrament for the preservation of
lives, and to dispel the dreadful apprehensions from
Orangemen ; the greatest assurance of not belonging
to that combination being that of conversion to the
Catholic communion, which was considered to render

IRISH REBELLION. 191

any person inadmissible into an association which the
majority of the people absolutely believed to be in-
stituted for their destruction. Their alarms, how-
ever, worked so strongly on the minds of the affected
converts, that all arguments exerted to dispel their
fears generally proved ineffectual, as they would still
persist in most earnest solicitation for admission.
Some clergymen, however, in this dilemma, positive-
ly refused baptizing Protestant converts, but then
they took a far better and consistent mode of quieting
alarms. They gave the strongest assurances to such
as applied to them, that the Catholic Church does
not deem it necessary to rebaptize any denomination
of Christians otherwise than conditionally, as the ex-
istence of any previous baptism whatever, and attend-
ance on duties and divine service, was sufficient
conformity.

A curious circumstance, however, occurred in
Wexford at this time, which eventually produced a
great number of conditional baptisms. A young lady
who on first application failed of persuading a Catho-
lic priest to confer on her the favor of baptism, had
the diligence and address afterwards to discover that
the Protestant minister who had undertaken to per-
form that ceremony in her infancy, had only filliped
or sprinkled the water at her with his finger, and so
it was within the limits of probability that a drop
might not have reached her head so as to form an
ablution. Being very ingenious and persevering in
her arguments, so as to appear capable of puzzling
the nicest casuist, she at last made out her own a
doubtful case, and was accordingly quieted by condi-
tional baptism. When the particulars of this trans-
action got abroad, the solicitations to the Cathohc
clergy for the boon of conditional baptism became
considerably more frequent, the appUcants quoting

192 HISTORY OF THE

this recent precedent, and adducing the hearsay evi-
dence and far-fetched recollection of grandmothers,
grand-aunts, and other grave and venerated relatives,
with a long train of minute circumstances, to prove
a similarity of cases, and claiming on this account
an equal consideration. Notwithstanding the earnest
exertions of the committee, and many of the principal
Catholics, to dispel the fears of their Protestant breth-
ren, whom they offered to protect even at the risk of
their own lives, all endeavors to have service per-
formed in the Protestant church proved ineffectual.
It must be remarked, however, that the place itself
suffered not .the smallest indignity during the whole
period of the insurrection, except in the instance of
the abandonment of their usual place of worship by
the Protestants, of whom great numbers flocked in
the most public and conspicuous manner to the Cath-
olic chapel, where they affected the greatest piety
and devotion. The epithet of " craw-thumpers," op-
probriously applied to Catholics for contritely striking
their breasts at their devotions, was never more
strongly exemplified than by these converts. Catho-
lics strike their breasts gently on certain occasions,
and with the right hand alone, but Protestants who
attended at mass in these times generally continued
to strike themselves vehemently with both hands
almost during the whole service. I had the good
fortune to prevent all such as consulted me on the
occasion as to the expediency of conforming, by per-
suading them to avoid the disgrace of such a mock-
ery ; and I had the satisfaction afterwards to hear
those applauded who did not appear to change their
rehgion, while those who turned with the times were
reprobated — some as hypocrites, and others as cow-
ards. And, in good truth, what favorable opinion
could be entertained of such as did not continue

IRISH REBELLION. 193

faithful even to their God according to the dictategf
of their conscience ?

The Rev. Mr. Dixon, a Roman Catholic clergy-
man, who had been condemned before a magistrate,
and sentenced to transportation, was sent off to Dun-
cannon Fort the day preceding the insurrection ; and
tliis was on the testimony of a man named Francis
Murphy, whose evidence was positively contradicted
by three other witnesses. These facts, together
with the pubhc odium incurred by the man himself,
induced Thomas Dixon, a seafaring captain and mas-
ter of a vessel, who also kept a porterhouse in Wex-
ford, to take a summary mode of avenging the fate
of the clergyman, who was his relation. For this
purpose he brought the man out of jail, upon his own
sole authority, and conducted him down to the bull-
ring, where he obliged three revenue officers, who
were then prisoners, and whom he brought out along
with him, to shoot him, and afterwards bear his body
to the quay and throw it into the water. This exe-
cution look place, with all its shocking circumstances,
while most of the townspeople were at prayers, and
was utterly unknown to the principal inhabitants;
but at all events Dixon could the more readily ac-
complish his vengeance, without fear of being pre-
vented, on account of the public execration generally
prevalent against informers.

The military stationed at Gorey made constant
sallies, in the course of which, through the country,
they plundered and burned many houses, and shot
several stragglers who happened to fall in their way.
This provoked the insurgents to vie with their op-
ponents in this mode of warfare, and retaliation has
on this, as well as on every other occasion, pro-
duced many woful scenes. Enormities, in fact,
were Qpmraitted on both sides, which, among their

17

194 HISTORY OF THE

many lamentable consequences, tended to exasperate
the party animosities, already too powerfully de-
structive of the peace and happiness of the country.
At this time, reinforcements were every day crowd-
ing into Gorey. On the 3d of June, General Loftus
arrived there, with fifteen hundred men under his
command, as did also Colonel Walpole, from Car-
new, whence he had several times gone out to re-
connoitre the camp at Carrigrew. A determination
was formed to attack this on the 4th, with the force
then in Gorey, with which the troops from Carnew
and Newtownbarry were to co-operate, so as to en-
gage the insurgents on all sides ; and from these
arrangements, and considering the force that was to
act against them, little doubt was entertained of
their total and speedy defeat. The army from Gorey
marched out at the appointed time, and formed into
two divisions ; the one under General Loftus took
route towards Ballycanew, while the other, com-
manded by Colonel Walpole, proceeded by the
Camolin road directly, to commence the concerted
attack on Carrigrew. The insurgents had, however,
quitted this post, and were in full march towards
Gorey, when they suddenly and unawares fell in
with this military body under Colonel Walpole, at a
place called Tubberneering. The meeting was
equally unexpected on both sides, and this circum-
stance, no less true than extraordinary, neither party
having any scouts, produced an instantaneous and
confused action, in which Colonel Walpole was
killed, in a few minutes after its commencement,
and his troops immediately gave way, and fled in
the utmost precipitation and disorder, leaving the
victors in possession of three pieces of cannon, two
six-pounders, and another of inferior size. The
fate of this action was so quickly decided, as to

' IRISH REBELLION. 195

allow General Loftus not the smallest opportunity
of affording the troops under Colonel Walpole any
assistance. The loss of the military in killed and
wounded was considerable, besides Captain M'Ma-
nus, Lieutenant Hogg, and Ensign Barry, of the
Antrim militia, with many privates, taken prisoners.
The rest, in the greatest possible haste, being pur-
sued by the insurgents, reached Gorey, which they
as quickly passed through ; but would, in revenge,
have put the prisoners in the town to death, had
they not feared that the delay it would occasion
might cost them too dearly. This account I have
from a captain of yeomanry, who opposed with all
his might the perpetration of such a cruel and bar-
barous deed, and who, to his honor, was incapable
of countenancing such an atrocity imder any cir-
cumstances. The retreat was thence very precip-
itate to Arklow, where a council of war was hastily
held, at which it was as hastily determined to aban-
don that town, and this was accordingly put into
execution. Some were so panic-struck, that they
did not stop till they reached Dublin ; but others
stopped at different distances, when their horses or
themselves were not able to proceed farther. Gen-
eral Loftus, on .hearing the report of the cannon and
other fire-arms in the engagement, not being able to
go across the country, proceeded round by the road
to the scene of action, where he found the bodies of
many slain, and did not learn the fate of Colonel
Walpole till he saw him stretched on the field of
battle. He then moved towards Gorey, but thought
it most prudent to alter his line of direction upon
being saluted by the insurgents with the cannon
they had just taken, and which ihey had drawn up
to the summit of the hill of Gorey, which is imme-
diately over the town, commanding it in every quar-

196 IltSTORY OP THE

ter. The general then marched to Carnew, and
from that to Tullow. The troops that had pro-
ceeded from Carnew in the morning, to co-operate
in the intended general attack on the insurgents at
Carrigrevv, did not return thither upon hearing of
the, defeat, but made Newtownbarry with those who
had come out from thence on the same expedition.

The insurgents were now in possession of the
whole of the county of Wexford, except the fort of
Duncannon, the towns of Ross and Newtownbarry ;
and were at perfect liberty, if they pursued their
advantages, to seize upon Carnew, and also to enter
Arklow, situated in the county of Wicklow, and
what consequences might have ensued are now in-
calculable.

On the evening of the 4th of June, the insurgents
stationed on the hill of Carrickbyrne, whither the
Taghmon encampment, as has been observed, was
transferred on the 1st, nov^^ proceeded to Corbet
Hill, within a mile of the town of Ross, the garri-
son of which had lately received great reinforce-
ments, by the arrival there of the Donegal, Clare,
and Meath regiments of militia, a detachment of
English and Irish artillery, the 5th dragoons, the
Mid-Lothian fencibles, and on this very evening the
county of Dublin regiment of militia considerably
added to its force, which, upon the whole, amounted
to twelve liundred men, exclusive of the yeomen,
all under the command of Major-General Johnson,
who expected an attack during the night, and conse-
quently the troops remained under arms, without
being allowed to take any repose. The insurgents,
led by their commander-in-chief, Mr. Beauchamp
Bagnal Harvey, a little after their arrival on Corbet
Hill, were saluted with a few cannon-shot and
bomb-shells from the town, without producing any

IRISH REBELLION. 197

Other effect than that of increasing their vigilance.
Mr. Harvey and his principal officers took up their
quarters in the house of Corbet Hill, where, being
regaled with an excellent supper and exquisite
wines, they were so well pleased with their cheer,
and so far forgot their prudence as commanders,
that they had scarcely time to fall asleep since the
moment of their retirement, until they were roused,
by the orders they had given in their sober mo-
ments, to commence ihe attack at break of day.
Mr. Furlong was immediately dispatched with a flag
of truce, and the following summons to the com-
manding officer in Ross : — •

" Sir — As a friend to humanity, I request you
will surrender the town of Ross to the Wexford
forces now assembled against that town. Your re-
sistance will but provoke rapine and plunder, to the
ruin of the most innocent. Flushed with victory,
the Wexford forces, now innumerable and irresist-
ible, will not be controlled if they meet with any
resistance : to prevent, therefore, the total ruin of all
property in the town, I urge you to a speedy sur-
render, which you will be forced to do in a few
hours, with loss and bloodshed, as you are sur-
rounded on all sides. Your answer is required in
four hours. Mr. Furlong carries this letter, and will
bring the answer.

" I am, sir, &c. &c.

'' B. B. Harvey.

' Camp at Corbet Hill, half-past three
o'clock, morning, June 5th, 1798."

Mr. Furlong was shot the moment he approached
the outposts, which so exasperated the people, that
they could not be restrained, from instantly rushing

17*

198 HISTORY OF THE

on to attack the Three-bullet gate, being the part of
the town next to them ; and this it was that princi-
pally prevented the concerted plan of assault from
being carried into execution ; as three divisions of
their forces were to have begun their operations
against different parts of the town at the same lime.
This particular division, therefore, not waiting till
the other two should have reached their several sta-
tions of action, the latter not only did not proceed,
but were seized with such a panic that they dis-
persed all over the country, flying in all directions to
their several homes, and bearing as they Avenl along
the tidings of a total defeat ; and this derout was, in
a great degree, occasioned by the example of one
of the divisional commanders, who, without the
least effort to answer the intent of his appointment,
turned away from the action, and rode hastily home-
ward. Even in the town of Wexford, nineteen
miles distant from Ross, the news of a defeat was
announced at an early hour of the day, by many
fugitives who had taken that direction, relating
various and strange adventures to account for their
own precipitate flight. One fourth of the numbers
that encamped on Corbet Hill the evening before,
did not stand in the morning of the day of action,
so that even the division that commenced and after-
wards continued the assault, was by no means com-
plete, numbers of those who constituted it having
also abandoned their stations, which were far from
being adequately supplied by such of the two panic-
struck divisions as had the courage and resolution to
join in the battle then going forward and in its
greatest heat. From this statement, however, it
must appear, that no plan was pursued in the attack
by the nisurgenls, but that whatever they accom-
plished in the onset, must have been from individual

IRISH REBELLION. 199

courage and intrepidity. They first dislodged the
army from behind the walls and ditches, where they
were very advantageously posted ; and on this occa-
sion the cavalry, in their charges, were repulsed
with considerable loss, Cornet Dodwell and twenty-
seven men of the fifth dragoons having fallen in the
first onset. The military then retreated into the
town, through the Three-bullet gate, pursued hot
foot by the insurgents, who obliged them to move
from one situation to another, until they at last drove
them over the wooden-bridge on the Barrow, into
the county of Kilkenny. The main guard at the
market-house, however, consisting of a sergeant and
fifteen men, not only maintained their situation, but
even defended it with uncommon bravery and reso-
lution, having two swivels to support them. Major
Vandeleur, of the Clare militia, also continued the
whole of the day, with a strong detachment of his
regiment, at his post at Irishtown, where he stood
pretty severe duty, but not altogether so violent as
it would be had the place been generally attacked,
according to Mr. Harvey's original plan, this being
the principal entrance. When the insurgents had
thus got possession of the town, they fell to plunder-
ing and drinking, on which they became so intent,
that they could not be brought to follow up their ad-
vantage. In the mean time the army rallied on the
county of Kilkenny side of the bridge ; and although
a retreat was before determined on, yet they were
induced to return upon perceiving that there was no
pursuit, and besides they were powerfully instigated
to this by the spirited exhortations of Messrs. M'Cor-
mick and Devereux, two yeomen not possessed of
any command, but the display of whose active cour-
age and intrepidity contributed in a great degree to
turn the fate of tlie day, and to whose real merit ev-

200 HISTORY OF THE

ery praise is justly due on this occasion, wiierein
few officers distinguished themselves, as may be fair-
ly concluded from the official returns of the killed
and wounded,' these casualties in regard to the offi-
cers not bearing due proportion to those of the pri-
vate men, which could hardly be the case had the
former maintained their stations with becoming firm-
ness. The county of Dublin militia, on hearing of
the death of their favorite colonel. Lord Mounijoy,
were the first to renew the attack under the com-
mand of Major Vesey. Their example was followed
by the rest of the troops, and their united eflforts
shortly compelled such of the insurgents as were not
too drunk, to fly out of the town, of which they had
been by this time some hours in possession. Hav-
ing respired a little, however, from their hasty re-
treat, which in a great degree made them sober, they
again returned to the charge, and the contest which
now ensued was maintained on both sides with great
obstinacy, both parlies being induced, by experience
of the former encounter, not to relax their exertions.
The intrepidity of the insurgents was truly remarka-
ble, as notwithstanding the dreadful havoc made in
their ranks by the artillery, they rushed up to the
very mouths of the cannon, regardless of tlie num-
bers that were falling on all sides of them, and push-
ed forward with such impetuosity, that they obliged
the army to retire once more and leave the town to
themselves. But even after this they soon fell into
the same misconduct as before, crowning their bra-
very with drunkenness. Of this the proper advan-
tage was quickly taken by the army, who again re-
newed the attack, by which they finally became per-
fect masters of the town. Several houses were set
on fire and consumed in the course of this and the
former attack, but one of these deserves particular

IRISH REBELLION. 201

notice : this was a slated house, four stories high,
on the summit of the main street near the church,
in which seventy-five persons were burnt to ashes ;
none having escaped but one man, who, in running
away, was fortunate enough to get clear of the fire
of the soldiery. On the evening of the preceding
Wednesday, Mr. Cullimore, a quaker, wishing to
visit his family at his country-house, a short distance
from the town, was taken prisoner as he attempted
to pass the patroles, brought in, and confined in the
market-house, from which he was not released on
the da)'' of battle, as if it were by the special inter-
ference of Providence, for some of the mihtary, when
they imagined the day going against them, had re-
solved to put all the prisoners in the town to death,
but when a party of those on guard entered the place
of confinement for the nefarious purpose, Mr. Culli-
more addressed them with an authoritative and
impressive tone, saying — " You shall not shoot the
j)risoners : there are some men here as loyal as you
arer This address and manner of a man better
than Marius, awed and overcame the sanguinary
slaves, so that they retired without perpetrating the
horrid crime of their bloody intent ! ! ! Some offi-
cers and privates of tlie king's troops, in the various
success of the day, were induced from time to time
to attempt a retreat to Waterford, through the coun-
ty of Kilkenny. Some of these succeeded in their
efforts ; and from their unfavorable accounts of the
battle, the Roscommon militia, whc^ were in full
march towards Ross, turned about for Waterford ;
and even Captain Dillon, with some of the county
of Dublin militia, were intercepted and put to death
in their progress by the country people, who, on
sight of the fugitives, and on the report of the suc-
cess of the county of Wexford insurgents, were ma-

202 HISTORY OF THE

king every preparation, and nearly in readiness, to
join them. The insnrgents being upbraided by their
chiefs for sullying their bravery by drunkenness,
made a third attempt to regain the town, and in this
ihey displayed equal valor with what they exhibited
in the earlier part of the day ; but by this time the
army had acquired a greater degree of confidence in
their own strength, while several houses blazed in
tremendous conflagration ; and the insurgents re-
ceived an irreparable loss, when their intrepid leader,
John Kelly of Killan, whose dauntless valor on this
day was but too conspicuous, received a wound in
the leg, which put an end to his career of victory !
Paralyzed by the loss of such a man's exertions, and
no longer able to withstand the violence of the flying
artillery, the insurgents sounded a regular retreat,
bringing away with them a piece of cannon taken
from the army in the course of the action, having
lost one which they brought with them, together
with some swivels and small pieces which had been
drawn on for mere show, and which could not be of
much use to either party. The insurgents after their
defeat returned to their former station, having en-
camped this night at Carrickbyrne.

The loss of the army on this day, by official state-
ment, is allowed to be two hundred and thirty, in
killed, wounded, and missing ; but that of the insur-
gents has been variously reported even by diflferent
eye-witnesses — some making it but five hundred,
while others ^ate it at two thousand. Indeed, it is
impossible to ascertain their loss during the battle it-
self, as the number of dead is said to be doubly ac-
cumulated by those who were killed unarmed and
unresisting after it was all over. Many men had
become so intoxicated in the course of the day, that
they were incapable of flying out of the town in the

IRISH REBELLION. 203

retreat of their associates, and several of the inhab-
itants, whose houses were burnt, and having there-
fore no place to retire to, fell victims alike as strag-
gling insurgents to the undistinguishing fury of the
irritated soldiery, from which no person could escape
who was not clad in military attire of one kind or
other. The following day also the few thatched
houses that remained unburnt, being the only places
that a common person could get into, were closely
searched, and not a man discovered in them left
alive. Some houses were set on fire even so throno'-
ed, that the corpses of the suffocated within them
could not fall to the ground, but continued crowded
together in an upright posture, until they were taken
out to be interred. I cannot suppose that these hor-
rid massacres and conflagrations were committed in
revenge for the infernal abomination perpetrated at
Scullabogue, of which I shall have occasion present-
ly to make mention, as no intelligence of that lament-
able event could have reached Ross at the time ; but
be that as it may, officers were not only present, but
even promoted and encouraged those deeds of dread-
ful enormity, of which every breast not dead to hu-
mane feeling must shudder at the recital !

In the evening after the action, when the troops
were assembled on parade. General Johnson singled
out Lieutenant Egan of the Royal Irish artillery,
(now captain of the royal artillery,) to whom he re-
turned his public thanks for his gallant and spirited
conduct during the action ; and indeed, every praise
is due to this officer, who, with a part of the Don-
egal militia, was principally instrumental in contrib-
uting to the fate of the battle. Several proposals
were made to the general to abandon the town and
retreat to Kilkenny, but he was determined to stand
as long as he had a man to support him ; however,

204 HISTORY OF THE

had the troops been attacked that night, the prevalent
opinion is, they would have fled. In the dispatches
published, thanks were returned to all commanding
officers. The uncommon bravery and exertions of
Mr. Edward Devereux appeared so meritorious to
General Johnson, that he was offered a commission
in the army, which his mercantile avocations pre-
vented him from accepting of.

It is an invariable maxim that cowardice and cru-
elty are very closely allied. This was most strongly
exemplified by the barbarous conduct of the runaway
murderers who fled from the battle of Ross to Scul-
labogue, where a number of prisoners were confined
in a barn, to which these savage miscreants (having
overpowered the guards, who resisted thera as long
as they could) set fire, and made every person within
its walls, nearly eighty in number, perish in the
flames. One hundred and eighty-four are confident-
ly asserted to have been victims on this melancholy
occasion, besides thirty-seven shot and piked ; but
then the same account states, that the barn was in
dimensions only thirty-four feet long, and fifteen feet
wide ; and it is not therefore within the limit of rea-
sonable probability that there were so many, as they
would have been so closely crammed in, that the
cruelty of such confinement could not escape notice ;
indeed, in such case they could scarcely stand to-
gether and respire. I am therefore led to believe,
that the assertors of these statements have been im-
posed upon, as eighty persons would rather crowd
such a space too much for the purposes of maintain-
ing life and health ; and I am consequently induced
the more readily to think the information more cor-
rect with which I have been favored by respectable
arid disinterested authority from the neighborhood in
which the n^farigus trans^ctign togk plagg ; an4

IRISH REBELLION. 205

surely it must prove grateful to every mind to be so
agreeably undeceived respecting the fewer number
of victims. Wickedness is seldom exhibited only in
single acts of depravity ; it scarcely ever omits ex-
erting every possible action of baseness. Such of
the victims at Scullabogue as had any thing about
them worth taking, were plundered before being con-
signed to their horrible fate. It is alleged on the
part of the sanguinary ruffians concerned in this
most detestable transaction, that it was in retaliation
for like deeds of desperate cruelty practised against
themselves, and irritated as they were from recent
experience of persecutions and tortures of every
kind — whippings, strangulations, and hangings with-
out trial, which some of the party had narrowly es-
caped a few days before in Ross, where these meas-
ures were very prevalent : but no incentive, no
persecution, no experience of cruelty can palliate,
much less excuse, such unnatural and detestable
atrocity. It is but justice, however, to observe, that
in this horrid transaction, no person of superior con-
dition— none above the mere canaille, or lowest de-
scription of men — was at all concerned, however
confidently the contrary has been asserted ; but in-
famy of this indelible nature should never so much
as glance but at its proper objects. Were the fact
otherwise than as here stated, it must have been no-
toriously manifested in the course of the several tri-
als since had in consequence of the very enormity,
and for which some miscreants have been justly
doomed to execution. But truth imposes the task
of mentioning also, that it has appeared from solemn
evidence given on those trials, that in consequence
of the insurgents being disappointed in their expec-
tation of taking quiet possession of Ross, their flag
of truce being shot, and after the attack, the fugitives

18

206 HISTORY OF THE

from the town communicaling accounts of the tor-
lures practised there, and thai no quarter would be
given to the people, an infuriated multitude of men
and women rushed to Scullabogue vociferating re-
venge, forced the guards, (who did all in their power
to protect their charge,) and set fire to the prison,
which was a thatched house ; and for this transac-
tion General Johnson has not escaped animadversion,
as it is said he was repeatedly warned to spare the
people, or they would resort to retaliation, by execu-
ting all the prisoners in their hands ; and if giving
quarter would have prevented the fatality at Sculla-
bogue, humanity excites a wish it had been given.
It is material to observe also, that these trials have
disclosed information manifesting a very strong fea-
ture characteristic of popular commotion, which is,
that the unbridled multitude are as precipitate as in-
discriminate in their deeds of outrage, pulling them
into execution as soon as conceived, to prevent the
possibility of counteraction. This is, in fact, so true,
that very often the greatest favorites cannot escape
the instantaneous violence of popular fury. Although
this cannot be considered as an excuse, nothing be-
ing capable of palliating, much less of excusing the
cruTie at Scullabogue, yet its guilt would be greatly
aggravated did it appear a deliberate or premeditated
action, in which any one above the meanest vulgar
was concerned. Scullabogue is situated at the foot
of the eminence of Carrickbyrne, whither the insur-
gents defeated at Ross retreated, as has been ob-
served, and upon being made acquainted with the
enormity, which all brave men must reprobate, they
universally and loudly expressed their horror and
detestation of the barbarous deed ! Surely, it is easy
to conceive that the men who had so lately displayed
such a dauntless spirit of courage and consummate

IRISH REBELLION. 207

bravery, could not be destitute of its general con-
comitant— humanity. To counteract the reports of
religious intolerance, it must be stated that fifteen
or sixteen Catholics shared in the sorrowful catas-
trophe of Scullabogue, whence only two Protestants
and one Catholic providentially escaped. It must be
universally allowed, that robbers and murderers en-
tertain no reverence, as they feel no awe of religion,
in the commission of their nefarious acts ; and I am
confident from all I can learn of the melancholy hor-
rors of Scullabogue, that nothing less than the signal
interference of Providence can be considered capable
of having saved any person who was within the ill-
fated barn on the dreadful day of its conflagration !
An investigation of this horrid transaction had been
firmly determined on, which subsequent events pre-
vented from being carried into execution. It were
much to be wished such an inquiry had taken place,
as it would aflford no room for misrepresentation. On
the day following, a proclamation, in the form of res-
olutions by the whole insurgent army, was publish-
ed by the commander-in-chief, signed by himself,
and countersigned by the adjutant-general, with in-
tention to curb all excesses against life and property,
and encouraging by every possible means union and
harmony among all descriptions of the people. I
deem it necessary to insert it, and here accordingly
it follows : —

" At a meeting of the general and several officers
of the united army of the county of Wexford, the fol-
lowing resolutions were agreed upon :

" Resolved — That the commander-in-chief shall
send guards to certain baronies, for the purpose of
bringing in all men they shall find loitering and de-
laying at home or elsewhere ; and if any resistance

208 HISTORY OF THE

be given to those guards, so to be sent by the com-
manding officer's orders, it is our desire and orders
that such persons so giving resistance shall be liable
to be put to death by the guards, who are to bear a
commission for that purpose ; and all such persons
found to be so loitering and delaying at home, when
brought in by the guards, shall be tried by a court-
martial, appointed and chosen from among the com-
manders of all the different corps, and be punished
with death.

" Resolved — That all officers shall immediately
repair to their respective quarters, and remain with
their different corps, and not depart therefrom under
pain of death, unless authorized to quit by written
orders from the commander-in-chief for that purpose.

" It is also ordered, that a guard shall be kept in
rear of the different armies, with orders to shoot all
persons who shall fly or desert from any engage-
ment ; and that these orders shall be taken notice of
by all officers commanding in such engagement.

" All men refusing to obey their superior officers,
to be tried by a court-martial and punished accord-
ing to their sentence.

"It is also ordered, that all men who shall attempt
to leave their respective quarters when they have
been halted by the commander-in-chief, shall suffer
death, unless they shall have leave from their officers
for so doing.

" It is ordered by the commander-in-chief, that all
persons who have stolen or taken away any horse or
horses, shall immediately bring in all such horses to
the camp, at head-quarters ; otherwise for any horse
that shall be seen or found in the possession of any
person to whom he does not belong, that person shall,
on being convicted thereof, suffer death.

" And any goods that shall have been plundered

IRISH REBELLION. 209

from any house, if not brought in to head-quarters, or
returned immediately to the houses or owners, that
all persons so plundering as aforesaid shall, on being
convicted thereof, suffer death.

" It is also resolved, that any person or persons
who shall take upon them to kill or murder any per-
son or prisoner, burn any house, or commit any plun-
der, without special written orders from the com-
mander-in-chief, shall suffer death.

" By order of
" B. B. Harvey, commander-in-chief,
*' Francis Breen, sec. and adj.

" Head-quarters, Carrickbyrne
camp, June 6th, 1798."

A proclamation of similar tendency was issued at
Wexford on the 7th, addressed to the insurgent ar-
mies by General Edward Roche, conceived in the
following words : —

" TO THE PEOPLE OF IRELAND.

" Countrymen and fellow-soldiers ! your patriotic
exertions in the cause of your country have hitherto
exceeded our most sanguine expectations, and in a
short time must ultimately be crowned with success.
Liberty has raised her drooping head : thousands
daily flock to her standard : the voice of her children
everywhere prevails. Let us then, in the moment
of triumph, return thanks to the Almighty Ruler of
the universe, that a total stop has been put to those
sanguinary measures, which of late were but too of-
ten resorted to by the creatures of government, to
keep the people in slavery.

" Nothing now, my countrymen, appears neces-
sary to secure the conquests you have already won,
but aoL implicit obedience to the commands of your

18*

210 HISTORY OF THE

chiefs ; for through a want of proper subordination
and disciphne, all may be endangered.

" At this eventful period, all Europe must admire,
and posterity will read with astonishment, the heroic
acts achieved by people strangers to military tactics,
and having few professional commanders — but what
power can resist men fighting for liberty !

" In the moment of triumph, my countrymen, let
not your victories be tarnished with any wanton act
of cruelty : many of those unfortunate men now in
prison were not your enemies from principle ; most
of them, compelled by necessity, were obliged to op-
pose you: neither let a difference in religious senti-
ments cause a difference among the people. Recur
to the debates in the Irish house of lords on the 19th
of February last ; you will there see a patriotic and
enlightened Protestant bishop, (Down,) and many of
the lay lords, with manly eloquence pleading for
Catholic emancipation and parliamentary reform, in
opposition to the haughty arguments of the lord chan-
cellor, and the powerful opposition of his fellow-
courtiers.

" To promote a union of brotherhood and affection
among our countrymen of all religious persuasions,
has been our principal object : we have sworn in the
most solemn manner — have associated for this laud-
able purpose, and no power on earth shall shake our
resolution,

" To my Protestant soldiers I feel much indebted
for their gallant behavior in the field, where they ex-
hibited signal proofs of bravery in the cause.

" Edward Roche.

" Wexford, June 7, 1798."

I should have mentioned before, that in the even*
ing of the day on which the insurgents, obtained pos-

IRISH REBELLION. 211

session of Enniscorlhy, a drummer of the North Cork
mihtia, who had some time before refused to beat his
drum, when some tune, obnoxious to the people, was
called for, or to whip some of the prisoners, was
found hanging in the lodgings of Mr. Handcock, a
clergyman and magistrate, who resided in that town !
When this fact became generally known, it is impos-
sible to conceive the indignation and fury it excited
in the minds of the people, already flushed with vic-
tory and heated by intoxication. They considered
the murdered soldier as a victim immolated to their
cause ; they conceived he had met that fate to which
they were all doomed unless they had risen against
extermination. The more violent were those who
themselves or their friends had suffered most severe-
ly, previous to the insurrection, and they instantly
took advantage of the ferment occasioned by this cir-
cumstance, to wreak their vengeance on those they
considered their enemies, who still remained in the
town after it had been evacuated by the military.
Many were put to death in consequence, notwith-
standing that the more sensible and humane part en-
deavored to protect the unhappy sufferers, but the
voices of those were drowned in the general cry of
" They would not let one of us escape if we were in
their power — we would be all served like the drum-
mer." I have heard many who were present when
this horrid scene took place, affirm that this incident
produced an effect more violent and instantaneous,
and excited a degree of phrensy superior to any thing
they had witnessed during the insurrection. It is
evident from every day's experience, that causes in-
significant in themselves do sometimes produce ef-
fects the most lamentable ; and that artful men take
advantage of such incidents in all tumultuary pro-
ceedings; and considering the ^ate of mind of the

212 HISTORY OF THE

populace at this moment, the knowledge of such a
fact must have had a powerful operation. It is re-
markable that Mr. N. Hinton's house, in which the
drummer was found hanging, received no injury from
the people, as they considered him innocent of this
abomination.

While the insurgents kept possession of the town
of Enniscorthy, another circumstance occurred, which
produced much mischief. The cavalry of Newtown-
barry made an inroad towards the insiirgents' camp,
as far as the bridge of Scarawalsh, which is three
miles from Enniscorthy, and at this place killed a
boy who was an idiot : he happened to be the
nephew of a Catholic priest in the neighborhood ;
and the killing of this creature, who never could iiave
made use of hostile weapons, produced a violent fer-
ment wdiich was not appeased until the people sacri-
ficed (as if to his manes) twelve or fourteen of their
prisoners. These facts, if any are wanting, show
the impolicy and wickedness of shedding blood un-
necessarily, even in the fury of war. The principle
of retaliation is strongly implanted in the human
heart, and therefore all unnecessary irritation should
be sedulously avoided.

A Guinea cutter having struck against tiie banks
of Blackwater, unshipped her rudder outside the bay
of We.xford, where she cast anchor; and the captain
on entering the harbor to get it repaired, was met by
one of the cruising boats, and the vessel was accord-
ingly seized and brought in as a prize. Her burden
was forty-five tons, she was copper-bottomed, had
six small cannon, and her crew were eight men. She
was an attendant on a Guinea-man, sailed from Liv-
erpool a few days before, had not yet received her
small-arms on board, but had three barrels of gun-
powder, without which the insurgents would have

IRISH REBELLION. S13

been lotallv destitute of that article, as the three bar-
rels they found in Wexford barracks, with a few
hundred cartridges, some sreiall casks and odd pounds
found in different siiops and gentlemen's houses, con-
stituted their wiiole original stock, which by this
time was entirely expended. It is, indeed, an extra-
ordinary fact, that the insurgents did not possess, in
the whole course of the insurrection, as much pow-
der as would be deemed necessary by any military
man for the supply of one battle, and that their guns-
men, so little used to warfare, never retired until they
had tired their last charge, exhibiting on all occasions
amazing intrepidity; but it was impossible to furnish
fire-arms for the numbers offerina: their services.
In their different encampments they were mostly
armed with pikes, and there was scarcely any
kind of regularity or order observed, every indi-
vidual absenting at his own discretion, so that
at night the camps were almost totally deserted,
but were in the day as crowded as ever. Although
most of the people of Ireland can but seldom in-
dulge in the luxury of eating meat, yet as the vast
numbers of the insurgents were now to be supplied
with this article, it became an absolute necessary.
Such immense consumption always in time of war,
even with the strictest economy, being double of the
quantity that would supply the like numbers in time
of peace, must of itself have soon deprived the coun-
try of all its cattle ; and yet this provision was made
use of with profusion. Corn and potatoes were put
in requisition throughout the country, and Wexford
was obliged, at the risk of being burnt, to furnish al-
most all the other supplies, such as spirits, beer, to-
bacco, salt, and leather. Several self-appointed com-
missaries, framing different excuses as it were for
the advantage of the public service, while their prin-

214 HISTORY OF THE

ciple was for plunder and private emolument, absent-
ed themselves from camp and became horrible pub-
lic nuisances. These were the cowards who fled in
lime of action, and generally became murderers and
robbers ; while those who courageously fought as
brave men in the field, always remained at their
post, never absenting without leave, and although
suffering many privations, were remarkable for cor-
rect behavior and regular conduct, the true test of
brave men ; but the 'poltroon cravens, who deserted
the camps on various pretences, were guilty of the
most desperate deeds of outrage, though vaunlingly
boastful of actions of valor ; a fact which not only con-
firms the general position already laid down, that
cowardice and cruelty are constantly united, but also
that the vicious frequently affect the praises of virtue.
While the brave and the virtuous were otherwise en-
gaged so as not to have it in their power to counter-
act the depravity of the knaves and cowards, a sad
catalogue of victims suffered at the permanent camp
on Vinegar Hill ; being declared enemies of the peo-
ple, on the accusation of one or more persons, for
different alleged acts of cruelty or opposition to their
interests ; and, on these occasions, it was almost im-
possible to stem the torrent of popular fury ; so that
the conductors and accusers of the summary trials.,
thus proceeded upon, were in very many instances
but too successful in their schemes of murder ; not-
withstanding the strenuous endeavors, and the earnest
entreaties and remonstrances to the contrary of every
humane and respectable person permitted to appear
in their assemblage. Of these there were many
willing enough to return to their homes, who were
however prevented from apprehension of being sacri-
ficed themselves, if they dared to act in any manner
contrary to the will of the populace. It has been

IRISH REBELLION. 215

confidently asserted, and too strongly inculcated, that
the insurgents were resolved to sacrifice all Protest-
ants ; of this the best refutation is, that had this been
their principle or intention, the accomplishment was
in their power, and the avoiding its perpetration at
the angry and exasperated moment must be consid-
ered conclusive in opposite argument. Indeed, it is
too evident that this falsehood has been industriously
impressed for the purpose of fostering prejudice, and
of continuing baleful division among the several de-
scriptions of the people, by political adventurers,
who shamefully encourage and foment those animosi-
ties which have brought so much calamity and ruin
on the country ; of which, if any Irishman requires
further proof, the eventful history of his country since
the period of 1798 is abundantly convincing ; and I
fondly hope the charitable discrimination of all Irish-
men will induce them to abandon their prejudices,
and cultivate a friendly intercourse Avith each other,
and I am confident they will find this line of conduct
connected and congenial with their interests and hap-
piness, as it will prevent their being cajoled or worked
up at any future period to mutual rancor, to answer
the ends of political seducers, as the destruction of
their country must be the consequence. All Prot-
estants who had the good-will of their neighbors, and
who had not adventured in the hanging, burning,
flogging, shooting, and exterminating system that im-
mediately preceded the insurrection, were in general
as safe as any other description of men in the coun-
try on joining the people, for as to this there was no
alternative : but it must be acknowledged, indeed,
that many gentlemen who had been formerly much
liked, were considered as unpardonable if concerned
in any exertion against the people of the description
just cited, particular instances of which alleged

216 HISTORY OF THE

against them occasioned the imprisonment and death
of individuals. It is asserted, that no Catholic was
put to death. Surely, the indiscriminate destruction
at Scullabogue, where fifteen or sixteen Catholics
perished with the rest in the flames, suflSciently re-
futes this barefaced assertion ; but as the public mind
has been so misled, I deem it absolutely necessary
to state other facts that give the lie to surmise, which,
among the general excesses of the day, would not
otherwise deserve historical notice. Two Catholics
were put to death by the people in Wexford — Francis
Murphy on the 3d, and Joseph Murphy on the 14th
of June, both for being informers. Certainly if any
Catholics had launched forward in the prevalent mode
of suppressing insurrection, namely, violation, flagel-
lation, conflagration, deliberate murder and extermi-
nation, they would have incurred equal odium with
any Protestant, or even infidel, guilty of the like
deeds. Catholics, however, not being of the privi-
leged class, (not even one Catholic justice of peace
in the county,) and therefore not having the power if
they had the inclination, could not be generally in-
volved with the people, on the score of authority or
oppression, and this may satisfactorily account why
so few Catholics, comparatively with Protestants,
were sacrificed to popular phrensy and irritation. In
all the proclamations and other documents published
during the insurrection, there does not appear the
smallest symptom of religious bigotry : the very con-
trary is even manifest ; but should it be any longer
insisted on, that the conduct and expressions of soli-
tary individuals, unequivocally discountenanced by
the great niajority, were the sentiments of the whole I
people, it must be stated in opposition, and the ar-
gument would be just as fair, that the Protestants
had resolved on the extermination of the Catholics,,

IRISH REBELLION. 217

as some individuals of them have expressed them-
selves favorable to such a measure, and liave lament-
ed the arrival of Lord Cornwallis in Ireland, as in
their mind it prevented the extirpation of the v^^hole
of the insurgents, by them denominated Catholics.
These sentiments have been so notorious as to find
utterance even in parliament.

During the whole period of the insurrection in the
county of Wexford, it is a fact no less surprising
than true, that the fair sex was respected even by
those who did not hesitate to rob or murder ; no one
instance existing of a female being injured or violated,
including the wives, sisters, and daughters of those
denominated the greatest enemies of the people, in
whose conduct appears another very striking feature :
with respect to the king, they were silent — his ma-
jesty's name was not mentioned witii disrespect, nor
was he considered as the cause of their misfortunes ;
but indeed they preserved no sucli delicacy with re-
spect to the characters of those whom they consider-
ed the promoters and supporters of their persecu-
tions : they reviled them in the strongest terms of
reprobation, and did not spare many of their lives or
properties.

In case of plunder I believe no person was spared
that was not at home to prevent it, or who was not
fortunate enough to have a confidential person to
welcome the marauders, who pleaded the public ser-
vice in excuse of robbery and outrage ; but meat and
drink, if freely offered and supplied, generally pre-
served a house from otherwise inevitable direption.
On these occasions, Catholics and Protestants were
alike subject to depredation. I possessed perhaps
as much popularity as any person in the county of
Wexford, and notwithstanding this and my being a
Catholic, I was plundered by the insurgents in the

19

218 HISTORY OF THE

very outset : I lost all that could possibly be taken
from me ; my doors and windows were broken open
to get at my guns and pistols ; my desks and trunks
were searched and rifled ; my horses and mules
were all rode off; and for this and liie like robberies
the depredators would plead the public service.
Several persons who had been much disliked by the
populace, had the good fortune to possess faithful
servants, who by a free offer of what was wanted in
the house, saved all the rest ; while many others
who were much beloved by the people, suffered con-
siderably in their houses and properties, in conse-
quence of the dishonesty of those who were left in
care of them, as they countenanced and encouraged
pillage, in hopes thereby to screen their own villany,
in appropriating to themselves the best and most
valuable part of the plunder.

Great numbers crowded mto Wexford from the
different camps and other parts of the country de-
manding supplies of salt, tobacco, spirits, and leath-
er ; threatening to set lire to the town in case of re-
sistance or want of immediate compliance. The
mode adopted in managing the supplies was, that the
comniittee issued orders to those possessing any of
the articles in demand, to furnish the same in a spe-
cified quantity ; but the frequency of application so
multiplied their employment, tliat it was not possible
for them to attend to all the various business that
accumulated upon them ; and finding themselves
unequal to the task, they were obliged to call for as-
sistance, and a separate committee for each article
in demand was consequently appointed. To please
the lower classes, who had expressed dissatisfaction,
some of them were now associated with those of
higher rank, in this discharge of public duty, the
trouble and ve.tation of which they had no conception

IRISH REBELLION 219

of until lliey shared in the labor, whereby those
originally appointed were greatly relieved, and the
common people henceforward pi'oved less trouble-
some to them, as their compeers and companions
were more successful in their arguments, to per-
suade them of the great difficulty of supplying them
in as large quantities as before, and so reconciling
them to accept of less. Various plunder took place
on the insurgents taking possession of the town,
great part of which was afterwards restored, as or-
ders were issued that all kinds of property not be-
longing to those in whose possession it might be
found, should be returned on pain of severe punish-
ment. The court-house in Wexford was the depos-
itory for such properly, which the owners recovered
on making their claim.

The peace and quietness existing in the town of
Wexford during the insurrection, except the little
disturbance now and again occasioned by the vocif-
erous commissaries from the camps, was very re-
markable. At night particularly, the most solemn
silence continually prevailed, as all the inhabitants
retired early to rest, and the utmost regularity of
conduct and peaceable behavior was observed. The
weather was remarkably warm and serene, and the
physicians in town apprehended a contagious jail fe-
ver from the numbers in confinement. Among the
several expedients to remedy this evil, it was sug-
gested to make the church a lodgment for prisoners,
being considered a healthy and eligible situation, and
then deserted by the Protestants as their place of
worship ; but this scheme was warmly and effectu-
ally opposed by the principal Catholics, as it might
be deemed disrespectful to the seat of the Protestant
worship, while those of the latter persuasion were
eager and urgent to have it so occupied, in order, as

220 HISTORY OF THE

ihey said, to ihin the crowds confined in the common
prison. As a substitute for this disappointment, the
assembly-room was then resorted to, and fifty of the
prisoners were confined there, while twenty-four of
the principal gentlemen were sent on board a sloop
in the harbor, which had been fitted out for that pur-
pose. Another sloop had been also intended for like oc-
cupancy, but soon condemned as unfit for that service.
To endeavor to please the people, who were very
vociferous against all those they considered as oc-
casioning the cruelties practised against them, the
following proclamation was issued : —

PROCLAMATION OF THE PEOPLE OF THE COUNTY OF

WEXFORD.

" Whereas it stands manifestly notorious, that
James Boyd, Hawtrey White, Hunter Gowan, and
Archibald Hamilton Jacob, late magistrates of this
county, have committed the most horrid acts of cru-
elty, violence, and oppression against our peaceable
and well-disposed countrymen : now we the people
associated and united for the purpose of procuring
our just rights, and being determined to protect the
persons and properties of those of all religious per-
suasions, who have not oppressed us, and are willing
to join with heart and hand our glorious cause ; as
well as to show our marked disapprobation and l]or-
ror of the crimes of the above delinquents, do call on
our countrymen at large, to use every exertion in
their power to apprehend the bodies of the aforesaid
James Boyd, Hawtrey White, Hunter Gowan, and
Archibald Hamilton Jacob, and to secure and conve}^
them to the jail of Wexford, to be brought before
the tribunal of the people. Done at Wexford, this
9th day of June, 1798.

"God save the people."

IRISH REBELLION. 221

i

j The camp, which had been stationed at Carrick-

j byrne, removed to Slykielter, where the encampment
continued for a few days, while nothing remarkable
happened, except some ineffectual attacks that were
made on the gunboats going up the Barrow from
Passage to Ross ; and a mail was taken, going from
Ross to Waterford by water, and sent to Wexford.
1 The country was so guarded in every quailer as

to have a party stationed at every cross-road, and
I this service was allotted to the old and infirm, or
i such as were incapable of bearing the fatigue of
marching; but they were also attended by many
I others who absented themselves from the camps on
j various pretences : some women and children were
' likewise to be seen at these several posts ; and the
vigilance was such, that no person could pass un-
known, nor was it possible to be at liberty and be
I considered neuter ; notwithstanding all the boastful
I vaunlings to the contrary of some who think to re-
I commend themselves by these impositions. I am
j confident such assertions arc utterly unfounded, for
certainly no person could remain at liberty who was
not considered friendly to the people ; yet still I am
far from being of opinion, that every person who
joined the insurgents acted from cordial motives,
however professing great zeal and alacrity in the
! cause ; but the imperious necessity of the times
was such, as to induce numbers to humor the people
so far, as not to say or do any thing that might in
any degree be construed as opposition to them ; and
any impartial person must be convinced, on a fair
inquiry into the nature of popular commotion, that it
would be impossible to control the actions of a mul-
titude, under such circumstances as then existed in
the county of Wexford : an irritated populace be-
coming masters of a country, are ever ungovernable ;

19*

222 HISTORY OF THE

and, indeed, tliose who vaunt most at present of not
havintr yielded to them, were more than any others
profuse in their professions, and have gone fartiier
than those whom they now revile in the most tinjus-
tifiable manner. Some also who were thus involved,
having fled the country early, now pretend to ask,
why an escape was not effected by such as were not
well inclined to the cause of the insurgents, if not iu
confinement? Ahhough it may not have been alto-
gether impossible, yet it was not very probable, that
any one could get out of the country withoiH the
consent of the people, which must have been obtain-
ed by imposing on them by the pretence of friendship,
to whom the person must shortly after have appeared
a traitor, (a character not very enviable, under the
most favorable circumstances,) which conduct would
have endangered the safety of his family and friends,
if he had any, as well as that of his property ; so
that I think it reasonable to suppose, that those who
urge this argument would not have attempted an es-
cape, were they in the place of those whose conduct
they scrutinize.

A pitched cap being found in the barrack of Wex-
ford, and an orange commission or warrant appoint-
ing a sergeant of the North Cork militia to found an
orange lodge in the town, roused the people from
the utmost tranquillity to the highest pitch of fury.
This quickly drew together great numbers in the
barrack-yard, and their horror of the orange system
was so excited, that in those emblems they imagined
they possessed the most convincing proof of their in-
tended extermination. After a variety of confused
exclamations against the promoters, it was resolved
to clap the pitched cap on the head of the orange
lord, who, they said, had been the introducer of that
system in the county of Wexford. They according-

IRISH REBELLION. ^ 223

ly proceeded from the barrack, exhibiting the pitched
cap on the top of a pike, displaying at the same lime
the orange commission or warrant, and were in di-
rect march, with violent shouts of exultation, to Lord
Kingsborough's lodging. I was in the act of bathing
at the time, and hearing the tumultuous noise, I
dressed quickly and arrived at the house along with
them. I went up to Lord Kingsborough's room and
sought to appease the multitude by addressing them
from the window ; but this was not effected till many
of the principal inhabitants were brought to the scene
of tumult ; when one of them, on pretence of looking
at the pitched cap, look and threw it over the quay,
and the hated emblem being no longer in view, the
fury of the people abated, the orange commission or
warrant was taken from them, and they dispersed ;
nor was there any thing more heard of the affair un-
til the next morning, when the captain of the guard
for the day, (having every thing previously arranged
and ready, after parade, when all others liad retired
to breakfast, and on his own mere authority,) took
down Lord Kingsborough and his two officers to the

, quay, and conducted them on board the ship that
had been fitted out but condemned, where he provi-
ded them with abundance of fresh straw, and placed
a detachment of his guard over them. All this was
executed with such haste and precaution, that it was
not for some lime known to the principal inhabitants.
These, however, on hearing of the affair, assembled
and appealed to the people, then collected to know
what was the matter. They represented to them,
that as these officers had surrendered on condition
of being treated as prisoners of war, they ought not
to be confined on board a condemned ship ; and the

J consequence was, that two boat-loads of butchers
were sent on board to examine and inspect the state

224 HISTORY OF THE

of the vessel, on whose report that she was not fit
for a pig to be confined in, Lord Kingsborough and
his officers were brought back to their former situa- .
tion, where they remained until the surrender of the
town ; the vessel was then hauled into the harbor,
where she sunk within a foot of her deck.

From the great heat and violence of the people j
against Lord Kingsborough, in consequence of re-
ports of his cruelty and exertions in flogging, and
the other modes previously practised for quieting
the people, different parties, from town and country, :
frequently proceeded to the house where he was
confined, with an intention of putting him to death ; I
but the guards always refused to give him out to I
them without an order, and during the delay thus
occasioned, providentially for his lordship, one or j
other of the principal inhabitants usually came up, ;
and by representing the conditions which had been i
promised him on surrendering, they prevailed on the i
people to depart. Considering the great fury of the
people against Lord Kingsborough for his previous
violent exertions, being reported very cruel and san- \
guinary, his escape must be considered really won-
derful, if not truly astonishing ; and I can account
for it in no other manner, than that the county of j
Wexford not having been his scene of action, and
there existing no kind of communication with any
other quarter, there could not possibly be any posi-
tive proof adduced of his actions, except in a solitary *
instance, which was easily got over. His lordship ;
had been, previous to his imprisonment, but a very
short time in Wexford, as he left that town in two or j
three days after he had marched into it with his regi- i
ment. But some of his officers had observed a lady
at a window, viewing the troops as they came in,
vihQ attracted their particular notice. After dinner, ;

IRISH REBELLION. 225

at which the bottle had pretty freely circulated, the
recollection of the sight of this lady had so far work-
ed on the minds of some of the lads, that they pro-
posed to sally forth and endeavor to obtain a nearer
view of her ; and Lord Kingsborough, being a young
man himself, humored the frolic, and accompanied
them. Not gaining admittance, however, as they
expected, they in the military style resolved to storm
the premises ; and his lordship, being a tall, athleiic
man, raised one of the officers on his shoulders, who
was thereby enabled, as the house was low, to get
in through a window in the second story. The lady's
husband was absent, and herself quite alone in the
house, but on perceiving their intentions she got out
by a back-window, and thus eluded their design, as
well as put an end to any further progress in this ad
venture. When his lordship afterwards became a
prisoner, this was quoted as an unfavorable circum-
stance, but it was obviated with little difficulty by
an argument, (not at all intending to throw the least
reflection on the lady's character,) which was, that
her husband was himself a prisoner with the people,
against whom, therefore, the offence could never
have been intended, as no attempt of the kind had
been made on any of their wives or families, but was
an msult offered by one whom they called an enemy,
to another whom they thought deserving of the same
appellation. This point being thus settled, and all
other accusations against hi's lordship being general,
they were the more easily overcome ; but had they
been particular the event might have been quite oth-
erwise, as the injured person or persons, for the most
part, would not listen to any kind of reasoning, but
obstinately held out and persevered in their accusa-
tions and complaints, which they so feelingly im-
pressed on the assemblage of people appealed to on

226 HISTORY OF THE

such occasions, that they usually gained over iheir
sympatlielic approbation of the measures they pro-
posed, and would thus succeed against all interces-
sion. Of this truth I had most sensible experience ;
for although I proved on several occasions providen-
tially instrumental in saving lives, I was utterly in-
capable in other instances : particularly I found it
totally out of my power, notwithstanding the many
means I sought, to rescue my ever to be regretted,
dear, and valuable friend, Mr. Turner, from the fury
of the people, by whom he had been previously very
much beloved ; but all his former popularity was
eclipsed by his having been unfortunately worked
up to set fire to some houses ; and this being well
known to the people of the country, his safety be-
came an impossibility. Taking the cases of Mr.
Turner and Lord Kingsborough in any point of
view, and considering my frequent success in pre-
serving the man with whom his misfortune alone
made me acquainted, while my most earnest and
anxious endeavors to protect the friend of my bosom
were fatally ineffectual, local circumstances alone
can explain the consequences. But how variously
will prejudice and misrepresentation detail and expa-
tiate on such intricate facts, according to the feeling,
inclination, or judgment of the narrator, who, if he
be not a sensible or unbiased eye-witness, discrim-
inating and dauntless during the period of danger, or
discerning in selection of report, will afterwards dis-
play the thoughts of latent bigotry, wilful perversion
of truth, or the flimsy tissue of hearsay information,
varied and altered into different shapes of falsehood,
according to the several dispositions of the circulators ;
but ocular evidence must ever supersede the accounts
of rumor, even of ever such boasted authenticity,
when discrimination may be overpowered by terror.

IRISH REBELLION. 227

The insurgents in the different camps being in
great want of gunpowder, without which they could
not proceed, remained stationary for seveml days, as
the powder in Wexford was considered loo little for
its defence, and different reports were circulated, that
it was to be attacked from the southern quarter. The
demand for gunpowder, however, from the camp on
Gorey Hill was so pressing, that a barrel of it was
sent thither from Wexford to enable the insurgents
lo proceed to Arklow, which, on the defeat of Colo-
nel Walpole, had been deserted by the military; but
the inhabitants of which, on being left to themselves,
remained quietly at home, imitating the example that
had been set them at Gorey, before the battle of Tub-
berneering, when they were forced and overwhelmed
into the system of the insurrection. The Cavan
militia was ordered from Dublin to join Colonel Wal-
pole's division, then under General Needham, and
they marched into Arklow on the 6th of June ; dif-
ferent other parties of the military arrived there on
the 7lh and 8th, and on the 9th the garrison was con-
siderably reinforced by the Durham fencibles, who
suffered no fatigue in their way from Dublin, as they
had been conveyed in carriages and jaunting-cars
pressed for that purpose : the whole force in Arklow
amounted all together to sixteen hundred men. The
insurgents had marched from Gorey Hill lo Colgre-
ny, where arranging their mode of attack, they pro-
ceeded in two great columns — one towards the fishery
on the sea-side, and the other towards the upper end
of the town, the attack being to be made on both
ends of the town at once. The military, having full
! notice of the approach, were very advantageously
posted, without which ihey could not have resisted
the impetuous attack made upon them ; however,
they were obliged lo retire somewhat from their

228 HISTORY OF THE

original positions. In a violent effort to gain the up- j
per end of the town, the Rev. Michael Murphy, who !
led on the insurgents on that side, fell, and this slop-
ped the progress and prevented the success of the
attenript. Variously did the fortune of the day seem
to incline ; it is necessary, however, to mention that
rumors of a retreat of the troops were circulated, and
that orders were given, and seeming preparations i
made for that purpose ; but this still appears a dis-
puted point, and as the proverb has it, " all is well
that ends well." The insurgents, after having dis- '
played singular bravery, courage, and intrepidity as
long as their ammunition lasted, retreated, when that ■
was expended, to their former position at Gorey :
and thus ended the battle, at the very moment it was }
alleged the army had intended to retreat ; and most I
undoubtedly my information warrants me to mention, f
that some of the military had already retreated ; and 1 1
cannot positively say that they might not have had good
authority for their conduct. Although the Rev. Mr.
Gordon had documents from under the hand of a dis-
tinguished officer, Colonel Bainbridge,lhat sufficiently
warrant the assertion, it was, however, generally;
circulated by many that were in the action ; and as j
upon the whole I would not readily admit hearsay !
evidence, but on the clearest conviction of the truth,
yet I think my account would be deficient if I omit-
ted to mention an important fact, and upon which so
much stress is laid, as related by Mr. Gordon.

" Many instances might be given of men, who, at i
the hazard of their own lives, concealed and main-
tained loyalists until the storm passed away ; on the i
other hand, many might be given of cruelties com- ]
mitted by persons not natives of Ireland : I shall
mention only one act, not of what I shall call cruelty, j
since no pain was inflicted, but ferocity not calcu- j

IRISH REBELLION. 229

lated to soften the rancor of the insurgents. Some
soldiers of the ancient British regiment cut open the
dead body of Father Michael Murphy, after the bat-
tle of Arklow, took out his heart, roasted his body,
and oiled their boots with the grease which dripped
from it. Mr. George Taylor, in his historical ac-
count of the Wexford rebellion, (page 136,) says —
' Lord Mountnorris and some of his troop, in view-
ing the scene of action, found the body of the per-
fidious priest Murphy, who so much deceived him
and the country. Being exasperated, his lordship
ordered the head to be struck off, and his body to be
thrown into a house that was burning, exclaiming,
let his body go where his soul is.'' I hope that the
writer was misinformed, and that the noble earl, re-
markable for his liberality to Romanists, was not the
author of this act."*

The only time I was ever in company with the
priest just mentioned, certainly was at Lord Mount-
norris's house, in 1797, when his lordship was en-
gaged in the plan of procuring signatures of loyalty
from the Catholics ; and I understand that this priest
greatly contributed to the success of that undertaking,
whicii was afterwards much reflected on, and from
the aspersions that were thrown out, it was probable
that his lordship was induced, by this coup de main,
to prove to the world that he was not, though he was
supposed to have been, a friend to Catholics. Such
transactions as took place on this occasion, it must
be observed, are the more lamentable, not only as
they of themselves serve to keep up animosity, but
mucii more so when they are, not to say connived at,
but even encouraged by persons of the highest rank*,
while all persons of humanity, but even a degree

* See Gordon's historj' of the rebellion, pages, 212, 213.

20

230 HISTORY OF THE

above the lowest vulgar, and even the humane of
these, (for they are far from being in general desti-
tute of the principle in Ireland,) and especially all
who have received any degree of education, should
set their faces against such pitiful acts of ferocious
cruelty, as would disgrace the vilest savages.

While I am on the subject of the Rev. Michael
Murphy's death, I must beg leave to express the
opinion I have adopted, in conjunction with the most
sensible and rational men that I have conversed with
on the subject, respecting the priests who were ac-
tive in the insurrection. When clergymen so far
forget their duty as to take up arms, so contrary to
the spirit of the Gospel, they become most danger-
ous men ; and the sooner such are cut off by any
fatal catastrophe the better. The duty of a clergy-
man is, to preach peace and charity towards all man-
kind : when his conduct deviates from this, he acts
inconsistent with the profession he has entered into.
Why throw off the meek garb of peace for the horrid
habiliments of war ? Under no possible circum-
stances ought a clergyman to be instrumental to the
death of any person, except in the most urgent ne-
cessity of self-defence. Whenever else he takes up
arms, he becomes a traitor to the Gospel of Christ ;
and although treason may, on particular occasions,
be considered useful, yet a traitor to any cause never
can be regarded, even by those for whom he exerts
himself. Besides, the interference of clergymen en-
couraging any kind of strife, but particularly warfare,
must be considered highly culpable, and deserving
of a fatal end. Not one of the priests who took vip
arms in the county of Wexford escaped a violent and
sudden death, clearly indicating a providential fate ;
and although they were not all, at the time, under
suspension or ecclesiastical censure, yet under one so

IRISH REBELLION. 231

nearly allied to il, as to prevent any of them from
having arrived to the situation of a parish priest. It
is but common justice that those alone should bear
the disgrace of reprobation who actually deserved it,
and that the great body of the Catholic clergy should
be rescued from censure, as they were free from
blame. The misconduct of a few individuals should
not involve the good character of the many, and it
must be recollected that, even among the tw^elve
apostles, there was a traitor. The conduct of the
Roman Catholic clergy of the county of Wexford,
however unjustly reviled, was, during the insurrec-
tion there, guided by the true dictates and principles
of Christianity, really exemplary and meritorious.
They comforted the afflicted with all the zeal and
warmth of Christian charity, and, in the most trying
and critical period, practised every deed that must
be considered benevolent by every liberal and en-
lightened man, whatever brawlers of loyalty may as-
sert to the contrary, endeavoring, with indiscrimina-
ting abuse, to brand their conduct in general with the
stain of infamy. They by every possible means
sought to afford every assistance and protection in
their power, to those who stood in need of it ; but
their influence was greatly diminished by not follow-
ing the example of the militant priests, who strove
to attain an elevation and superiority over their
brethren in this way, which they could not otherwise
accomplish. If I may be allowed the expression,
the conduct of the fighting priests was truly amphi-
bious. For while they cast ofl" the character of
priests, and took up that of soldiers, they still wished
to maintain an ascendency, even in their new sta-
tions, by reassuming the priest whenever it answered
the purpose of superiority, the passion for which was
greatly augmented by indulgence in drinking ; and

232 HISTORY OF THE

notwithstanding all this, they were conspicuous for
courage and humanity.

The encampment at SUeye-kieller was transferred
from thence to Lacken Hill, within a mile of the
town of Ross ; and although Mr. Harvey had mani-
fested courage, and had formed an excellent plan for
the attack of that town — which failed of success only
by not following his directions — yet no consideration
prevented his conduct from being faulted ; and he,
therefore, leaving the command to the Rev. Philip
Roche, whose boisterous conduct pleased the multi-
tude better, returned to Wexford.

The soldiery stationed at Newtownbarry made
several excursions, and in the course of their pro-
gress, some miles from the town, they shot every
man they met, however unarmed and unoffending, and
plundered and burned several houses. The insur-
gents on Vinegar Hill, irritated by these excesses,
followed the example, and day after dav made excur-
sions from their camp to counteract the militar}-; but,
however, it so happened that they did not fall in witli
each other, as they proceeded on different sides of
the Slaney, which prevented their meeting, although
their depredations were in sight of each other ; and
while the one party was burning and destroying what
they considered enemy's property in one quarter, the
other, actuated by revenge, was committing like de-
vastation in another ; and it would seem, as if by
preconcertion, that both moved in different directions
on every particular day of excursion ; so that the only
w^arfare between them was an apparent strife who
should cause the greatest desolation, or who should
appear most eager to destroy what was spared by the
other ; so that the state of the country was truly la-
mentable.

There were but few gunsmen belonging to the

IRISH REBELLION. 233

Stationary camp at Vinegar Hill, and an attack on
that post being apprehended, one hundred and thirty
gunsmen were sent thither from Wexford, under the
command of Captain Murphy. These men had not
experienced any of the persecutions practised pre-
vious to the insurrection, and were consequently un-
tainted with the rancorous spirit of revenge which
they produced in other quarters. In short, they were
remarkable for regularity of conduct, and they pre-
vented a continuation of the cruel acts that had been
hitherto perpetrated there ; for being shocked on the
morning of the 10th of June, which was the next af-
ter their arrival, by seeing a man put to death, the
Wexford men would not witness such another scene,
and they declared they w'ould not permit another in-
stance of the kind while they remained ; and their
humane example shamed the most refractory, whom
they awed into order, so that not another person suf-
fered on Vinegar Hill thenceforward until the 20th :
therefore this important truth completely contradicts
the greatly exaggerated accounts of daily victims, and
the aggravated statements erroneously propagated of
wicked atrocities committed there ; and however la-
mentable it is that many persons were sacrificed to
popular fury, yet it is somewhat consoling to be un-
deceived that half the numbers stated could not have
suffered. I do not by any means intend to excul-
pate the atrocities committed on Vinegar Hill, as a
sad catalogue of sufferers could be enumerated ; but
such misrepresentation has taken place, that I should
consider myself deficient in the task I have under-
taken, did I not take every opportunity of declaring
facts as they occurred, however I lament the exist-
ence of the dreadful effects of popular fury. Any
deviation from truth in stating such egregious enor-
mities can take place only with a view to keep alive

20*

234 HISTORY OF THE

those prejudices, which il is so much the interest of
every true lover of his country to suppress ; and to
learn the real state of occurrences will be the best pos-
sible means of inducing contending parlies to forgive
and forget the past, and to cherish harmonyin future.
I must observe respecting those lists, denominated au-
thentic, of persons said to be put to death in particu-
lar places, that it is necessary to be intimately and
perfectly acquainted with the country and its inhabit-
ants, to be able to discover that several individuals
are multiplied in the account of their deaths, as the
same person is mentioned particularly and generally,
in one place by one, and in quite a different situation
by another ; and thus are narrators imposed on, not
being so circumstanced as to be able to select truth
from falsehood ; for it by no means comes within the
province of learning to sift and unravel the many con-
fused stories of several persons, each varying the ac-
count of the same deed ; which though in fact but
one occurrence, yet might be mistaken for separate
transactions, as no feature of coincidence is so dis-
cernible in the several relations of the same thing, as
to exhibit the real and uniform picture. I have un-
dertaken this narrative, with many facts of which I
am unfortunately but tob well acquainted, from no
other idea but a wish to reconcile my countrymen,
and not to let misrepresentation or falsehood pass to
posterity ; which must otherwise, perhaps, be as
much imposed on, as those who have hitherto writ-
ten on the subject, when it would be utterly impos-
sible to obviate misrepresentation ; and I write as
much for the information of those who have been al-
ready led astray as for the public at large ; and shall
be happy to elucidate any particular that may not
appear sufficiently explained, to convince them that
I advance nothing for which I have not undeniable

IRISH REBELLION. 235

authority, independent of my personal and local
knowledge of the principal events ; and if they feel
the candor they profess, I trust they will do me
credit for wishing to set them right, when they ap-
peal to the pubhc for information and correction of
any errors that might possibly have crept into their
works.

On the 10th of June an attack was made by some
gun-boats on Fethard ; where, after destroying all
the boats, mostly belonging to poor fishermen, the
crews set fire to and burned many houses. This
occurrence, with several ships, seemingly of war,
being seen off the coast, renewed the former opinion
that a landing and attack were intended in the south-
ern part of the county. Small camps of observation
were therefore instituted at Carne and Rastoonstown,
to be attended by all the married men of the neigh-
borhood, they being supposed to prove more watch-
ful for the protection of their wives and families, by
obviating sudden emergency ; while all the bachelors
fit for actual service were ordered to attend at Lack-
en Hill. In Wexford, attempts were made to man-
ufacture gunpowder to supply the scarcity of that
article, which, however, did not succeed, for though
it would explode, yet it was with little or no force.
The weather continued remarkably fine and serene,
a circumstance very favorable to the insurgents'
mode of warfare, as they had scarcely any covering
but a few booths or tents, not sufi^icient to contain
even their officers ; so that the camps were not much
encumbered with equipage, and only requiring the
choice of a field, and should one not prove ample
enough for their numbers, the adjoining enclosures
were occupied in sufficient extent to contain them in
the open air.

Sir Thomas Esmonde, Bart., and Mr. Laurence

236 HISTORY OF THE

Doyle, officers in the Castletown yeomen cavalry,
could not escape the general suspicion entertained
against Catholics, and although they were known to
have performed their duty at the battle of Ark low,
yet this did not protect them from a most contume-
lious and public arrest on the 12th of June, at Ark-
low, whence they were conducted under a guard to
Dubhn, where they continued some days in confine-
ment, and were then liberated without the shadow of
a charge being brought against them. The impolicy
of this and the like transactions in such critical times,
is so flagrant, that it is astonishing to think they
should be permitted to be practised ; thus exaspera- »
ting the feelings of any religious description, without w
more cogent reason than suspicion, was the occasion
of many loyal Catholics not joining the army, as they
were apprehensive that death might be the conse-
quence of their being suspected.

As the insurgents had not a sufficiency of gun-
powder to undertake any new attack, they remained
inactive in th'eir several encampments for some days ;
but in order to obtain a supply of that article, it was
resolved to make an attack on Borris, the seat of Mr,
Kavanagh, in the county of Carlovv, where, it was
supposed, lay a great quantity of arms and ammuni-
tion. A detachment accordingly proceeded from the
camp on Vinegar Hill to that on Lacken Hill, where
receiving reinforcement, the united party moved for-
ward to the attack of Borris, where they arrived af-
ter a night's march, early on the morning of the 12th,
The cavalry stationed there fled on the approach of
the insurgents, but a party of the Donegal militia,
who had taken up their quarters in the house, defend-
ed it with great bravery, keeping up a constant fire
from the upper windows, and losing but one man in
the course of the contest. The cannon the insur

IRISH REBELLION. 237

gents had brought with them was too small to have
any effect on the castle, as the only ball, discharged
by one of them, rebounded from the wall, and an at-
tack by musketry was of course considered ineffec-
tual. As no hopes then remained of taking the man-
sion by assault or battery, considering the strength
and thickness of the walls, and that the lower win-
dows were also lately built up with strong mason-
work, the assailants set the outer offices on fire, in
hopes of forcing the garrison to dislodge themselves
for their protection ; but this manoeuvre proving in-
effectual, and the insurgents having expended all
their ammunition in useless efforts, and having burn-
ed some houses in the village, returned to the sev-
eral encampments from which they had been detach-
ed in the county of Wexford.

The encampment on Gorey Hill had by this time
removed to Limerick Hill, and the army, which was
now daily reinforced, made frequent sallies from
their several stations and committed the most violent
excesses, putting to death every man who came in
their way, whether by accident or otherwise, nor
were the insurgents backward in retaliation ; so that
the situation of such as were placed between the
contending parties was truly pitiable ; being uncer-
tain for an instant of the safety of their lives or prop-
erties, and equally subject to military and popular
violence and devastation. Several strong reports
had now prevailed throughout the county of Wex-
ford, that the most desperate atrocities had been
committed by the soldiery in their different quarters,
and this roused the already irritated passions of the
people to revenge, so as to be productive of many
lamentable acts of outrage, ever attendant on civil
commotion, and keeping alive those melancholy dis»
cords which never occur in modern times, between

238 HISTORY OF THE

separate and independent nations at war ; and which
all enlightened and humane people so strongly detest
and reprobate. Reports of these enormities very
much alarmed the minds of the prisoners in Wexford,
as they strongly apprehended it might produce an
alteration in the conduct of the inhabitants towards
them. A petition to government, from those con-
fined in the jail, was accordingly drawn up, expres-
sive of the danger of their situation should the people
be prompted to retaliation upon them, by the conduct
of the troops towards such of the populace or their
friends as might fall into their hands ; and on this
occasion, the officers who were prisoners in Wexford
appeared more alarmed than the others there in con-
finement. They accordingly communicated to me
their apprehensions and wishes, and proposed striking
out some mode of putting a stop to the violences,
which, they very naturally feared, might soon in-
volve their inevitable destruction. Lord Kings-
borough was for proposing an exchange of prisoners
as the best method of allaying the prevailing alarms,
and of suppressing the heat and violence of the peo-
ple, now roused to the highest pitch of fury, and
breathing nothing but revenge. Indeed, from the
critical state of the country, and the people in gen-
eral abiding no control, it was difficult to devise
what could be best attempted to avert the fate that
seemed to impend over every person of any distinc-
tion, having the misfortune of being then in the
county of Wexford, while all the chiefs throughout
the several encampments most feelingly lamented
the great disorders prevailing, -and in conjunction
with every individual of the least respectability, most
strongly reprobated the cruelties and excesses that
were perpetrated. So violent was the spirit of retal-
iation and vengeance, which seemed to actuate the

IRISH REBELLION. 239

whole mass of the people, that every danger was to
be apprehended from it, unless some means were ta-
ken to allay the existing ferment. On the 13th of
June, several persons from the different encamp-
ments, led by the most benevolent motives, as if by
preconcerted agreement, waited on the commander-
in-chief, in Wexford, to consult on the best mode of
keeping the unruly rabble in some order, over whom
they declared they had not (as indeed they never
had) any kind of control ; and they now expressed
their fears, that the best disposed of the men, who
had been hitherto distinguished for good conduct and
humanity, might be induced, by tlie prevailing rage,
to commit acts of which they had yet been so far
from guilty, that they gave them the most strenuous
opposition. The abomination of Scullabogue had
excited such general horror, that it became a material
object of consideration on this occasion, when it was
resolved to institute an inquiry for the purpose of
punishing in the most exemplary manner, the perpe-
trators of this infernal transaction ! ! ! — the existing
state of the country prevented the accomplishment
of so desirable an object. A favorable circumstance
occurred at this time, which led to a hope that con-
ciliation might be attempted with some probability
of success. A message was sent to a prison-ship in
the harbor of Dublin, offering liberty to any one who
would undertake to go to Wexford with letters for
Lord Kingsborough. Accordingly a man of the
name of John Tunks undertook the task, and, being
provided with all the necessary passes,- he arrived
safe at Limerick Hill camp, whence he was sent
with some principal persons to the commander-in-
chief in Wexford. He immediately assembled those
he thought best able to advise him how to proceed,
and it was considered fortunate that many respecta-

240 HISTORY OF THE

ble persons from the country were then in the town,
all of whom approved of endeavoring to forward the
sentiments of the prisoners along with Lord Kings-
borough's answer, but how to reconcile the people
to the measure, without which nothing effectual could
be done, was the difficulty. The committees in
Wexford, as various business and orders had been
pressed on them from time to time, not at all within
the scope of their intentions, upon undertaking that
arduous duty, were not considered likely, in the
present instance, to act with effect, particularly as
their numbers had been increased on the augmenta-
tion of business, and this too by the accession of low
persons who might procrastinate the proceedings for
immediate remedy. Accordingly those who had
been in consultation with the commander-in-chief
proceeded along with him to the house wherein the
different committees usually met, and here eight per-
sons, considered the most capable of applying a
speedy and effectual remedy to the existing evil, were
appointed, and the body so selected was denominated
*' The council appointed to manage the affairs of the
people of the county of Wexford," of which Mr.
Harvey was chosen president. This plan was to be
communicated to the different camps, and such of
the persons as might not be approved of by the peo-
ple, were to be removed and replaced by others.
This arrangement met with the heartfelt approbation
of all the prisoners, especially as the council imme-
diately proceeded to forward the very plan they
themselves had previously intended to put in opera-
tion. It was thought necessary also to confine the
messenger Tunks in the jail, as he was very talka-
tive, particularly with respect to Lord Kingsborough's
conduct in Dublin, to some parts of which, he said,
he had been an eye-witn€ss. His manner and sto-

IRISH REBELLION. 241

ries, if left at liberty, might inflame the minds of the
people, whom, at the time, it was so necessary not
to provoke, but by every possible means to con-
ciliate.

Captain M'Manus being deputed by the prisoners
in the jail, was conducted to consult with Lord Kings-
borough, who accordingly wrote a letter to the lord
lieutenant, in the name of all the prisoners, (among
whom there were thirteen officers, besides several
yeomanry officers and principal gentlemen of the
county,) intimating their great danger, but that they
had hitherto been well treated, and, in every respect,
as prisoners of war, and therefore hoping that the
prisoners taken by the army might meet the like good
treatment with them, for that otherwise they feared
reprisals might be made and their destruction prove
inevitable. This letter, along with any others that
the officers chose to send to their friends, was to be
forwarded to the next commanding officer of the
artny, and the messenger was to return with an an-
swer with all convenient speed. Lieutenant Bourke
of the North Cork mihtia was appointed to carry the
remainder of this scheme into execution, and accord-
ingly on the evening of the 14th day of June, he set
out from Wexford, accompanied by Mr. Carty to
Enniscorthy, and part of the way by Captain Dixon,
who, at Wexford, seemingly acquiesced in the busi-
ness ; yet such was his duplicity, that he galloped on
before the others to Ermiscorthy, where by mischie-
vous representations and deceitful contrivances, he
so wrought upon the people as lo induce them not to
suffer the letters to be forwarded ; and such was his
influence, that not only Lieutenant Bourke was in
imminent danger, but even Mr. Carty ran great risk*
in opposing his villanous machinations ; but after
being baffled in their laudable intentions, they were,

21

242 HISTORY OF THE

after great hazard, permitted to return in safety the
next day, to Wexford.

As it was now found that no negotiation could be
entered into without the express concurrence of the
people, with a view of making conciliation more
attainable, it was deemed expedient to bind them as
much as possible, to abide the control of their com-
manders. As numbers of them had never been sworn
United Irishmen, and as the principles of brotherhood
contained in their oath were considered by many of
the principal prisoners excellent means of restraint,
it was therefore thought a prudent measure to adopt
it generally, and thereby impress on the minds of llie
people, the orderly and social intercourse that should
subsist between all those sworn in the same cause,
and the moral obligation of obeying their comman-
ders ; and it was imagined the oath itself would curb
many from acting licentiously. The measure was
accordingly adopted, and oaths were also formed,
with the same benevolent intentions, and equally ap-
proved of, to be taken by all officers and privates,
and by all the people in the most solemn manner, and
copies of them were printed and circulated through
the county.*

Considering the defenceless state of the country,
and the existing circumstances of the day, the situa-
tion of the newly appointed council was far from en-
viable. It became their duly to endeavor to avert
the tremendously impending fate which threatened
the country with inevitable destruction, and to exert
themselves to the utmost of their power to concert
such measures as would appear most likely to prove
effectual. At such a critical period, their undertak-
ing the arduous task must be considered as dictated

* Seo Appendix, No. IX.

IRISH REBELLION. 243

bjr 1.hc purest scntiinenls of philanthrop)' ; as what
oilier possible motive could induce any one of them
to place himself in such a perilous situation, at a
time that it was well known to every man of rational
observation, that the efforts of the insurgents would
not be attended with final success ? They had in-
deed undertaken a most difficult task, although they
have not escaped tlie censure of partisans of all sides,
Vv-ho, while they venture to express prejudiced opin-
ions, have no conception of the then existing general
state of the county of Wexford. In short, the coun-
cil were placed ii) as embarrassing a predicament as
can well be imagined, seemingly at the head of a re-
fractory outrageous populace, whom ihey anxiously
sought to rescue from destruction, while these mostly
counteracted their best and most benevolent inten-
tions. However, when called on, at this dangerous
juncture, as considered capable of applying a remedy
to the enormous evil, all petty considerations van-
ished, and they undertook to meet the difficulty with
firmness and resolution; and when such urgent ne-
cessity existed, any man should be deemed an enemy
to the human race, who would refuse to contribute
all his might lou'ards the salvation of his country-
men. According to the nature of the existing evil,
so should be that of the counteracting measures.
From this consideration the council did not think it
right, for the preservation of the people, to declare,
or even in the smallest degree to allow their defence-
less state. On the contrary, it was considered neces-
sary, along with the endeavor to encourage general
union and harmony, to appear to be, as much as pos-
sible, able and determined to adopt the most firm and
decisive measures, with the view of obtaining the
more favorable conditions for the people.

The critical situation of the council, as far as it

244 HISTORY OF THE

regarded the management of the people lliemselves,
may be well exemphfied by the following occur-
rence. The town of Wexford being in a stale of the
utmost tranquillity, was all at once thrown into the
most violent confusion and alarm by a great caval-
cade coming into it over |,he bridge, preceded by
Captain Dixon and his wife, who rode through the
streets, while he with gesture and expression the
most outrageous exhibited a fire-screen, ornamented
with various emblematical figures representing some
heathen gods, and with orange bordering, fringe, and
tassels, which he represented as the insignia of an
orange lodge, and the figures he tremendously an-
nounced as the representations of the tortures which
the Catholics were to suffer from Orangemen ; call-
ing on the people to take signal vengeance, as he
produced to them, he said, the discovery of the whole
plot, found at Attramont, the seat of Colonel Lehunte.
It is impossible to describe the fury of the people on
this occasion, roused to the most violent pitch in an
instant, and only to be accounted for on the principle
of their supposition or rather persuasion of their in-
tended extermination, which the sight of any thing
orange awakened in the most sensitive manner, simi-
larly to what has been before related concerning the
orange warrant or commission and pitched cap dis-
covered in the barracks of Wexford. When Captain
Dixon liad, by this infernal and tumultuous conduct,
assembled almost all the inhabitants of the town,
(whose phrensy, on seeing the orange ornaments,
and hearing his assertions most desperately vocife-
rated, it is impossible to describe,) he proceeded di-
rectly to the house wherein Colonel Lehunte lodged,
dragged him out, and marched him down to the jail,
amidst a furious and enraged mob, by wiiom it is won-
derful that his life was spared at the instant.

IRISH REBELLION. 245

The principal inhabitants immediately assembled,
and very narrowly escaped being all put to death ;
for as they met "in the committee house, opposite
which the "mob had collected, a common ruffian had
the audacity to come in and fire a shot amidst them
all, and actually arrested one of the council, which
so provoked a gentleman present, who happened to
have his pistols about him, that he cocked one of
them and was ready to shoot the fellow, but was for-
tunately prevented ; for I verily believe, had the ruf-
fian been shot, the destruction of every one in the
house would have been the inevitable consequence.
The populace at length permitted some gentlemen
to address them from the windows, and it was a
considerable time before they were able to persuade
them that all their fury and madness had proceeded
from the exhibition of a fire-screen, on which were
represented some heathen gods, and which formed
part of the ornaments of a room furnished three years
before with orange borderings and trimmings, then
considered the most fashionable color.

On the 16th, the insurgents set out from their en-
campment at Limerick Hill to Carnew, v/here meet-
ing with no force to interrupt their career, they pro-
ceeded as far as Tinehaly ; here they had smart
skirmishing with the army, from whom they took a
great number of cattle, which they drove on before
them, and encamped that night at Mountpleasant.
On iheir quitting Limerick Hill in the morning, the
prisoners who were confined in Gorey were thence
brought to Vinegar Hill, from, which they were con-
veyed under a strong escort, and lodged in the jail
of Wexford. The disposition of the inhabitants of
this town, in not permitting any of the prisoners there
confined to be brought out of the jail, where they
were considered in perfect safety, was well known,

21*

246 HISTORY OF THE

as many refusals had been made to demands of this
kind from the country, when it was apprehended the
intention was not to set them at hberty, but to put
them to death ; in the present instance, tlierefore, the
strong escort, which consisted of Enniscorlliy men,
gave no intimation of any design until they got pos-
session of the jail, while dehvering the prisoners they
had brought with them ; but then overpowering the
guards, they forced away with them four men, who
had been very obnoxious to the people, and with
them quitted the town immediately, in order to afford
no time to rescue the unfortunate victims from them.
The four devoted men were taken to the camp on
Vinegar Hill, where they were next morning put to
death, the Wexford gunsmen having returned home
on the evening before, for during their stay in the
camp only one man suffered, soon after their arrival,
and they would by no means allow the repetition of
such another deed, as has been before observed.

On the 16th, several people from the neighborhood
of Gorey formed a small encampment on Ask Hill,
between Gorey and Arklow, from which last-men-
tioned town, since the battle fought there, the troops
issued with peculiar caution. On this day, however,
a troop of yeomen cavahy had the fortitude to ad-
vance towards the little camp of the insurgents.
This was, at the time, very inconsiderable as to
numbers, having no more than about one hundred
men equipped or fit for action, the rest having either
dispersed or proceeded to Vinegar Hill ; and even
half the remaining number precipitately fled at the
approach of the cavalry ; while the other half, arm-
ed with pikes only, stripped to their shirts, to be un-
incumbered in exertion, and ran in full speed to
meet the yeomen ; but these avoided the encounter
and expeditiously retreated to Arklow. The insur-

IKISH REBELLION. 247

gents then retired from Ask Hill, and moved into the
country between Oulart and Wexford, and were dis-
tributed through the different houses in that neigh-
borhood.

On Sunday, the 17th of June, a detachment of
four hundred men sent out from the camp on Vinegar
Hill, halted in Ferns until break of day, when, thus
early on Monday, the 18th, they marched forward
with the intention of storming Newtownbarry ; but
meeting at Camohn the insurgents who had now
quitted their station at Mountpleasant, they altered
their route and returned to Vinegar Hill, while the
main body of the others proceeded to Carrigrew,
whence thev also moved on the next day to Vinegar
Hill. ^

Early on the 19th the encampment on Lacken
Hill was surprised by a military force that came out
from Ross ; and the insurgents, provided with little
or no ammunition, and not apprehending an attack,
were nearly surrounded before they were aware of
iheir situation. They were also but few in number,
for although vast multitudes appeared in their en-
campments in the day-time, yet they were almost
deserted during the night, as all persons took the
liberty of going and coming as they pleased. But
notwithstanding this and the sudden emergency, they
effected a good retreat to the Three-rocks, without
the loss of a man. This was contrived in a masterly
manner by the address of their commander, the Rev.
Philip Roche, who, being roused from his bed by
the general alarm, ordered the foot directly to retreat,
and having collected immediately round him the few
horsemen that could be got together, caused them to
seize on several banners, and keep them waving at
different distances, as it were in defiance, so as to
intimidate the troops from making a sudden onset.

248 HISTORY OF THE

and when he knew that his foot were at a safe dis-
tance, he and his few horsemen galloped after them,
so that by this contrivance — that might do honor to
an experienced general — he completely baffled the
mihtary, brought off his whole force entire, and was
himself the last in quitting the hill.

General dispositions were now made to attack the
insurgents on all sides, and the several divisions of
the army had orders from Lieutenant-general Lake
to proceed in different directions for that purpose.
They were all to move towards the important post
of Vinegar Hill, occupied by the permanent encamp-
ment of the insurgents since the 28ih of May, on
the taking of Enniscorthy. Pursuant to the plan of
a general assault, Lieutenant-general Dundas pro-
ceeded on the 18th of June from Baltinglass to
Hacket's-town, whence he was to proceed, in con-
junction with Major-general Loftus, who was to join
him from TuUow, with the forces under his com-
mand, to move forward to attack the insurgents post-
ed on Mountpleasant, These seemed willing enough
to engage, but the troops were prevented from com-
ing to action here, by other orders from Lieutenant-
general Lake, who thought it more prudent to wait
tiie assistance and co-operation of his whole force
combined, than to risk a partial engagement which
might thwart or impede his general plan of opera-
lions. Major-general Needham, who commanded
in Arklow, moved on the 19th to Gorey, and on the
next day encamped on Oulart Hill, whence he was
to proceed to Enniscorthy. Greater devastation was
perceivable from Arklow to Oulart, than in any other
part of the country. On the 19th, Major-generals
Johnston and Eustace, after obliging the insurgents
posted on Lacken Hill hastily to abandon their situ-
ation, proceeded to Bloomfield, v^rhere they encamp-

IRISH REBELLION. 249

ed on the evening of the 20th ; while Brigadier-gen-
eral Moore reached his appointed station at Fook's-
mill on tiie same evening, and Major-general Sir
James Duff, who had mai'ched from Newtownbarry,
took his station with Major-general Loftus at Scara-
walsh. In the course of the progressive march of
these several divisions of the army, great devastation
took place ; numbers of houses were burned, and
corn and various kind of property were plundered
and destroyed, mostly at the instance of the yeomen
returning to their different neighborhoods. It is as-
tonishing that landlords of all descriptions could so
far forget their own interests as to join in the destruc-
tion of houses on their lands, Jiowever they might be
induced to hunt out their lessees, and to sacrifice
them, and so put an end at once to their leases. Yet
many instances of this kind are related throughout
the country.

According to the preconcerted and comprehensive
plan of operations, all the generals arrived, with their
several divisions, at the different stations to which
they had been ordered on the 20th, of which they
severally apprized Lieutenant-general Lake, who
was himself, with his staff and Lieutenant-general
Dundas, posted at Solsborough. The insurgents of
the northern part of the county of Wexford had now
concentrated their force on tiieir station of Vinegar
Hill, and at a consultation of their chiefs it was pro-
posed to make a general assault on the post of Sols-
borough during the night, but to this the people could
not be prevailed upon to agree ; who chose rather
to depend upon their very scanty provision of pow-
der, and wait for open daylight to engage. It is very
surprising that, considering the great courage and
intrepidity displayed by them in so many engage-
ments, the insurgents could never be brought to

250 HISTORY OF THE

make a nocturnal attack, wherein thev must have in-
evitably proved successful, as the confusion into
which the regular troops would have been thrown
]^ such a proceeding, would reduce them to a level
with irregular bodies, w^hose superiority of numbers
must necessarily have given them every advantage.
On the 19th, General Edward Roche, and such of
the insurgents of his neighborhood as were at Vine-
gar Hill, were sent home to collect the whole mass
of the people for general defence. By the march
of the army in all directions, towards Vinegar Hill
and Wexford, a general flight of such of the inhabit-
ants as could get off took place ; and, as the greater
part of the county was now occupied by the troops,
the whole population was compressed into a very
narrow space ; and at this time there was not an en-
campment of insurgents in the northern part of the
county, except at Vinegar Hill ; while in the south-
ern quarter the small camps of Carne and Rastoons-
town were concentrated at the Three-Rocks.

The alarm was now general throughout the whole
country ; all men were called to attend the camps ;
and Wexford became the universal rendezvous of the
fugitives, who reported, with various circumstances
of horror, the progress of the different armies ap-
proaching in every direction, marking their move-
ments with terrible devastation. Ships of war were
also seen off the coast, and several gun-boats blocked
up the entrance of the harbor, which precluded the
possibility of any vessel getting out ; so that Wex-
ford was now on the brink of destruction, and the in-
habitants without the smallest hope of escape. It is
dreadful to conceive, and impossible to describe, the
horrors felt by all who had the misfortune of being in
the town on this most critical occasion. The melan-
choly scenes of devastation perpetrated by the army

IRISH REBELLION. 251

in the country about Carrick-Byrne, exhibited a mel-
ancholy picture ; and from the commanding situation
of the camp at the Three Rocks, on the mountain of
Forth, the general conflagration, which was as pro-
gressive as the march of the troops, was clearly per-
ceivable. On the approach of the army, great
numbers of countrymen, with their wives and chil-
dren, and any little baggage they could hastily pack
up, fled towards Wexford, as to an asylum or place
of refuge ; and the number of these was increased
every instant by the arrival of new fugitives, who de-
scribed, in melancholy strain of lamentation, how their
houses were plundered and destroyed, and how they
themselves had narrowly escaped with life from the
fury of the soldiery, who, when thus let loose and
encouraged to range over and ravage a country, be-
come the greatest curse that can befall it ! ! !

I must, however, observe, that General Moore did
all in his power to prevent these atrocities, and got
some plunderers immediately put to death ; but his
humane and benevolent intentions were not so suc-
cessful from the representations and excitements of
the refugees returning home. It is much to be re-
gretted that he was not afterwards left in command
u\ the county of Wexford, as he was ordered to
Wicklow, where his conciliatory conduct and hu-
manity were conspicuous, and will ever be remem-
bered with gratitude by the people, w^ho flocked to
his standard for protection. Had Ireland enjoyed
the blessings of such rulers, it would never have been
involved in such a dreadful situation.

The Reverend Philip Roche, after having settled
the encampment at the Three Rocks, came into
Wexford and demanded all kinds of supplies for his
forces ; and as the inhabitants (except the gunsmen,
who attended for some lime on Vmegar Hill) had

■( 14

i /'
- '.J

252 HISTORY OF THE

never quit their homes or assisted at any battle, they
were looked upon in a very invidious point of view^
by the rest of the people ; who accordingly vowed
the destruction of the town if all its armed men would
not appear at the camp on the Three Rocks early
the next morning, and join in general defence. The
Reverend General Roche, on coming into Wexford,
was greatly exhausted from his diligent and unre-
mitting exertions in covering the retreat from Lacken
Hill, and not having taken a morsel of food during
the whole day, less drink than usual exhibited him
in the course of the evening very much intoxicated.
Of this man it is, however, necessary to say, that,
however apparently violent and boisterous, he was
remarkable for humanity. He never suffered a man
to be put to death on Lacken Hill ; and the follow-
ing, recorded by the Rev. Mr. Gordon, is a most
powerful instance of his benevolence. After staling,
that although " Philip Roche was in appearance
fierce and sanguinary, yet several persons now living
owe their lives to his boisterous interference," he
proceeds to state, that " two Protestants in a respec-
table situation in life, brothers, of the name of Rob-
inson, inhabitants of the parish of Killegny, being
seized and carried to Vinegar Hill, some Roman
Catholic tenants, anxious for their safety, galloped in
full speed to Roche's quarters at Lacken, and begged
his assistance. Pie immediately sent an express with
orders to bring the two Robinsons to Lacken, pre-
tending to have charges of a crinnnal nature against
them, for which they should be tried. The miscre-
ants on Vinegar Hill, who were preparing to butcher
these men, though they were advanced in years, and
unimpeachable witii any other crime than that of
Protestantism, on receipt of Roche's orders, relinr
quished their fury, not doubting that death awaited

IRISH REBELLION. 253

them at Lacken. But Roche, whose object was to
snatch these innocent men from the jaws of the
blood-hounds, immediately on their arrival at his
quarters gave them written protections, and sent them
to their homes, where they were soon after in danger
of being hanged by the king's troops, who were too
ready to pronounce disloyal all such as had been
spared by rebel parties."* But to put the question
forever at rest, whether the insurrection of this period
was a war of religion, it is only necessary to observe,
that this was utterly impossible, notwithstanding the
fanatic deeds of some base and barbarous individu-
als, since the militia regiments, who fought with such
determined animosity against the insurgents, were
mostly composed of Catholics. Had there been any
possible grounds to establish the rebellion a rehgious
one, it could not have escaped its effect here, as en-
thusiastic bigots have however ventured to utter
among them their envenomed sentiments. The late
Earl of Clare, who cannot be suspected of being a
friend to Catholics, could not have given his opinion
in the imperial parliament, that " religion was not the
cause of the rebellion," had he not every opportunity
from his official situation of being perfectly possessed
of more information than could fall to the lot of the
public at large.

While the principal inhabitants of Wexford were
in consultation, to which they were now summoned,
upon the best mode of self-preservation and defence,
the order for all the armed men to appear in camp
by break of day became imperative ; and the outcry
was so loud against the backwardness of the Wex-
ford-men, that several set off immediately. The six
small cannon on board the Guinea cutter were

* See Gordon's History, page 140.
# 22

g54 HISTORY OF THE

brought on shore, and their carriages being too small
for land service, they were tied on cars and taken,
thus mounted, by the sailors to the camp at the
Three Rocks, where the scarcity of ammunition was
so great, that not a charge remained for any other
cannon. On this evenino; it was that the Wexford
guns-men had returned home from Vinegar Hill ; and
about seventy men from the northern side of the
Slaney came into town during the night, and were
lodged in the barrack by Captain Dixon, who had
been remarkably active in spreading alarm through
the country north of the town, through which he liad
rode several miles to induce the people to come into
Wexford, as it were for general defence. Early on
the morning of the 20th, the drum beat to arms, and
all the armed inhabitants marched out to camp, leav-
ing none in the town but the guards that had been on
duty since the day before. Some time after, 1 met
Captain Dixon in the street, booted and spurred, and
in all appearance thoroughly equipped and accoutred
to go out to battle : his horse also stood wailing at his
door fully caparisoned. On inquiry, however, 1 found
he had no real intention of quilling the town. I then
informed him, that I was sent by the commander-in-
chief to request his immediate attendance at the
Three Rocks ; but this he declined obeying, and was
at the time in the act of sending whiskey to the coun-
trymen who were in the barrack ; and on my ex-
pressing surprise that these men should remain m the
town, contrary to general orders, he replied, that his
intention was to keep these men in Wexford to re-
place the guards, who, he said, had never been in any
battle, and must now go out, as it was but fair they
should share hardship in their turn, and allow some
repose to those men who had been in every engage-
ment.

IRISH REBELLION. 255

o

On this intelligence I immediately s^ot on horse-'
back and rode up to the barracks, where I endeavor-
ed by every means in my powder to induce the men
to leave the town ; and they at length seemed will-
ing to consent. But on the arrival of Captain Dixon,
with the reinforcement of whiskey, they so far alter-
ed their opinions and inclinations, that I was threat-
ened for my interference. From the specimen of
Captain Dixon's disposition displayed by his conduct
to Colonel Lehunte, no confidence could be placed
in him ; and seeing his influence over these men,
who now at his instance absolutely refused to quit
the town, measures of precaution naturally suggested
themselves. After recommending to the guards to
be vigilant on their station, which they were to quit
upon no account, I galloped off to the camp at Three
Rocks, to request a reinforcement of the Wexford
men to be sent back with me, but which 1 had the
greatest difficulty in obtaining, notwithstanding all
my remonstrances, and was at last granted, rather to
get rid of my importunity than from any other reason
or motive ; as no idea of a massacre was at all en-
tertained. I was, however, allowed to lake my
choice of the Wexford corps, but on no condition
should they be permitted to quit the camp, until the
whole remaining force should have marched off, as
it was apprehended that if they were seen going they
might be followed by others. Fearing the men might
be countermanded if I should leave them before the
main body should have moved off, I waited for that
event, which took up a considerable lime ; during
which I also procured a letter from the commander-
in-chief, Mr. Harvey, directed to Captain Dixon, or-
dering him to come out to camp, as I felt earnest
wishes to induce him to leave the town, for which
purpose I left no means untried, but all without ef-

256 HISTORY OF THE

feet. On consulting with some gentlemen m the
Selsker corps, which was that I had chosen to re-
turn with me, as it contained more respectable per-
sons and Protestants, since in different yeomanry-
corps, than any other in Wexford, I proposed that
they should all take an oath not to drink spirits until
further orders, as I perceived some drunken men
among them, who could not be depended upon.
This plan was generally approved of, and all were
accordingly sv^^orn, except four or five, who were im-
mediately sent off with the main body. This corps
consisted of one hundred and twenty-five pikemen,
(no gunsman being allowed to return,) and with these,
having secured their sobriety, along with the guards
that had remained in Wexford, I thought to be com-
pletely able to keep Captain Dixon and his drunken
crew of about seventy in awe, should they show an
inclination to be refractory. When I judged all dan-
ger of a countermand was over, I set off at full speed
towards Wexford, to announce this reinforcement to
the guards there on duty ; but about half way I met
four Protestant gentlemen, with pikes, marching out
to camp ; and as I had seen them before in the
morning, when they declared no intention of this
kind, I expressed ray surprise at their leaving the
town, and insisted on their returning thither with me;
but this at first they refused, alleging that, on my
quitting the town, Captain Dixon had gone about the
streets threatening death and destruction to all who
would not immediately go out to camp, which had
induced them to set off accordingly. However I
altered their resolution by calming their fears, and
by showing the letter from the commander-in-chief
to Captain Dixon, suggesting that they would still
be on the best duty by joining the men that were on
their return ; upon which they promised to come

IRISH REBELLIdiV. 257

back and give me their advice and assistance towards
the protection of the prisoners ; in whose defence I
declared I would take up arms, which I had not yet
done, and should 1 fall, I thought it would be a noble
death to die on such an occasion. On this informa-
tion I hastened with all speed to Wexford, from
which I had been now absent about four hours, on
account of all the delays I unavoidably experienced,
the Three Rocks being three miles distant from the
town ; but how great was my surprise and astonish-
ment on finding the latter taken possession of by a
vast multitude of people, consisting of several thou-
sands, many of whom were well armed, and in such
force as to banish all hope that the small number of
Wexford men remaining in, and returning to the
town, could in case of need give them any effectual
resistance. General Edward Roche had, as has been
before mentioned, returned home, at a very late hour
on the 19th, from the camp on Vinegar Hill, to col-
lect and lead thither all the men in his neighborhood.
The number of these was now immensely increased
by the vast crowds of fugitives driven, by the ap-
proach of the army, from about Gorey into the part
of the country called Shilmalier. Through this quar-
ter. Captain Dixon had made an excursion on the
same day, diffusing dread and alarm, and calling on
the people to assemble for general defence at Wex-
ford ; and unfortunately he was so successful in his
efforts, that on the morning of the 20th, when the
people were assembled, and that General Edward
Roche thought to lead them towards Enniscorthy,
they peremptorily refused to proceed, representing
Wexford, from the suggestions of Captain Dixon, as
more vulnerable ; wherefore the general himself
thought it more advisable to continue with this body
of the people, now consisting chiefly of the fugitives

22*

258 HISTORY OF THE

from the northern parts of the county. These were
continually relating their misfortunes, the cruelties
they suffered, and the hardships they endured, to
those with whom they took refuge ; which roused
and irritated the populace to such a pitch of fury as
admits not of description, and of which none but an
eye-witness can have an adequate idea. All en-
treaties or remonstrances to sooth or calm the exas-
perated multitude were in vain : however, continuing
still on horseback, 1 endeavored to address, explain,
excuse, and expostulate, and in the course of these
attempts many pikes were raised against me, and
several guns and pistols cocked and pointed at me,
and vengeance vowed against me as an Orangeman ;
for they vociferated that I had distinguished myself
by no other feat, but activity in protecting their en-
emies the Orangemen ; that i had never attended
their camps, or J would be a judge of their miseries
by the view of general desolation. One man would
roar out, that I had not been flogged as he had been ;
another pathetically related, that his house had been
burned, and he had been driven to beggary with his
whole family, and he would have the death of the
person that injured him ; a third lamented the death
of his father, another that of iiis brother, others of
their children ; and the appeal was made to me to
decide on all their various sufferings and misfor-
tunes ; while they perseveringly declared, they only
wanted to be avenged of those who had actually done
them wrong ; and I was asked, if similarly circum-
stanced, would I not take revenge for such injuries
as theirs ? All this I endeavored to answer, and
strove to appease the wrath of popular phrensy, by
alleging that the laws of God were indefeasible, and
that they dictated that good should be returned for
evil. This had some little effect for the instant ; but

IRISH REBELLION. 259

it was, indeed, but. momentary. I, however, con-
tinued still unwearied in my exertions, particularly
endeavoring to preserve my dear and beloved friend,
Mr. Turner, whose death, and that of a Mr. Gains-
fort, the populace declared indispensable to their
satisfaction, as they had led out the array against
them on Whitsunday, and had burned their houses.
Although I knew that my friend had burned a house,
(of which he most sincerely and heartily repented,)
yet I appealed to the multitude, if any one could
prove the fact alleged against him, and no one ap-
pearing to come forward for that purpose, I seized
on the glimpse of hope I now entertained of his safe-
ty, thinking that his life might be preserved by de-
manding a trial, on which, if no proof of criminality
could be adduced, it was natural to conclude that
his safety must be certain. I then made the experi-
ment ; but was answered by this universal cry —
" What trial did we or our friends and relations ob-
tain when some were hanged or shot, and others
whipped or otherwise tortured ; our bouses and
properties burned and destroyed, and ourselves hunted
like mad dogs ?" But I rejoined with some eifect —
" Do you mean to compare yourselves to the perpe-
trators of such deeds, or would you disgrace your
conduct by such barbarous acts ?" This appeal to
their principles produced the consequence, providen-
tially, as I fondly hoped, of iheir consenting to a
trial, but on the express condition that I should re-
tire, and be present on no account. At this critical
moment I perceived a person near me whom I had
induced to return from the '^I'hree Rocks, and who,
true to his promise of every assistance in his power,
after a variety of difficulty had got close by me, to-
gether with some others of the like benevolent dis-
positions, to whom I stooped down from on horse-

260 HISTORY OF THE

back to listen to the arguments they humanely sug-
gested ; and I n)ust declare, that I derived great
courage, from their presence and advice, to persist
in my entreaties, in the course of which I find, on
cool reflection, that I underwent great danger, of
which I was by no means so sensible at the time,
until aftervi^ards informed by many who were kind
enough to hold me in regard, while they prevented
different persons from shooting me. I entreated the
particular person before mentioned, to procure men
whose humanity could not be doubted to try the
prisoners, and when he should have succeeded, to
give me notice, as I would endeavor in the mean
time to delay the people, who were insisting that I
should retire, " as," they declared, " I would go to
the devil to save Turner." 1 did promise to retire
as soon as I could have proper persons appointed to
sit in trial over the prisoners, when my humane
friend beckoned to me, signifying that he was ready.
I then went into the committee-house, where, akhough
Captain Dixon and Morgan Byrne, whose sanguinary
disposition I was well aware of, insisted that they
should be on the trial, I could not oppose their ap-
pointment ; but, however, four out of seven, which
was the number ciiosen, humanely offered them-
selves, having previously prorhised me that they
would not consent to put any one to death. I made
use of another stratagem by proposing an oath, that
in their proceedings they would not be guided by
public prejudice, but by justice and the evidence be-
fore them. This was with a view, if possible, to se-
cure the assistance and co-operation even of the
most sanguinary, and the seven were accordingly
sworn to that effect. By this contrivance, and the
sdentra assurance of the four persons that they
would not consent to the condemnation of any one, I

IRISH REBELLION. 261

fondly hoped that I had secured the life of my friend
from danger ; and being fully confident of the suc-
cess of my plan, I left its subsequent management
to a person on whose sincerity I could rely, and to
whose worth I am sorry at not having the liberty to
do justice by naming him ; and having made sure of
such a friend to humanity, I thought it most prudent
to retire, in order to please the people, the inclina-
tions of many of whom I had now thwarted for
hours ; and I had good reason to suppose they would
then be more inclined to listen to a new man.

The seven persons appointed to sit on the trial
proceeded from the committee-house to the jail,
where they went into a small bedchamber, inside
the jailer's kitchen, in which Captain Dixon had left
five prisoners whom he had doomed as the first vic-
tims for condemnation ; but he here met with an op-
position of which he was not until that moment at
all aware. The members of this kind of popular
tribunal divided ; three were for death ; but the other
four, true to their promise, and unwarped in their
humane inclinations, firmly declared that they con-
sidered themselves merely appointed to prevent mas-
sacre, and to save the lives of the prisoners, and
would not attend or listen to any representation from
Dixon or his fellows. This produced a very violent
altercation, and great danger was to be apprehended
by the friends of Jiumanity, as Peter Byrne actually
rushed into the room, and threatened them with in-
stant destruction if they did not agree to the death
of the prisoners. Some others of Dixon's blood-
thirsty associates had got into the jail, and were se-
lecting such of the prisoners as they pleased to doom
fit objects of destruction ; but although Dixon's own
designs cannot be doubted of ravening for blood, and
that he was willing and eager to attempt any thing

262 HISTORY OF THE

to gain his object, yet, as tlie four men resolutely
persevered in refusing to agree to the death of any
man at such a crazy and phrensied moment, he was
going to retire from a place where his sanguinary
views and cruel sentiments were opposed and over-
ruled, and it is more than probable that the sangui-
nary, retarded for hours in the onset, would have
cooled in their fury, and have recovered sentiments
of humanity sufficient to prevent them from putting
any one to death, were it not for two informers,

Charles Jackson, a carver and gilder,* and

O'Connor, an organist, both of whom had not long
resided in Wexford, and who were cast off from. the
society of the other prisoners then in the jail. These,
as ill fate would have it, threw themselves on tlieir
knees to Captain Dixon, acknowledged that they
were Orangemen, and ready lo give every informa-
tion, provided their lives might be spared. Dixon,
before in despair at finding his sanguinary hopes
baffled and blasted, readily agreed to their proposal,
as it afforded a new prospect of perpetrating his in-
fernal designs. He instantly addressed the people
assembled before the jail, stating that two Orange-
men had become informers, and that proceeding to
trial was therefore unnecessary, as the evidence of
these men must be conclusive. It may easily be
conceived that on this communication, horribly vo-
ciferated by Dixon, and re-echoed by his wife, the
populace became ungovernable ! The people in-
stantly approved of his plan, and demanded that all
Orangemen should be sent out to them ; but his first
care was to turn the men who opposed his bloody
schemes out of the jail, of which he and his savage
associates took complete possession. Kenneth Ma-

* Author of Wexford cruelties.

IRISH REBELLION. 263

thewson, as one of the persons denounced by the in-
formers, was then turned out, and immediately shot
at the jail door. John Atkins, a painter and glazier,
was another against whom they gave information ;
and he being one of those whom Dixon had originally
brought down for trial, as destined victims for immo-
lation, he was still in the jailer's kitchen, when, hear-
ing himself called for by name, he ran into the inner
room and hid under the bed, where he lay concealed
until all danger was over. While these unforeseen
but melancholy events were passing, I had retired in
full assurance that the people would be appeased ;
and, notwithstanding that they had peremptorily for-
bidden my being present at any trial, yet I was in
hopes, as appearing no longer on horseback, that I
might get into the jail unobserved, and endeavor to
assist those who had undertaken the humane and
philanthropic task of protection. But great was my
amazement, indeed, at finding the most violent threats
uttered against me as I approached the multitude.
I therefore thought it most prudent to suffer myself
to be led by two young women, who hurried me into
a house, the door of which happened to be open ;
and while they were explaining to me the cause of
this sudden and unexpected tumult, a shot was fired,
and it was instantly rumored through the crowd that
Colonel Lehunte was killed ; upon which I could
not help exclaiming that they had put an innocent
man to death ! I then declared my determination to
go out and endeavor to stop such a scene of butch-
ery. On this, a man who knew me seized upon me,
and positively insisted I should not leave the house,
as, just before I had come up, he had heard the peo-
ple vow vengeance against me in so vehement a
manner, that he was certain I must inevitably perish
should I attempt to interfere. On finding that it was

264 HISTORY OF THE

not possible for me to do any good, the share of cour-
age I had hitherto felt quite forsook me at this junc-
ture : I burst into tears, and sunk into a state of in-
sensibility. When the mob had in some degree dis-
persed, 1 was supported homewards by this good-
natured man, but was obliged from faintness to stop
twice on the way before I reached my lodgings.

It is confidently asked by many, why the clergy
and principal inhabitants did not interfere to prevent
massacre. There were but few of the inhabitants at
all in the town, and I saw most part of the few that
had remained in Wexford on that day, together with
some clergymen, do all in their power to restrain the
fury of the people, and prevent the spilling of blood ;
but I do believe, that under existing circumstances
it was impossible to control the multitude, inflamed
as they were by the representations of Dixon and his
associates ; and in such inmiinently critical cases, it
is not every one that has nerves strong enough to en-
counter the impending danger. For my own part,
although I was courageous enough in the beginning
of the day, yet I found myself afterwards in such a
state as to be incapable of any exertion. I therefore
doubt much whether any person asking such ques-
tions, would have fortitude or charity enough to
step forward on such an occasion, and attempt to
save any one's life, so much as by declaring a truth
favorable to his preservation ; a conduct that ought
to flow even from spontaneous generosity or grati-
tude for material obligation ; but sucii slight interfe-
rence as this was extracted by no motive from, but
in some instances refused or perverted by the like
hypocritical and mock philanthropists with those
who put these presumptuous interrogatories. But
to judge fairly of the conduct of another, it is neces
sary to be placed in a similar situation.

IRISH REBELLION. 265

After the death of Mathewson, Captain Dixon and
his wife proposed, that those who were to be put to
death should be brought down to the bridge, whither
the mob retired. Eighteen intended for execution
were first conducted from the jail, under a strong
guard, headed by Dixon, flanked by two orange in-
formers, whom he wished to exhibit as the grand sup-
port of his conduct. These informers were brought
into a public billiard-room on the Custom-house
quay, (and not at all to the bridge, to which it is ad-
jacent,) where they underwent an examination, at
which Dixon presided. It is probable, that these in-
formers did not give information against every one
that was put to death on this occasion ; but it is a cer-
tain truth, and an evident fact, that the information of
these men was esteemed of such consequence, even
by such a sanguinary tribunal, that their services
saved their lives. The fate of the prisoners was
quickly decided, on their being conducted to the
bridge, as the proceedings concerning them were
summary indeed. It was asked, did any one know
any good action of the intended victim, sufficient to
save his life ; and if no answer was made, the asser-
tion of an individual of some deed against the people,
was conclusive evidence of guilt, and immediately
death was the consequence, on his primary denunci-
ation by Captain Dixon. Some, however, escaped
with their lives, on the interference of some person
stepping forward in their favor. A few were shot,
but the greater number suffered by being piked, and
some of those with aggravated circumstances of bar-
barity. All the bodies were thrown over ihe bridge,
but neither stripped nor their pockets rifled, which I
should scarcely have believed, but that I have been
positively assured that watches and money were
found upon them when afterwards discovered. Cap-

23

266 HISTORY OF THE

tain Dixon sent from time to time for different per-
sons to the several places of confinement, and at in-
tervals came out to announce further discoveries from
the informers. This admirably suited his hellish pur-
pose of putting all the prisoners to death ; which he
might unfortunately iiave effected, but that Provi
dence was at length pleased to interpose, while the
minds of the populace seemed wrought up to the
most desperate pitch of cruelty ! The Rev. Mr.
Corrin, wiio had been absent from the town the
whole of the day on parochial duly, had but just re-
turned, when he was sent for by Mr. Kellett, then on
his defence at the bridge. Thither the reverend gen-
tleman instantly repaired, and, having thrown him-
self on his knees, entreated they might join him in
prayer; when he supplicated the Almighty to show
the same mercy to the people as they would show to
their prisoners ; and with that he addressed them in
such feeling, pathetic, and moving language, that he
thereby saved the lives of several who had been just
ordered to the bridge from the market-house by Dix-
on. While the Rev. Mr. Corrin was on the fatal spot,
Mr, Esmonde Kyan, who had been wounded in the
shoulder at the battle of Arklow, lay in the most ex-
cruciating torture in a house at Ferry-bank, on the
country side of the wooden-bridge ; but on hearing
what was going forward, he instantly got out of bed,
ran to the fatal spot, and by his animated conduct and
address rescued Mr. Newton King, and Captain Mil-
ward of the Wexford militia, Avith some others, from
the fury of the populace. General Edward Roche,
also, by his humane interference, snatched Mr. James
Goodall and others from the jaws of death ; while
different other persons of inferior note, and some even
of the lower class, interposed so as to save one or
other of their neighbors ; and at length it pleased

IRISH REBELLION. 267

God that this horrid butchery ceased ! The CathoHc
clergymen and all the principal inhabitants who re-
mained in the town that day, exhausted every means
in their power in endeavors to appease the rage of
the populace ; of whom, it is necessary to observe,
they could have little or no personal knowledge, as
the outrageous multitude had collected from the
northern parts of the county, and not at all composed
of Wexford-mcn, over. whom they might be supposed
to have some local influence. But such as have not
been eye-w^ilnesses, and who have not, even in that
case, been sometimes among and conversant with the
people, can have but a very inadequate idea of the
danger of interference against the uncontrollable fury
of a rabble exasperated to the highest pilch by the
incidents I have endeavored to describe. Dreadful
and shocking events are most subject to misrepre-
sentations, as individuals will imagine excesses ac-
cording to their several feelings, and although it is
confidently asserted that ninety-seven were put to
death on the bridge, I have good reason to believe
that thirty-five was the number that suff'ered. Among
the various occupations assumed by different persons
in the course of this melancholy catastrophe, one
man, in a most audible voice, counted the victims
one by one, as they were put to death ; and I have
further reason to believe, that thirty-five was the ex-
act number of sufferers on the bridge, and one at the
jail door ; amounting in all, that day in Wexford, to
thirty-six ; as on most particular inquiry, even with
the lielp of the lists published, as well as from per-
sonal knowledge, I am enabled to know that several
who are slated to have been sacrificed on the bridge
that day, suffered not then, nor there, nor at all in
Wexford ; so that I hope humanity will induce a fu-
ture retractation of the lists alluded to, not only as the

268 HISTORY OF THE

assertors have been evidently imposed upon, but as
also their publication must iielp to keep up those
animosities which they profess they do not wish to
encourage. But, if wrilers will persist in publishing
those lists, why not, for the sake of general and true
information, publish the number of the killed and
wounded, by whatever means, on both sides ; since
it must stamp the character of a partisan to detail
but one side of the question ? On that ever-to-be-
lamented day, there are many who ran great risk of
personal safety in becoming advocates for the unfor-
tunate : I wish I could learn of as many who ex-
hibited equal proof of sincerity in favor of the hapless
and ill-fated people ! Were this the case, I verily
believe I should not have to relate the dreadful deso-
lation in the county of Wexford. In critical times,
such as those, certainly different circumstances will
excite different sensations ; but with respect to the
business before us, the saying of a most liberal Prot-
estant gentleman must be regarded as possessing pe-
culiar force in repressing misrepresentation. He
says, " I have heard of hundreds of Catholics in
the county of Wexford, who have, at the risk of their
lives, saved Protestants ; but I have not heard of a
single Protestant who encountered any danger to
save the life of a Catholic."

The black flag that appeared in Wexford on this
day is, among other things, talked of with various
chimerical conjectures, and its notoriety as denounc-
ing massacre has been confidently recorded ; not-
withstanding that it is an absolute fact, that this iden-
tical black flag was, throughout the whole insurrection,
borne by a particular corps, and the carrying of ban-
ners of that color was by no means a singular circum-
stance during that period, as flags of that and every
other hue, except orange, were waved by the insur-

IRISH REBELLION. 269

gents, and from their different dyes, ingenious con-
jectures, however groundless for the maintenance of
prejudice, may be made as to the several dispositions
of tde bodies who moved under them, as little found-
ed in fact or intention, as was the original intention
of the black ensign in question.

Although General Edward Roche had the nominal
command of the great body of men that came into
Wexford on this day, yet his authority appears to
have been very limited, when he was not able to
lead them to the intended destination ; but it became
still less on his arrival in that town, where Dixon,
who was his brother-in-law, had gained such an as-
cendency, although possessed of not even any nom-
inal command ; being but a general blusterer, affect-
ing great consequence, galloping from camp to camp,
and seeking every opportunity of doing mischief,
generally while the battles were going on, and at one
of which he never appeared but in the background.
His denomination of captain was owing to his being
master of a sloop which traded to and from Wexford.
This man's conduct was in complete contradiction
to the sentiments of Roche, who was, on his subse-
quent surrender in December, 1799, tried by a
court-martial in Wexford, on a charge of " aiding
and abetting the murders on the bridge, on the 20th
of June, 1798." But his humane exertions appeared
so meritorious before that tribunal, that he was ac-
quitted of this charge, which could not possibly be,
as he possessed command, had it not been perfectly
proved ihat such command was merely nominal, as
liis orders and endeavors were counteracted by per-
sons having no command whatever, but what arose
from inflammatory addresses to the populace, urging
them to take exemplary vengeance of their enemies,
in which they were unfortunately but too successful.

23*

270 HISTORY OF THE

In the first house I had been obliged to stop at on I
the way to my lodgings, I met a gentleman to whom
I was endeavoring to give some account of what had
occurred, while Dixon was passing by, with the two
Orange informers, one on each side of him. The
gentleman ran out and began to plead for mercy, ex-
pressing at the same lime a hope that Dixon would
come into the house and consult with me, before he
would put his designs into execution. But on this
Dixon exclaimed, " Is it to consult Mr. Hay, who
has already deserved death for the part he has taken
in stopping us so long from taking revenge of our
enemies ? Here are two Orangemen, who have be-
come informers, and there are the men I am going
to have put to death, (pointing to the prisoners that
were following him under a strong military guard,)
and when I have done with these, I shall then treat
Mr. Hay in the same manner.'' When Dixon had
passed on, the gentleman returned and offered to
conduct me home, but I was again obliged to stop
on the way in a house where the wives and daugh-
ters of some officers, affrighted by the general alarm,
ran to me in tears, while all I could do was to join
in their lamentations. I certainly should not have
had sufficient power to walk any farther, had I not
taken a glass of wine they kindly offered me. How-
ever, I at length arrived at the house where I had
been since the insurrection, and there remained in a
stale of stupid insensibility, until I was roused by
several ladies, who pressed me to come to dinner,
which was unusually late that day; and although I
was able to carve for the ladies, I could not taste a
morsel myself. Shortly after, a messenger came for
me from Lord Kingsborough and his officers, re-
questing my immediate attendance. I instantly
complied, although I iiad little hopes of being able

IRISH REBELLION. 271

to afford them any relief, yet I would not refuse to
try my best endeavors. On getting into the street,
I met a crowd of people proceeding to a particular
house, with intention, as I soon discovered, of bring-
ing out Mr. Joseph Gray, lieutenant of the Wexford
cavalry, who had transported his servant. I had the
presence of mind to say that Mr. Gray was out fight-
ing for them, and that they seemed to me not to be
able to distinguish their friends from their enemies ;
which fortunately prevented them from proceeding
any farther ; for I knew he was in the house, and
had too much reason to fear, that upon their forcing
into it, his death and many more must have been the
inevitable consequence. This device proving suc-
cessful, gave me more courage to go on to Lord
Kingsborough's lodgings, where I was refused ad-
mittance. However, I spoke to him and his officers
as they appeared at the windows, and declared, that
as long as I was alive myself, they might depend
upon every exertion of mine in their behalf. Shortly
after I fortunately met General Edward Roche,
whose humane exertions to prevent tliem, vv^ere as
conspicuous as his lamentations were sincere for the
dreadful scenes then exhibiting. I conjured him to
hasten down to the bridge, and there to represent the
urgent necessity of the people's attendance at Vin-
egar Hill, suggesting that he could, with more pro-
priety than any other, interpose his authority with a
prospect of success, as he was himself called on to
attend by all the chiefs in the camp ; and as an ex-
press was sent from Vinegar Hill to Wexford de-
manding reinforcements, and expressing surprise
that Edward Roche had not come, with the force of
his neighborhood, which he had been sent home to
collect and bring along with him. These considera-
tions inspired the general with new vigor to endeavor

272 HISTORY OF THE

to lead these men out of the town, which he at length
effected, and the people marched off under his com-
mand out of Wexford.

When the town was thus cleared of its dreadful
visiters, about eight o'clock in the evening I obtained
admission to Lord Kingsborough and his officers.
We jointly took a retrospective view of the horribly-
distracted state of the country, as well as of its im-
pending danger, and after a variety of consultation
between us, it was agreed that the only mode of
preserving Wexford and all its inhabitants from de-
struction was, that early on the next morning, I
should accompany Lord Kingsborough to the army,
and by an explanation of existing circumstances it
was hoped that the town might be spared from the
dreadful fate which seemed to await it every instant.
Wexford was indeed at this period in a most perilous
situation. Intelligence had arrived there of the ap-
proach of three different armies — one of which was
advanced as far as Oulart, another had arrived at
Enniscorthy, and the progressive march of the third
was conspicuous the evening before from the Three
Rocks, by the insurgents stationed there, who on the
morning of this day proceeded to meet it. The gun-
boats on the coast also made a formidable appear-
ance, as announced by the men who had been sta-
tioned at the fort of Roslare, but who now abandoned
that post and fled into Wexford, bringing the alarm-
ing news that several ships of war, and other armed
vessels were approaching the harbor. By the time
we had settled all matters relative to our departure
on this expedition next morning, it was advanced in
the night, and the Wexford men were flocking home
from the battle of Fooks's-mill. I had then proposed
to go and consult the principal inhabitants, whose
co-o^ration and assistance were so necessary in suph

IRISH REBELLION. 273

an undertaking, but which I made not the least doubt
of obtaining, and took my leave of his lordship and
the plher officers, promising to return to them early
on the next morning. It was a considerable time
before I could collect a sufficient number of the
principal inhabitants to communicate my intentions
to them ; and even when it was at length effected,
their confusion was such, that it was agreed to post-
pone the business until early in the following morn-
ing, then to meet at Captain Keugh's house, where
the subject would be taken into consideration by a
general assembly, which could not be so well formed
at that time of the night.

About three o'clock in the afternoon of the 20lh,
the army under the command of General Moore be-
gan to march from its encampment at Long-graigue,
the seat of the Rev. Mr. Sutton, towards Taghmon,
and had proceeded but half a mile, when the insur-
gent force from the Three Rocks, led on by their
general the Rev. Philip Roche, appeared in view at
a place called Fooks's mill. Each party immediately
commenced the attack, which lasted with various
success and great obstinacy on both sides, for four
hours, when the • insurgents having expended the
whole of their ammunition at the very moment that
it is said the troops were on the point of giving way,
thought proper to retire, and made a good retreat to
their original station on the Three Rocks. In this
engagement, from the nature of the ground, the great
body of the pikemen could not be brought into ac-
tion, so that there were not more of the insurgents
engaged, than about an equal number with that of
the army against them, whose loss too is said to be
considerably greater than theirs ; but although Gen-
eral Moore's dispatches concerning the engagement
have been published, yet the list of the killed and

274 HISTORY OF THE

wounded, mentioned to have been sent with the gen-
eral's letter, has been suppressed, so that I have not
been able to obtain the official account of this partic-
ular. The insurgents, as usual, did not attempt to
retreat until they had fired their last shot, when two
regiments under Lord Dalhousie were perceived
coming up to reinforce General Moore. The insiir-
genls in the retreat brought away with them five
out of the six small cannon which they brought out
with them ; all of which had been fastened on com-
mon cars with ropes, and the remaining one they
lost, because the car upon which it was mounted
having been broken by falling into a ditch, it was
left there. The Wexford men, who were in this
engagement, attended their companions to the Three
Rocks, and then proceeded to the town, where they
arrived late at night.

General Johnston had smart skirmishing with the
outposts of the insurgents from Enniscorthy on the
20th, on his arrival at Bloomfield, within a mile of
Enniscorthy. Early on the morning of the 21st, a
general assault was made on the insurgent force en-
camped on Vinegar Hill by General Lake, while the
town of Enniscorthy was attacked by General John-
ston, which he carried after an obstinate resistance
for two hours, with great slaughter of the insurgents,
whose defence of the place was most wonderful, con-
sidering that they had but a few pounds of powder
to distribute to their whole force on the preceding
evening ; so that it is astonishing how they could
venture, with such a scanty provision of ammunition,
to give any opposition to an army of great force, per-
fectly equipped and appointed, and abundantly pro-
vided with every necessary. Even on Vinegar Hill
there were but two charges for cannon ; one of
which was fired against the army approaching from

IRISH REBELLION. 275

Solsborougli, and the other dismounted cannon posted
at the Duffrey-gate at Enniscorthy ; and although a
great number of cannon and bombs were fired from
the royal artillery towards Vinegar Hill, only one man
was wounded, and none killed, by the shot from the
ordnance. The insurgents, notwithstanding their de-
fenceless situation, displayed vast courage and intre-
pidity before they abandoned the hill, which they
Avere at length obliged to do, and great numbers of
them fell on this occasion. All suspected persons
were put to death in Enniscorthy, and several houses
Avere set on fire ; among the rest that which had
been used by the insurgents as an hospital, which,
together with all the wounded men in it, were totally
consumed. A free passage was left for the insur-
gents to retreat to Wexford, as the division of the
army under General Needham, from some unac-
countable reason, had not come up in time to join the
battle ; and from the route this division took, it is
surprising that it did not fall in with the insurgent
force under General Edward Roche, who was also
too late for the engagement, as he only arrived just
at the commencement of the retreat of the insurgents,
which, however, he recovered with his men, from
Darby-gap, and restrained the career of the cavalry
that were in full pursuit of the insurgents dislodged
from Vinegar Hiil.

Lord Kingsborough was so anxious to carry the
plan we had agreed on for the salvation of the town
into execution, that he sent for me before three
o'clock in the morning on the 21st, when I had
scarcely time to have taken any rest. I instantly got
up and went to him, when I found him arrayed in
full uniform, and completely equipped to set out that
moment, which he wanted me to do also ; but I rep-
resented to him the danger of going through the

276 HISTORY OF THE

country in such apparel as he then was, and that, at all
events, our safety could not be secured without the con-
currence of the people with our plan, which, however,
I thought would be easily obtained, as I related to
him the conversation I held with the principal inhab-
itants on the night preceding ; and that 1 expected
to meet them again on the subject at an early hour
that morning. He and his officers then entreated
me to hasten the meeting, and to have the drum beat
to arms, for the people to assemble, that their consent
might be obtained, as there was no time to be lost in
carrying into effect the only means of saving the
town from total destruction ; for we distinctly heard
the report of the cannon from Enniscorthy, where the
battle had just then commenced. I immediately
went and rapped up the principal inhabitants nearest
to me, whom I commissioned to call up their neigh-
bors ; and thus in a short time was the whole town
roused from slumber. A meeting consequently took
place at the house of Captain Keugh, where it was
thought advisable that Doctor Jacob should accom-
pany Lord Kingsborough and me ; but on further
contemplation, instead of one, it was judged neces-
sary to send out three deputations from the town to
the three different armies approaching, lest one might
not be able to effect its purpose ; and it was also
thought most prudent that Lord Kingsborough should
not leave the town, but that it should be instantly
surrendered to him, as military commander ; and
Doctor Jacob, who was present, offered to reassume
the office of mayor; so that this was putting all kind
of civil and military authority into the same hands in
which they were before the insurrection ; and thus
did the inhabitants of Wexford do every thing con-
sistent with duty by taking the earliest opportunity
of returning to their allegiance, which, by the funda-

IRISH REBELLION. 277

mental principles of the constitution, could never be
arraigned, as they were not only abandoned, but
even surrendered to the insurgents, by those who
were bound, by every tie of duty and interest, to pro-
tect them, but who, instead of acting as they ought,
sent a deputation of surrender, and shamefully fled,
leaving even their own wives and families, together
with the other inhabitants, under the uncontrollable
sway of the conquerors, whom they thus constituted
regular enemies.

Captain M'Manus of the Antrim militia and my-
self were appointed to proceed to the army at Oulart,
with the proposal of the inhabitants of Wexford and
Lord Kingsborough's dispatches ; Captain O'Hea of
the North Cork militia, and Mr. Thomas Cloney,
were deputed on the like mission to Enniscorihy ; and
Captain Bourke of the North Cork militia, and Mr.
Robert Carty were sent to the army of Taghmon.
The meeting was then adjourned to the custom-house
quay to propose these arrangements to the people,
assembled there on parade for the purpose. They
approved of every step that had been taken with three
cheers ; and the business was concluded by a most
feeling address from Doctor Jacob, in tears, to the
people, whose good opinion on all occasions he was
so happy as to possess, by being very attentive in his
duty as physician and surgeon to the wounded. A
deputation then went to Lord Kingsborough's lodg-
ings to inform him of the determination of the peo-
ple ; and his lordship, upon accepting of the military
command of the town, applied to Captain Keugh for
his sword ; but he, taking a wrong impression of the
solemnity of the previous proceedings, and imagining
himself entitled to march out at the head of the peo-
ple to meet the army approaching the town, proposed
surrendering it and the sword together to the officer

24

278 HISTOUV OF THE

principal in command of the army approachmg the
town ; but not finding one supporter of this proposed
scheme, he reluctantly surrendered to Lord Kings-
borough his sword and other arms, but with the
greatest formality.

Lord Kingsborough, thus invested with the mili-
tary authority in Wexford, set about writing dis-
patches to the several officers commanding the dif-
ferent armies approaching the town, informing them,
" That the town of Wexford had surrendered to him,
and in consequence of the behavior of those in the
town during the rebellion, they should all be protect-
ed in person and property, murderers excepted, and
those who had instigated others to commit murder,
hoping these terms might be ratified, as he had
pledged his honor in the most solemn manner to have
these terms fulfilled on the town being surrendered
to him, the Wexford-men not being concerned in
the massacre which was perpetrated by country peo-
ple in their absence."*

With these dispatches were enclosed, as a further
document, the following proposals from the people
of Wexford: — "That Captain M'Manus shall pro-
ceed from Wexford towards Oulart, accompanied by
Mr. Edward Hay, appointed by the inhabitants of all
religious persuasions to inform the officer command-
ing the king's troops that they are ready to deliver
up the town of W^exford without opposition, to lay
down their arms and return to their allegiance, pro-
vided that their persons and properties are guaran-
tied by the commanding officer ; and that they will
use every influence in their power to induce the peo-
ple of the country at large to return to their allegi-

* See Appendix, Captain Bourke and Lord Kingston's letters.

IRISH REBELLION. 279

ance ; and these terms it is hoped Captain M'Manus
will be able to procure.

" Signed by order of the inhabitants of Wexford,

" Matthew Ketjgh.
" Wexford, June 2 1 , 1 798."

All matters being thus arranged, I went down to
the jail for Captain M'Manus, as well as to announce
the news to all the prisoners. As I had on a former
occasion consulted them on the letter written in their
name and behalf, and as they were universally pleas-
ed with my sentiments, they all crowded about me,
many of them even in their shirts, and when I com-
municated to them the purport of the mission of
Captain M'Manus and myself, the joy they manifest-
ed can only be conceived by such as have been in a
similar situation. They expressed sentiments of the
utmost kindness to me in particular, and hearty suc-
cess to our undertaking. Captain M'Manus then
accompanied me to Lord Kingsborough, who wailed
his arrival to consult with him and the principal in-
habitants together ; and when all things were adjust-
ed between them, and that his lordship had written
his dispatches, enclosing the proposal of the towns-
men, the captain and I set out, bearing these cre-
dentials, and proceeded as far as Castle-bridge,
where, finding that the troops which had been sta-
tioned at Oulart had moved towards Enniscorlhy, we
thought it best to direct our course thither. As yet
we had met with none but women and children who
were bewailing their wretched condition in the most
piteous strains. Shortly afterwards, however, we
met Captain Dixon, who had been present at the ap-
proval of our deputation by the people of Wexford
in the morning ; but the plan not corresponding with
his sentiments, he had set out with intention to gain
over a party in the country to waylay and put us to

280 HISTORY OF THE

death ; but as all the men had gone to camp, he
could not find accomplices to assist him in this un-
dertaking. Soon after we met Morgan Byrne, a
man of the same stamp, who was Dixon's associate
the day before, and whose cowardice and cruelty-
were equally conspicuous ;* he accosted us in the
most abrupt and^ savage manner, vowing death and
destruction against numbers, among whom he was
pleased to include myself and my companion, whom
he called a spy. Upon my declaring that I was go-
ing to take observation of the position of the array,
he insisted upon accompanying us ; and as he had a
musket and bayonet, two cases of pistols — one in
holsters and the other flung on his bells — while we
had no arms whatever, I thought it most prudent to
humor him ; which I did for two miles that he rode
with us, when we had the good fortune to shake him
off; and I then informed Captain M'Manus of the
danger we had escaped by getting off such a ruffian.
We then came to a resolution to be the first to ad-
dress every one we met, to show our confidence, and
by this precaution we passed unmolested by great
numbers who were flying from Vinegar Hill, and the
more dangerous, as they were stragglers from the
main body of the insurgents that had taken another
road ; and using many expedients to elude all inquiry
on our business, but particularly calling out to the

* The conduct of this man exemplifies the usual infamy attend-
ant on informers ; as immediately previous to the insurrection he
had waited on Captain (now Major) Kavanagh with a plentiful
offer of information from his father and himself, when the sudden
insurrection prevented its accomplishment. He and some of his
relatives were distinguished by their barbarous dispositions, as true
co-operators of Captain Dixon, whose conduct is a manifest proof
how unlike you sometimes find even brothers, as they were dis-
tinguished by their tenderness and humanity, whereas he was a
sanguinary monster.

IRISH REBELLION. 281

fugitives to collect at the Three Rocks, (the place
appointed for the insurgents to wait until the conclu-
sion of the negotiation then on foot,) we at last arri-
ved in sight of the army at Darby-gap, where Cap-
tain M'Manus threw off a great-coat which I had had
the precaution to make him wear over his regimen-
tals. We then hoisted a white handkerchief as our
flag ; and could descry the country all along between
! that and Enniscorlhy in a most dreadful situation ;
I houses on fire, dead men and women strewed along
I the road and in the fields ; while the soldiers were
I hunting for such as might be concealed in the ditches,
I and bringing down every person they met ; in fine,
it was altogether a dreadful picture, exhibiting all
the horrors of war ! A small parly of the Antrim
militia iiappened to be among the first of the soldiery
that we met, and these hailed their officer with the
I most heartfelt demonstrations of joy, and conducted
j us safely to Drumgold, where we met Major-general
j Sir James Duff, who led us into Enniscorthy to
I General Lake, the commander-in-chief, to whom we
delivered our dispatches. The remains of the town
exhibited a dreadful aspect, as the greater part of
the houses, which had escaped until the arrival of
the army, were still on fire ; and the house which
had been used as an hospital by the insurgents, and
which was set on fire with all the patients in it, con-
tinued burning until next morning, when I saw a part
of a corpse still hissing in the embers.

The news of our arrival having quickly spread
through the town, numbers of officers, yeomen, and
gentlemen of my acquaintance crowded around me ;
some anxious to hear of their friends, while others
expressed how disappointed they would be if hinder-
ed from demolishing Wexford, with all the concomit-
ant horrors and atrocities usual on such dreadful and

24*

282 HISTORY OF THE

shocking occasions ! Some had the savage indecen-
cy even to mention some young ladies by name,
who, they intended, should experience the effects of
their brutal passions before they would put them to
death ; but ihese intentions they feared would be
frustrated by the account I gave them of the proposal
and dispatches : others wished the extermination of
all Catholics ! some inquired for their friends and
relations, and amidst these horrors were not destitute
of humanity. While I was thus conversing with
many of various descriptions, Major-general Sir
James Duff kindly came to me and entreated that I
would go into the house where the commander-in-
chief was, and by no means to remain in the streets ;
for that if I did, he entertained great apprehensions
I might fall a sacrifice to the furious disposition of
many persons in military array ; offering at the same
lime to bring me any gentleman I wanted, as he
should be sorry I should endanger my person, of
which I ought then to be particularly careful, as, if
I were to meet with any accident, it might put a
stop to any further negotiation on so desirable an ob-
ject as I was endeavoring to obtain. I then went
into the house, where I continued the whole of that
day and remained the whole night also, as upon so-
liciting an answer to the dispatches, the commander-
in-chief signified that we should not get it until the
next morning. Some of my friends have since in-
formed me, that they prevented several persons who
were on the point of shooting me from putting their
murderous intentions into effect, in the streets of
Enniscorthy. Captain O'Hea, of the North Cork
militia, and Mr. Cloney arrived about two hours after
Captain M'Manus and myself in Enniscorthy. They,
having taken the road direct from Wexford, met the
main body of the insurgents on their retreat ; and

IRISH REBELLION. 283

the several chiefs, having first read the dispatches
and proposal, permitted them to be forwarded with-
out further interruption ; they were not sealed, to
obviate the danger such a step might occasion.

Captain Bourke, of the North Cork militia, and
Mr. Robert Carty proceeded to Taghmon, and de-
livered their proposal and dispatches to General
Moore, who had already begun his march, which he
pursued for a mile beyond Taghmon, when he halted
on perceiving a great concourse of people on the
mountain of Forth. He then sent back Mr. Carty to
Lord Kingsborough, with directions to return to him
with further accounts of the state of the country, and
new dispatches. The insurgents, on their defeat at
Enniscorthy and Vinegar Hill, retreated along the
eastern bank of the Slaney, over Carrig-bridge, and
so on to the Three Rocks, on the mountain of Forth,
where they were now observed by General Moore,
and so occasioned Mr. Carty's return to Wexford for
further information. On the arrival of the insurgents
at the station of the Three Rocks, several discus-
sions took place relative to the proposals for the sur-
render of the town of Wexford, into which they could
not finally be restrained from coming. Among those
who thus hastily rushed into the town, there were
some turbulent spirits, a circumstance unavoidable
on such occasions, and in such an assemblage.
These, apprehensive of their situations, exerted ev-
ery means in their power to prevent an accommoda-
tion, aUhough earnestly wished for by all the chiefs
as well as by the great body of the people. Lord
Kingsborough, after he had assumed the military
command of the town, went to the house of Mr.
Meyler, where he was when this concourse of peo-
ple arrived, and they insisted that his lordship and
the other ofiicers should come out to their camp, in

284 HISTORY OF THE

order, as they said, to procure the like terms for
themselves as for the inhabitants of Wexford. His
lordship and the officers should certainly have gone
out to camp on this occasion, but for the interference
of Mr. Fitzgerald, who dissuaded them from consent-
ing to a measure that would endanger the lives of
the prisoners should they leave the town. The prin-
cipal inhabitants had before determined to march out
with them, in order to protect them from any violence
that might be attempted against them ; and their
united efforts, assisted by the timely interposition of
the Right Rev, Dr. Caulfield, the Roman Catholic
bishop of Ferns, prevented any further urgency.
The people were addressed from the windows of the
house, in which an assembly took place for the pur-
pose of devising the best means of preventing mis-
chief and irregularity : the people were entreated
and supplicated to desist from their intentions, as
Lord Kingsborough had given the most solemn as-
surances that they should have as good terms as he
had promised the inhabitants of Wexford ; and he
moreover advised them to go to their camp, and not
to lay down their arms until these terms would be
perfectly secured.

It was Lord Kingsborougli's own proposal, that
the insurgents should remain encamped at Three
Rocks until they would secure the same terms wiih
the inhabitants of Wexford, which it was naturally
supposed would be ratified ; and it is much to be
lamented that they did not return thither, as from the
commanding situation of the Three Rocks it would
be very difficult to dislodge them ; besides, by se-
curing the pass at Carrig-bridge, the Slaney would
have formed a very strong barrier against the ap-
proach of the forces coming from Enniscorthy ; and
the insurgents would by these means have appeared

IRISH REBELLION. 285

SO formidable as to induce the granting of the terms
demanded, and which good pohcy so strongly dic-
tated. This would have put an end to any further
disturbance, and peace would have been immediate-
ly restored ; nor would the desolation which after-
wards disfigured the countr)^ at all have taken place ;
and the lives of many sacrificed to the fury of the
limes would have been secured ; wiiile it would have
ensured the certain punishment of all murderers and
assassins, many of whom, by the conduct that was
pursued, escaped the end so justly due to their enor-
mous crimes. The amnesty bill afterwards secured
the greatest part of the benefits claimed by the pro-
posals, with the exception of officers, who, if they
had not relied on the granting of these terms, would
not have remained in Wexford, but would have pro-
ceeded with the insurgents, and so have saved their
lives and properties as well as others who fought
their way, and at length obtained favorable terms :
so that all the evil consequences that ensued are at-
tributable to the impolicy of refusing the proposed
terms, which, it is to be presumed, had there been a
possibility of obtaining Lord Cornwallis's senti-
ments, would have been readily complied with ; but
unfortunately for the county of Wexford, he had
landed in Ireland but the day before, and his system
could not be sent forward to counteract that which
existed before his arrival.

Captain John Murphy, whose humanity had been
so conspicuous with his gunsmen on Vinegar Hill,
was now posted on the jail for the protection of the
prisoners from the infernal fury of Captain Dixon,
who wished to renew the diabolical cruelties he had
been unfortunately able to put in execution the day
before, in the absence of the inhabitants of Wexford,
who were now returned, and determined to protect

286 HISTORY OF THE

the remaining prisoners at the risk of their own lives.
This ihey were happily able to effect, as the murder-
ers were too cowardly to attempt any thing that por-
tended danger to themselves. No one was therefore
put to death on this day, but Ensign Harman, of the
North Cork militia, who was going out with Mr.
Carty, to General Moore, to whom they were now
proceeding on a second mission, with fresh dispatches
from Lord Kingsborough. They had but just got
outside the town, when they Avere unfortunately met
by a furious maniac, named Timothy Whelan, who
instantly shot Ensign Harman, and snapped a pistol
at Mr. Carty, who then thought it prudent to return,
thus narrowly escaping with his life. This ruffian
afterwards had the audacity to attempt the life of
Lord Kingsborough, in order to put an end at once
to all accommodation, not meeting with his approba-
tion ; he would have been ordered for instant execu-
tion by the chiefs, but for fear of irritating the
great body of the populace, too ready, on such occa-
sions and in such turbid times, to mistake desperacy
for heroism, and to attempt the most violent deeds
themselves if thwarted in their inclinations, or by
meddling with their favorites.

The insurgents were at length prevailed on, by the
incessant entreaties and exertions of their chiefs, to
quit the town of Wexford. They now divided them-
selves into two bodies : the one under the command
of the Rev. Philip Roche marched mto the barony
of Forth, and encamped that night at Sledagh ; the
other, under the conduct of Messrs. Fitzgerald, Perry,
and Edward Roche, proceeded over the bridge to
Peppard's castle, where they took their station for
that night.

General Moore, although he had orders not to pro-
ceed farther than Taghmon on that day, that he

IRISH REBELLION. 287

might co-operate, on the 21st, in the general attack
on Wexford ; yet from the present complexion of
affairs, advanced towards that town, having perceived
the departure of the people from the Three Rocks ;
and having been also informed, by Captain Bourke,
of the peaceable disposition of the Wexford people.
Concerning the latter circumstance, Captain Boyd
(now returning home in General Moore's train) very
prudently made many cautious and strict inquiries,
requiring several assurances of the fact, from Cap-
tain Bourke, who had been sent out in that direction
from Wexford ; iTi addition to which he could him-
self, from the commanding elevation of the road he
took, observe the retreat of the insurgents over the
bridge, before he ventured into the town, which, af-
ter the most minute circumspection, he at length en-
tered, attended by some yeomen, almost with as
much precipitancy as he had formerly abandoned it.
Some straggHng wretches of country people were
put to death on this triumphant occasion. All the
green ornaments that had been so conspicuously ex-
hibited hitherto, were now torn down ; and some per-
sons, who but the moment before appeared anxious
to demonstrate their friendship for the people, changed
sides as quick as lightning, and endeavored to exhibit
every symptom of loyalty. General Moore, on con-
sultation with Lord Kingsborough, thought it most
advisable not to let his troops into the town, which it
had been determined to annihilate previous to the
negotiation, and in consequence of this circumstance,
of which the army was perfectly aware, it required
the utmost precaution to prevent its being plundered,
sacked, and destroyed, with the attendant atrocities.
The town's-people now felt the utmost anxiety at not
receiving any answer either to their own proposal or
Lord Kmgsborough's dispatches, and as even tiiose

288 HISTORY OF THE

which had been forwarded to General Moore himself,
he had sent off, requesting further orders from Gen-
eral Lake. General Moore now took his station on
the Windmill hills, taking every precaution, and hav-
ing the advantage of a large park of artillery ; while
the situation itself completely commanded the town of
Wexford. The Chapman sloop of war, commanded
by Captain Keen, took her station outside the har-
bor, too shallow for her to enter, and three gun-boats
were sent to attack the fort of Roslare, which was
previously abandoned, and therefore they thence pro-
ceeded opposite the town, completely commanding
the wooden bridge and adjacent strand ; so that
W^exford was now thoroughly invested both by land
and water. On the approach of the armj^ too, all
the wounded men in the hospital were put to the
sword, and some of the straggling inhabitants lost
their lives, notwithstanding the express orders of
General Moore, tliat no kind of excess should be
committed.

At three o'clock, a. m., of the 22d, the trumpet
sounded for the army to march from Enniscorthy,
and every one was on foot as soon as possible.
Shortly after. Captain M'Manus and myself, as well
as Captain O'Hea and Mr. Cloney, were required to
wait on General Lake, who delivered me his answer
to the proposal of the inhabitants of the town of
Wexford, and desired me to read it. It was as fol-
lows : —

" Lieutenant-general Lake cannot attend to any
terms by rebels in arms against their sovereign :
while they continue so, he must use the force in-
trusted to him with the utmost energy for their de-
struction. To the deluded multitude he promises
pardon on their delivering into his hands their lead-

I

IRISH REBELLION. 289

ers, surrendering their arms, and returning with sin-
cerity to their allegiance.

" Signed, G. Lake.

" Enniscorthy, June 22d, 1798."

On reading this I expressed my fears that such an
answer would not be pleasing to the people of Wex-
ford, as it did not ratify the terms solemnly promised
by Lord Kingsborough ; but General Lake would
not allow furtlier explanation on the subject, as he
declared he would not confirm any promise made by
Lord Kingsborough, to whose dispatches he would
not even return any answer. He then ordered that
I should be conducted by an officer, whom he named,
to the head of the army, whence I was to proceed to
Wexford, and thence to return to him, with all con-
venient speed, with the determination of the inhabit-
ants, as he mentioned he would not discontinue the
march of the troops ; and that if any fatality should
happen to Lord Kingsborough, or any of the prison-
ers, nothing should dissuade him from his original
intention of annihilating the town. I was also warn-
ed by him, on pain of death, to return to him with a
positive answer, and to bring Lord Kingsborough
along with me ; and if on my approach to Wexford,
I should not think it safe for the officer accompany-
ing me to go into the town, I should return with that
information immediately ; and that if any thing should
happen to the officer or to me, in consequence of
having brought the dispatches and proposal, the town
of Wexford was not to be spared, I was then ques-
tioned about the state of the country, the bridges,
roads, and the like ; and General Lake finding upon
inquiry what road I was to take, that I should not
want an escort until I would reach General Need-
ham's division, encamped at Ballenkecle, he sent or-

25

290 HISTORY OF THE

ders to him by me, to furnish me with any escort I
might require, to conduct me safe to Wexford. Cap-
tain O'Hea and I were then led to the head of the
army by a general officer, and we set off with all
expedition, to avoid as much as possible the horrid
spectacle of the dead bodies of men and women
strewed along the roads and over the adjacent fields :
some bearing marks of the most savage and indecent
cruelty ; some with their bowels ripped open, and
others with their brains dashed out — situations which
they did not at all exhibit the day before, when I saw
them lying dead on my way to Enniscorthy ! ! !

On delivering my orders to General Needhara,
while the escort was getting ready I was surrounded
by several officers and yeomen who expressed like
savage sentiments with those I heard the day before
at Enniscorthy ; and I was truly astonished to hear
men of such rank and education as they were making
use of such language. Some, however, expressed
anxiety tempered with humanity. The escort being
got ready, consisting of a troop of the Ancient Brit-
ons, and a trumpeter, commanded by Captain Wynne,
we set off, and could learn nothing along the road but
the mournful lamentations of women, the country
having been abandoned by the men ! When we ar-
rived near Castle-bridge, I proceeded for some dis-
tance by myself to reconnoitre, and perceiving no in-
terruption, I called on the escort to come on ; and
when we came in sight of Wexford, the trumpet was
sounded, and I hoisted a white handkerchief to an-
nounce our arrival ; but we did not learn that the
town had surrendered to General Moore, until we
arrived at Ferry-bank adjoining the wooden bridge.
As this was not as yet, passable for horses, as the
loose planks that had been laid on where the flooring
was burned were thrown off on the retreat of the in-

IRISH REBELLION. 291

surgents, Captain Wynne and I proceeded on foot
as far as the portcullis, which had been hoisted since
the preceding evening. We were therefore detained
lor half an hour, till orders were given to let it down.
During the time that we were thus detained, I saw
the prison-ship and several other vessels set on fire ;
many more were afterwards burned ; and all the
ships in the harbor that were not consumed were so
far considered as prizes taken from the insurgents,
that the owners were obliged to pay salvage ! When
the drawbridge was let down, we waited on Lord
Kingsborough, to whom I made known the orders I
had to bring him out to General Lake ; but he de-
clared hc.could not possibly comply, as he had been
appointed by General Moore to command in the
town. He, however, wrote a letter, excusing his at-
tendance ; and on receipt of this, I set off with Cap-
tain Wynne and his troop of horse, which had by
ihis time crossed the bridge, in order to return to
General Lake ; and we met him a little outside the
town, as, on hearing what had happened, he moved
forward with all expedition ; and on delivering him
Lord Kingsborough's letter, we formed part of his
suite on his entrance into Wexford. The preserva-
tion of this town may, indeed, be recorded as a won-
derful event, as its destruction seemed as determined
as that of Nineveh ; and yet its state, then and now,
bearing so few marks of depredation or direption of
any kind, is a circumstance that has surprised all
who have visited it since, and who observed the des-
olation that prevailed in all other directions where
disturbances had existed.

Relying on the faith of Lord Kingsborough's prom-
ises of complete protection of persons and properties,
several remained in the town of Wexford, uncon-
scious of any reason to apprehend danger; but they

"^ i • <-.

■ i '. ,

292 HISTORY OF THE

■were soon taken up and committed to jail. The
Rev. Philip Roche had such confidence in these as-
surances, and was so certain of obtaining similar
terms for those under his command, that he left his
force at Sledagh, in full liopes of being permitted to
return in peace to their homes, and was on his way
to Wexford unarmed, coming, as he thought, to re-
ceive a confirmation of the conditions, and so little
apprehensive of danger, that he advanced within the
lines before he was recognised, when all possibility
of escape was at an end. He was instantly dragged
from his horse, and in the most ignominious manner
taken up to the camp on the Windmill hills, pulled
by the hair, kicked, buffeted, and at length hauled
down to the jail in such a condition as scarcely to be
known. The people whom he had left in expecta-
tion of being permitted to return quietly home, wailed
his arrival ; but at last beijig informed of his fate,
they abandoned all idea of peace, and set off under
the command of the Rev. Jolm Murphy to Fooks's-
mill, and so on, through Scollagh-gap, into the coun-
ty of Carlow.

From the encampment at Ballenkeele, commanded
by General Needham, detachments were sent out to
scour the country'. They burned the Catholic chap-
el of Ballemurrin, situate on the demesne of Ballen-
keele, on which they were encamped, besides several
houses in the neighborhood. The principal of these
was that of Newpark, the seat of Mr. Fitzgerald ;
which, along with all the out-offices, haggard of corn,
by far the largest in the county of Wexford, a malt-
house containing fifteen hundred barrels of malt, and
a thousand barrels of barley, were entirely con-
sumed ; as were also the house, offices, and malt-
house, containing a thousand barrels of malt, at Bal-
limore, belonging to Mr. Edmund Stafford, mistaken,

IRISH REBELLION. 293

as I have been informed, for the dwelling and prop-
erty of General Edward Roche ; besides a great
number of houses of inferior note. In short, death
and desolation were spread throughout the country,
which was searched and hunted so that scarcely a
man escaped ; and the old, who were feeble and de-
crepit with age, and who could not therefore easily
move out of the way, as well as the idiots or fools,
were the victims on this occasion ; as almost all such
as had the use of their limbs and intellects had pre-
viously made off with the main body of the people.
The dead bodies were to be seen scattered about,
with their throats cut across and mangled in the most
shocking manner. It is scarcely possible to describe
all the horrors and devastations that took place, as
all the atrocities of war were most wofully exhibited.
The fair sex became the prey of the lustful soldiery;
and female beauty, which at all other times may be
considered a blessing, now became a curse, as women
paid dearly for their personal charms, which failed
not to augment the general brutality of these odious
and detestable deeds ! What must be the pangs of
a mother on seeing her beloved favorite child dragged
from her by the ruffian hands of an unfeeling mon-
ster, glorying in his barbarity, and considering his
crime meritorious in proportion to its enormity ;
spreading death and disease to the utmost extent of
his depraved capacity ! The Hompesch dragoons
are held in peculiar remembrance on this occasion.
Indeed, the ferocity of the soldiery in general was
such at this period, that the women and children
through the country even now are worked up to the
highest pitch of horror at the sight of a military man,
as bringing to their recollection all the barbarous
scenes of which they had been formerly witnesses !
Notwithstauding the abominations of the vilest of

25*

\

294 HISTORY OF THE }■

pikemen, it is a well-established fact, that during the
period of their uncontrollable sway, no female, not |
even one of the wives or daughters of those whom '
they considered their greatest enemies, ever suffered j
any kind of violation from them ; and their general ;{
respect for the sex is as true as it is wonderful ; and j
tlieir forbearance in this particular is as remarkably ,
civilized as the conduct of the troops was savage,
sparing neither friend nor foe in their indiscriminate
and licentious brutality.

The northern part of the county of Wexford had
been almost totally deserted by all the male inhabit-
ants on the 19th, at the approach of the army under
General Needliam. Some of the yeomanry, who
formerly deserted it, returned to Gorey on tiie 21st,
and finding no officer of the army, as was expected,
to command there, they, witii many others who re-
turned along with them, scoured the country round,
and killed great numbers in their houses, besides all
the stragglers they met, most of whom were making
the best of their way home unarmed from the insur-
gents, who were then behoved to be totally discom-
fited. These transactions being made known to the
great body of the insurgents encamped at Peppard's
Castle on the 22d, they resolved to retaliate, and di-
rectly marched for Gorey, whither they had otherwise
no intention of proceeding. Tlie yeomen and their asso-
ciates, whose conduct had been so conspicuous on the
day before, made some show of resistance, having pro-
ceeded some little distance outside the town as it were
boldly to meet the force coming against them; butupon
the near approach of the insurgents, they fled back
with the utmost precipitation ; and thence, accompa-
nied by a great many others, hastened towards Ark-
low, but were pursued as far as Coolgreny, with the
loss of forty-seven men. The insurgents had been ex-

IRISH REBELLION. 295

asperated to this vengeance by discovering through the
country as they came along, several dead men with
their skulls spHt asunder, their bowels -ripped open,
and their throats cut across, besides some dead wo-
men and children : they even met the dead bodies of
two women, about which the surviving children were
creeping, and bewailing them, poor innocents ! with
piteous cries ! These sights hastened the insurgent
force to Gorey, where their exasperation was con-
siderably augmented by discovering the bodies of
nine men, who had been hanged the day before, be-
ing devoured by pigs in the streets, others recently
shot, and some still expiring.

After the return of the insurgents from the pursuit,
several persons were found larking in the town and
brought before Mr. Fitzgerald, particularly Mr. Pip-
par^, sovereign of Gorey ; but from this gentleman's
age and respectability, he was considered incapable
of being accessary to the perpetration of the horrid
cruelty which provoked and prompted this sudden
revenge, and he and others were saved, protected,
and set at liberty. At this critical time the news of
the burning of Mr. Fitzgerald's house, haggard, and
malthouses, by which he lost several thousand
pounds, arrived ; and, had the smallest seed of ran-
cor or cruelty existed in the mind of such a sufferer,
he might have so far felt it on this occasion as not to
restrain the insurgents from exterminating Gorey,
which they were loudly proclaiming as a just retalia-
tion for the devastation committed on so great a fa-
vorite of the people. The magnanimity and forbear-
ance of Mr. Fitzgerald at so trying a crisis are truly
remarkable, as, forgetful of such great personal in-
jury, he exerted his utmost endeavors to restrain the
insurgents, vociferating vengeance for his wrongs,
and succeeded in leading them off from Gorey ;

H

296 HISTORY OF THE

when after a slight repast, ihey resumed their intend-
ed route, rested that night at the White-heaps on
Croghan mountain, and on the 23d set off for the
mountains of Wicklow.

General Lake with some other general officers re-
mained for some time in Wexford. The jail of this
town was now immensely crowded, as almost every
one of the principal inhabitants were taken up and
arraigned for treason. Many of them, however,
were acquitted upon trial, which was by court-mar-
tial, and the greater number received protections, ac-
cording to Lord Cornwallis's proclamation. Captain
Keugh had remained at Lord Kingsborough's lodg-
ings, and after the surrender of the town two senti-
nels were placed over him there for two days, when
he was removed to the jail. Mr. Cornelius Grogan
was taken at his seat in Johnstown, where he nad
remained, unconscious of any danger until conducted
to prison. Mr. Bagnal Harvey had gone to his resi-
dence at Bargy Castle, having no conception that the
terms agreed upon with Lord Kingsborough would
not be ratified. Indeed, so confident was he of the
contrary, that he sent some fat cattle into Wexford
for the use of the army ; but learning from the mes-
senger who drove them thither, that no conditions
whatever would be obtained, he hastened with the
fatal news to Mr. Colclough. This gentleman had
previously taken his wife and child to one of the
cJaltee islands, where he thought to have weathered
out the storm of the angry time in a cave, into which
he had gone for conceahnent. Thither Mr. Harvey
now also resorted ; but they were all soon discover-
ed, and the news of their being taken arrived in
Wexford while they were being conveyed round to
the harbor in a boat. This attracted a great ruim-
ber of the people to the quay, curious to see them

. IRISH IlECELLION. 297

brought in, and amidst tliis concourse Mr. Harvey
and Mr. Colclough and his lady were landed. The
gentlemen were then led through the gazing multi-
tude to tiie jail, where they were confined in the con-
demned cells.

A court-martial was instituted for the trial of pris-
oners on charges of treason. The Rev. Philip
Roche was the first tried and condemned by this tri-
bunal. Captain Keugh was the next put on his trial,
at which he made a very able defence ; but was also
condemned. The entrance of the wooden bridge
was the scene fixed on for the place of execution.
The sufferers were hauled up with pulleys, made
fast with ropes to an ornamental iron arch, intended
for lamps, and springing from the two wooden piers
of the gate next the town. The large stature of the
Rev. Philip Roche caused the first rope he was
hauled up with to break ; but another was soon pro-
cured, and his life was ended with double torture.
The head of Captain Keugh, who suffered along with
him, was separated from his body, and conspicuously
placed on a pike over the front of the court-house.
Their bodies, together with those of others executed
at the same time, were stripped, and treated with the
utmost brutality and indecency, previous to their be-
ing thrown over the bridge.

Mr. Grogan was brought to trial on the 26th, but
the evidence which he hoped to obtain of his inno-
cence did not attend, on account of the general ap-
prehension that prevailed. His trial was therefore
postponed, and he was remanded to jail. Mr. Har-
vey was then put on his trial, which lasted for the
best part of the day, and ended in his condemnation.
Mr. Grogan's trial was then resumed ; but this he
did not expect until the next day, and consequently
he had not been able to procure all the necessary

298 HISTORY OF THE •

evidence. It was indeed proved that he was forced
to join tlie insurgents, but this did not prevent a sen-
tence of his conviction : such was the idea entertain-
ed at the time of tlie necessity of pubhc example !
The condemnation of these gentlemen was after-
wards confirmed by the Irish parliament, which pass-
ed an act of attainder against them, and a confisca-
tion of their properties ; notwithstanding that, on
parliamentary inquiry into the merits of the proceed-
ings, it was clearly proved that the court-martial
had not been even sworn : so that although their
condemnation and the confiscation of their properties
be sanctioned by law, yet the justice of the process
is very questionable, and the investigation of it will
employ the pens of future historians, particularly in
the case of Mr. Grogan, who was undoubtedly sacri-
ficed to the temper of the times. On the 27th,
Messrs. Harvey, Grogan, and Patrick Prendergast,
a rich maltster in Wexford, were ordered out to exe-
cution. When Mr. Harvey was brought out of his
cell he met Mr. Grogan in the jail-yard, and accosted
him in a feelins, affectionate manner : while shaking
hands with him he said, in the presence of an officer
and some of the guards, and in the hearing of sever-
al prisoners who had crowded to the windows, " Ah!
poor Grogan, you die an innocent man at all events !"
They were then conducted to the bridge, where they
were hanged, when the heads of Messrs. Grogan and
Harvey were cut off and placed upon pikes on each
side of that of Captain Keugh ; while their bodies
and that of Mr. Prendergast were stripped and treated
with the utmost brutal indecencies, before being cast
over the bridge ! Mr. Colclough was brought out to
trial on the same day, and condemned. On the next
day he was executed, but his body, at the interces-
sion of his lady, was given up to her to be interred.

- IRISH REBELLION. 299

Mr. John Kelly, of Killan, whose courage and intre-
pidity had been so conspicuous at the battle of Ross,
now lay ill in Wexford, of a wound which he had
received in that engagement : he was taken prisoner
from his bed, tried and condemned to die, and broucrht
on a car to the place of execution. His head was
cut oif, and his body, after the accustomed indigni-
ties, was thrown over the bridge. The head, how-
ever, was reserved for other exhibition. It was first
kicked about on the Custom-house quay, and then
brought up into the town, thrown up and treated in
the same manner opposite the house in which his sis-
ter lodged, in order that she might view this new and
savage game of foot-ball, of which when the players
were tired, the head was placed in the exalted situa-
tion to which it had been condemned — above that of
Captain Keugh, over the door of the court-house.

On the 28th, General Lake quitted Wexford, leav-
ing the command there to General Hunter, whose
conduct must ever be remembered with gratitude by
the people, as, on several occasions, he checked the
persecuting spirit of the gentry and yeomanry ; and
this contributed much more than severity, or any
other mode could possibly do, to induce the people
to surrender their arms, take out protections, and re-
turn to their homes in peace. This desirable object
would not have been so happily accomplished had
he not interposed his authority so far as to threaten
some gentlemen with punishment, whose habitual
zeal and mode of keeping the country quiet, he to-
tally disapproved of, as he did not wish to see the
people again roused by the continuance of their ex-
ertions. Brigadier-general Grose was stationed, un-
der the command of General Hunter, at Enniscorthy,
where he was distinguished for his pacific conduct.
The first and Coldstream regiments of guards were

300 HISTORY OF THE

providentially placed in Ross, under the command
of General Gascoigne, and their conduct there must
be ever recorded to their immortal honor, as exhibit-
ing true principles of justice and philanthropy — step-
ping in betwreen the people and their oppressors, who
were not only restrained in their career of persecu-
tion, but even shamed into compliance with the sys-
tem of pacification. Many were released from prison
after the severest treatment ; and on inquiry into
their cases, nothing could be alleged against them.
They were consequently discliarged ; it being evi-
dent that their confinement had been most unwar-
rantable, and to be accounted for only as a part of
the dreadful system of tyranny and oppression which
preceded and produced so many evil conseqiiences.

This is strongly exemplified in the case of Doctor
Healy. This gentleman was a native of Ross, and
had practised as a physician for some years in Wex-
ford, whence he was on his way, on Whitsunday, to
his native town, and stopping at Heallhfield, the seat
of Mr. John Grogan, he found that the latter wanted
horses for some of his corps of yeomen, to conduct
Sergeant Stanley to Waterford. The doctor then
dismounted his servant, and gave the horse he rode
to Mr. Grogan for the purpose required ; and pur-
sued his journey to Ross, where all his relations re-
sided. Somef^of those who abandoned Wexford on
the 28th of May, coming afterwards to Ross, had the
inhumanity to get Doctor Healy confined, and the
prevailing torture of whipping inflicted on him. His
life was consequently endangered, and he continued
to experience the most brutal treatment, and was in
constant terror of being put to death, until relieved,
along with many others, all of whom appeared per-
fectly innocent, upon inquiry into their situation ; and
it is natural to suppose that their enemies would

IRISH REBELLION. 301

have come forward to accuse them, if they had any
charge to make, were it only to give some color of
justice to their conduct, which appeared eminently
tyrannical to the officers of the guards, who had no
idea that such transactions could have taken place
in any country.

I am induced to insert the following circumstance
from Mr. Alexander's account, as he was not liable
to be imposed on, in this instance, by any misrepre-
sentation : — " Corporal Morgan of the first regiment
of guards, observing a country-protected rebel, whose
house was burned for his crime, drop down at the
word of command, upon his knees to the gentleman
who had burned his house, ran hastily to the fellow
and lifted him off his knees, exclaiming, ' Get up,
you mean-spirited boor, and do not prostrate yourself
to any being but your God : surely, you do not mis-
take this man for that being V ' Sir,' replied the gen-
tleman, * he shall go on his knees to me as he ought.'
' No, sir,' returned the corporal, ' he shall not ; at
least in my presence, and while I have the honor of
being in the king's guards. We give the king but
one knee, and that the left ; reserving the right knee,
as well as the honor of both for God, and I tell you
to your fiery phiz, (whether ^j-qu believe me or not,)
that you are neither a god nor a king, nor shall you
receive the honor of either.' This was a young man
of good education, and in the same Latin class with
me, at the late Rev. Mr. Wesley's academy at King's-
wood, near Bristol. He was the son of an eminent
Methodist preacher."*

The conduct of those commanders last mentioned
was such as to induce the people to flock in with the
greatest confidence to procure protections ; and the

* See Alexander's account, pp. 106, 107
26

302 HISTORY OF THE

country under their benign influence soon assumed
quite another appearance. Had the county of Wex
ford enjoyed the blessing of being ruled by such men
previous to the insurrection, I am fully persuaded
that no disturbance would have taken place there ;
and it is to be regretted that they did not continue
longer in command than they did, as on their depart-
ure former influence so far prevailed as to exhibit a
tendency to persecution, by resuming, as much as
possible, their former conduct, which dare not be at-
tempted when properly checked and under due re-
straint. General Needham commanded in Gorey,
and diff'erent other officers were stationed at Tagh-
mon and Ferns to grant protections.

Although I meant to confine myself in this narra-
tive to what happened in the county of Wexford, yet
it mia;ht be considered defective did I not relate
what afterwards took place, until the warfare of the
Wexford-men was closed by surrender in the county
of Kildare, under Messrs. Fitzgerald and Aylmer.

The insurgents who passed west of the Slaney,
under the conduct of the Rev. John Murphy, directed
their march to get into the county of Carlow through
Scollagh-gap. Here they met with some opposition
from a small body of troops placed there to oppose
the passage. These, however, they soon overpow-
ered, and burning the village of Killedmond on the
Carlow side of the pass, they continued their march
to Newbridge, where ihey arrived on the morning of
the 23d, and quickly defeating a party of horse and
foot stationed on the bridge to prevent their passing
it, they took twenty-eight of the Wexford militia,
part of the force there stationed, but the cavalry
hastily retreated to Kilkenny, From this town Sir
Charles Asgill immediately set out to meet the in-
surgents at Newbridge, but was too late, as they had

IRISH REBELLION. 303

moved off towards Castlecomer, in expectation of
being joined by the colliers, from whom they ex-
pected considerable assistance. On the 24lh, the in-
surgents proceeded from the Ridge of Leinster, on
which they rested the night before, to attack Castle-
comer. Near this town they met a party of about
two hundred and fifty men, whom they obliged to re-
treat precipitately before them into the body of the
place. A thick fog, however, prevented them from
observing the great inferiority of their opponents, and
this, added to the town being on fire, (of which each
party accuses the other,) also prevented their observ-
ing the approach of Sir Charles Asgill, (who had
moved after them with a large military force,) until
they began to be raked with grape-shot from his ar-
tillery. This surprise forced the insurgents, with
great loss, to quit their enterprise, the Wexford mi-
litia prisoners being retaken from them ; but still Sir
C. Asgill thought it prudent to retreat that evening
back to Kilkenny, accompanied by a vast number of
the inhabitants of Castlecomer, which, by-the-by,
was instantly after taken possession of again and
plundered by the insurgents. After this they pushed
on to the Queen's County, where they remained that
night, and finding themselves greatly disappointed irt
not being joined by the inhabitants, and their own
body being considerably weakened by desertion, they
resolved to return home to the county of Wexford.
They accordingly directed their course to Newbridge,
and encamped that night on Killcomney Hill, where
they were surrounded during the night of the 25th
by a large military force, consisting of about five
hundred of the Downshire militia, commanded by
Major Matthews, who pursued them from Castle-
comer, having first notified his intention to Sir
Charles Asgill at Kilkenny, who accordingly set out

304 HISTORY OF THE

from that place at the head of twelve hundred men,
and arrived time enough to co-operate in the attack.
A very thick fog prevented the insurgents from be-
ing sensible of their situation on the morning of the
26th, until they experienced a severe discharge of
cannon on one side, which made them shift their
ground a little ; but on receiving a second salute of
the same kind from another quarter, the rout became
general, and they fled with great precipitancy: in-
deed, they must have been entirely cut off, had not
the horsemen that were among them rallied, and pre-
vented the cavalry from pursuit ; in which dangerous
service they displayed great courage and intrepidity.
The slaughter, however, proved very great ; but it is
lamentable that the greater part of the slain on this
occasion were the people of the adjacent country,
who had not at all joined the insurgents, nor left their
houses ; and great depredations in the way of plunder
were also committed on all who happened to be
placed near the scene of action. This body of Wex-
ford insurgents, after again forcing their passage back
through Scollagh-gap, against some troops wiio en-
deavored to oppose them, never made its appearance
again, as the people dispersed and retired to their
several homes, except a very few who joined their as-
sociates in the county of Wicklow.

The other body of Wexford insurgents which had
proceeded, as before observed, after the attack upon
Gorey, as far as the White-heaps, in the county of
Wicklow, set off on the morning of the 23d towards
the lead-mines. While resting in a posture of de-
fence on an eminence near this place they perceived
a body of troops in the hollow beneath, and these
fired some bomb-shells at them from the opposite
side of a river. The insurgents having no cannon,
retreated towards Monaseed, where they halted part

IRISH REBELLION. 305

of that night, and arrived on the morning of the 24th
at Donard, which they found deserted. Here they
waited for some time for refreshment, and then moved
towards GlanmuUen, where they met a small party
of cavalry, who fled at their approach. They found
the village of Aughrim laid waste, and many dead
bodies bearing marks of cruelty. From this place
they proceeded to Blessington, and although their
manner mostly was to rest as much as possible by
day, and march during the night, to avoid the pursuit
of a body of cavalry that was observed to follow
them, and which generally appeared in view, they,
however, encamped this night at Ballymanus, where,
' uniting their forces with those of Mr. Garret Byrne,
the whole moved on the morning of the 25th towards
Hacketstown, before which they appeared about
seven o'clock in the morning. The military were
drawn up in a small field outside the town, ready to
receive them ; but they were forced to give way, af-
ter the loss of Captain Hardy and four privates of
the Hacketstown yeoman infantry, while the pike-
men of the insurgents were wading across the river
to attack the place on all sides. The cavalry re-
treated and kept aloof during the remainder of the
action ; but the infantry, consisting of about one
hundred and seventy men, retired into the barrack,
and a malt-house adjoining it, from which their fire
did great execution, as did that from the house of the
Rev. Mr. M'Ghee, who defended it with uncommon
bravery, his force consisting of nine men only ; but
whose galling fire had the greater effect as it com-
manded the main street, and also that part of the
barrack which was thought most vulnerable. This
the insurgents endeavored several times to set fire to,
as they had before to the rest of the town ; but all in
vain. At length they made a desperate effort to ac-

26*

306 HISTORY OF THE

coinplish tlieir purpose. A few men proceeded up
to the building, under the cover of feather beds and
matted straw, fastened on cars ; but they were only
successful in obliging the military to abandon the
malt-house, and could not by any means get posses-
sion of the barrack or of Mr. M'Ghee's house, both
so situated as to support each other. The insurgents
at last deeming it impracticable to effect their design
without cannon, of which they had not a single
piece, retreated from the place, after an action of
nine hours, in which they had lost great numbers ;
carrying off their wounded, and driving before them
all the cattle from about the town, they encamped
that night at Blessington. The loss of the garrison-
was but ten killed and twenty wounded ; however
they thought it most prudent to abandon the place,
which they did, and retreated that evening to Tullow,
in the county of Carlow. During the engagement,
it is said that a considerable force of cavalry and in-
fantry stood on a hill at a small distance, in view of
the scene of action, but did not venture to join in the
battle.

Disappointed by the repulse at Hacketstown, the
remaining Wexford insurgents, in conjunction with
their Wicklow associates, directed their march to-
wards Carnew, which they were resolved if possible
to carry ; but General Needham, being informed of
their approach, detached a strong body of infantry,
and about two hundred cavalry from his camp at
Gofey, to intercept them. The cavalry alone, how-
ever, as the infantry were recalled, came up with the
insurgents on the road to Carnew. These, feigning
a retreat, having timely notice of their approach,
suffered the cavalry to pass until they brought them
into an ambuscade, where their gunsmen were pla-
ced on both sides of the way, behind the ditches, to

IRISH REBELLION. 307

receive lliem. At the first discharge they were ut-
terly confounded, and being unable to give their op-
ponents any annoyance, they attempted to retreat in
great haste towards Canievv. But here they had to
encounter another part of the plan of ambush ; for
the insurgents, right])'' conjecturing that when foiled
they would attempt getting off in that direction, had
blocked up the road with cars and other incumbran-
ces, they were for some time exposed to the fire of
the insurgents, and lost about eighty of their number,
among whom were two officers, Captain Giffard of
the Ancient Britons, and Mr. Parsons, adjutant of
the Ballaghkeen cavalry : the rest effected their re-
treat to Arklow, The detachment was commanded
by Lieutenant-colonel Pulestone of the Ancient
Britons, of whom twenty were among the slain. The
animosity of the people against this regiment, which
they charged with being guilty of great excesses,
may be instanced in the case of a black trumpeter
belonging to it who fell into their hands alive on this
occasion. When seized upon, this man loudly de-
clared that he was a Roman Catholic, and besought
them to spare him for the sake of his religion. But
his deeds with which he Avas upbraided were too re-
cent and too notorious, and he obtained no quarter.
The insurgents lost not a single man in this action ;
but they were foiled in their design upon Carnew,
the garrison of which, being alarmed by the retreat-
ing cavalry, had just time to secure themselves in a
malt-house before the approach of the insurgents,
who, after an ineffectual attack, marched off to Kill-
cavan Hill.

On the 2d of July, as the insurgents began to
move towards Shillelagh, they were pursued by a
body of yeomen, cavalry and infantry, before whom
they retired to an eminence called Ballyraheen Hill.

308 HISTORY OF THE

Here they took post, but as the yeomen moved up
the hill, the insurgents poured upon them with such
impetuosity and vehemence, that they were in an in-
stant utterly discomfited, with the loss of seventy
privates and two officers, all infantry, for none of the
cavalry fell. The officers were Captain Chamney
of the Coolattin, and Captain Nixon of the Coolken-
na corps; besides numbers were wounded. Sixty
privates, under Captain Moreton of the Tinahely,
and Lieutenant Chamney of the Coolattin yeomen,
retreated into Captain Chamney's house at the foot
of the hill, whither they were pursued by the insur-
gents, who continued to attack them all night, but
they were resisted with the utmost bravery and cool-
ness, and at length repulsed with considerable loss,
to which it is probable the light afforded by a house
adjoining, that of Mr. Henry Moreton, (which had
been set on fire by the insurgents in their phrensy,)
contributed not a little, as it enabled those within to
aim with precision at the assailants. It was several
times attempted to fire the house, by approaching
the door under the cover of feather-beds, which
proved unsuccessful.

The Wexford insurgents next fixed their station
near the White-heaps, at the foot of Croghan-moun-
tain ; from whence they moved during the night of
the 4lh, towards Wicklow-gap, but were met on the
morning of the 5th by the army under Sir James
Duflf from Carnew ; and after some salutes from the
artillery, they were obliged to take another direction,
and turned towards Gorey. But the fact is, that
they were surrounded by four powerful detachments,
before they could perceive the approach of any, in
consequence of a fog so dense that it was impossible
to distinguish objects at the distance of twenty yards ;
and findmg themselves unable to withstand a battle,

IRISH REBELLION. 309

they broke through the pursuingcavalry of Sir James
Duff's army, of whom they slew about eighty ; and
moved with great celerity in the direction of Carnew.
But upon their arrival at a place called Craneford,
by others Ballygullen, they resolved to make resist-
ance and await the approach of the troops, however
numerous, although their own force was by this time
considerably diminished. They however maintained
the contest for an hour and a half, displaying the
greatest valor, and most intrepid resolution ; having
repulsed t!ie cavalry, and driven the artillerymen
three times from their cannon, all performed by their
gur,smen ; for the pikemen, as on former occasions,
never came into action ; but fresh reinforcements of
the army pouring in on all sides, they were obliged
to give way, quitting the field of battle with little
loss to themselves, and notwithstanding all their fa-
tigue, retreating, with their usual agility and swift-
ness, in different directions ; but agreed among
them.selves to assemble again at Carrigrew. A par-
ty of these refugees were met by the Rev. Peter
Browne, dean of Ferns, who was suffered to pass,
and he instantly posted to Ferns, to inform the King's
County militia, quartered there, of the route of the
flying insurgents. The military accordingly set out,
with all speed, on the pursuit, and killed such of the
straggling peasantry as they met or came up to with-
out mercy. The insurgents thus harassed and
hunted, thought it advisable, upon meeting at Carri-
grew, to disperse, and thus put an end to the war-
fare in the county of Wexford.

A party of insurgents in the county of Kildare,
under the command of Mr. William Aylmer, still
held out in arms, and thither the remaining body of
the Wexford men, commanded by Mr. Fitzgerald,
accompanied by Mr. Garret Byrne, and some Wick-

310 HISTORY OF THE

low men, directed their course to form a junction,
which they accordingly effected. This associated
force moved from Prosperous to Clonard, where they
met a most determined and successful resistance
from Lieutenant Tyrrel, a yeoman officer, who, with
his corps, had occupied a fortified house in the town.
These delayed the assailants until reinforcements ar-
rived from Kinnegad and Mullingar, when they were
forced to give up the enterprise.

After this repulse, the few remaining Wexford
men separated from their Wicklow associates, whom
they deemed less warlike than themselves, and made
different incursions into the counties of Kildare,
Meath, Louth, and Dublin, eluding, as well as they,
could, the pursuit of the army, with different parties
of which they had frequent skirmishes. The ni^ht
of the repulse at Donard, thev committed some dep-
redations in the village of Carbery, in the county of
Kildare. On the next day, pursued by different
parties of military, they marched into the countv of
Meath, where they were overtaken and put to flight
by Colonel Gough, commanding a detachment of the
county of Limerick militia from Edenderry. After
this, two of their leaders, Mr. Perry and "the Rev.
Mr. Kearns, endeavoring to make their escape by
themselves, were taken, tried, and condemned by
court-martial, and executed at Edenderry. Unable
to effect any thing in the county of Meath, the Wex-
ford men crossed the Boj^ne, near Duleek, into the
county of Louth, where, being pursued from place
to place, they made a most gallant resistance to the
cavalry of Major-general Wemys and Brigadier-gen-
eral Mej-rick, who overtook them between tiie town
of Ardee and the Boyne ; but the infantrj' and artil-
lery coming up, they were defeated with some loss,
and fled into an adjoining bog, where they were se-

IRISH REBELLION. 311

cure from pursuit. In the night, a small party set
off towards Ardee, and dispersed, each as he best
could, making way by devious and circuitous routes
homeward. The remaining body repassed the Boyne,
and, with their usual celerity, were on the direct
road towards Dublin, when intercepted by Captain
Gordon, of the Dumfries light dragoons, at the head
of a strong party of horse and foot, at Ballyboghill,
near Swords, where they wer efinally put to the rout,
and were never more collected.

Some Wexford insurgents, however, remained
with Mr. Fitzgerald, along with Mr. Aylmer, who as
outstanding chiefs negotiated with General Dundas,
to whom they surrendered on the 12th of July, on
condition that all the other leaders who had adven-
tured with them, should be at liberty to retire whith-
er they pleased out of the British dominions. The
same terms were afterwards secured by General
Moore to Mr. Garret Byrne, w'ho was sent into con-
finement in the castle of Dublin, together with
Messrs. Fitzgerald and Aylmer. Here they contin-
ued until the beginning of 1799, when Lord Corn-
wallis permitted them to retire to England, where
they remained until the 25th of March following,
when Messrs. Fitzgerald and Byrne were arrested
at Bristol, (where they were for the recovery of their
health,) at the instance of persons connected with a
strong Irish party for the union, whom it was thought
at that time advisable to indulge. These gentlemen
afterwards retired to Hamburgh.

Messrs. Aylmer, Fitzgerald, and other outstanding
chiefs surrendered, conditioning for themselves and
others, by which they fared much better than those
who laid down their arms in Wexford, depending on
the faithful fulfilment of the terms entered into with
Lord Kingsborough.

312 HISTORY OF THE

General Lake, previous to his departure from
Wexford, appointed a committee to superintend pros-
ecutions, and to grant passes to leave the country,
consisting of the principal gentlemen then resident
there. The appropriate duty of this body was, to
inquire specially into the cases of snch prisoners as
they should hand over to be tried by court-martial,
to procure the evidence for prosecution, and to com-
mit different persons to jail. It was not, however,
deemed necessary 1o send a committal to the jailer,
as the word of any of them was considered sufficient
for the detention of any of those given in custody ;
and they were also to act as a ivind of council to
General Hunter, whose benevolent disposition they
thwarted on several occasions ; and this was so well
known, that many upon being put into confinement,
were induced by their apprehensions to petition for
transportation, rather than abide a trial under their
direction. The tyrannical, unjust, and inhuman dis-
position of this body is strongly exemplified in their
unwarrantable treatment of many besides myself,
which I have endeavored to detail in my preliminary
discourse.

DiflTerent court-marlials were instituted in Ross,
Enniscorthy, Gorey, and Newlownbarry, and several
persons were condemned and executed, and others
were sentenced to transportation. Among those who
were condemned to be executed, I cannot avoid no-
ticing the case of the Rev. John Redmond, a Catho-
lic priest, who it seems, during the insurrection, had
done all in his power to save the house of Lord
Mountnorris from being plundered, which he in
some degree effected, but not at all to the extent of
his wishes. Lord Mountnorris, however, lo prevent
the possibility of his being supposed by any one in
future a friend to Catholics, sent for Mr. Redmond,

IRISH REBELLION. 313

upon finding that he was present at the plundering
of his house, desiring that he would conne to him di-
rectly. The reverend gentleman, conscious of his
own integrity, and apprehensive of no danger, as in-
volved in no guilt, obeyed the summons without hes-
itation ; but his instantaneous, hasty trial, condem-
nation, and execution were the reward of his humane
and generous exertions. His body, after death, un-
derwent the most indecent mutilations. But to put
this innocent man's conduct in its proper point of
view, I do not think I can do better than the Rev.
Mr. Gordon, a Protestant clergyman, has done in his
history of the Irish rebellion.

" Of the rebellious conduct of Redmond, coadjutor
to Father Francis Kavanagh, in the parish of Clough,
of which I was twenty-three years curate, I can find
no other proof than the sentence of the court-martial
which consigned him to death. He was accused by
the Earl of Mountnorris of having appeared as chief
among a party of rebels who comniilled some dep-
redations at his lordship's house, while he alleged
that his object in appearing on the occasion was, to
endeavor to prevent the plundering of the house, in
which he had partly succeeded. Coming into Go-
rey on a message from the earl, seemingly unappre-
hensive of danger and unconscious of guilt, he was
treated as if manifestly guilty before trial — knocked
down in the street, and rudely dragged by some yeo-
men. I mean not to arraign the justice of the noble
lord, his prosecutor, nor the members of the court-
martial. The former, who had rendered himself in
no small degree responsible for the loyalty of the
Wexfordian Romanists, had doubtless good reasons
for his conduct ; and the latter could have no per-
sonal animosity against the accused, nor other un-
favorable bias than what naturally arose from the

27

314 HISTORY OF THE

turbid state of affairs, when accusation against a
Romish priest was considered as a strong presump-
tion of guilt. But his Protestant neighbors who had
not been able to escape from the rebels, assured me
that while the latter were in possession of the coun-
try, he was constantly hiding in Protestant houses
from the rebels, and that many Romanists expressed
great resentment against him as a traitor to their
cause. That he expected not the rebellion to be
successful, appears from this, that when the wife of
Nathaniel Stedman (one of my Protestant parishion-
ers) applied to him to baptize her child,* he told her
that he acceded to her request, merely lest the child
should die unbaptized, in the necessary absence of
her minister, on condition that she should promise to
make the proper apology for him to me, on my re-
turn to the parish."

It is a melancholy reflection to think how many
innocent persons were condemned. I have heard of
numbers, of whose innocence the smallest doubt
cannot be entertained, whose conduct merited reward
instead of punishment ; yet they fell victims to the
purest sentiments of philanthropy, which dictated
their interference : these have been perverted by
their enemies, who are also those of the human race,
into crimes utterly unpardonable. Is this any thing
less than arraigning benevolence and humanity, the
most amiable qualities of the soul of man, as crim-
inal and atrocious ? But every man's breast, what-
ever be his principles, will tell him with irresistible
force, that crime and atrocity lie at the other side.
From personal knowledge of the circumstances, I
knew five or six who were innocent of the charges
and of the deeds sworn against them, and who still

* See Gordon's History of the Irish Rebellion, pp. 185, 186

IRISH REBELLION. 315

were condemned and executed. In these turbid and
distracted times, I have seen persons sunk so much
below the level of human nature, that I do believe
they were not capable of judgment or recollection ;
which accounts to me in some degree for the various
assertions, even testimonies on trials, and affidavits
made by different persons, who might as well relate
their dreams for facts. Tiie dreadful prejudice,
hateful as uncharitable, entertained against Catholics,
has also occasioned the death of many ; and the
general excuse and impunity of Protestants, who
joined in the insurrection, has induced many to avail
themselves of this favorable circumstance to change
with the times ; and to testify their loyalty, they ac-
cuse the very persons they themselves seduced to
join the association of United Irishmen, and thus cut
off all the existing proof of their own delinquency by
a consummation of villany. Tlie loyalizing spirit,
if I may be allovv^ed the expression, has done a vast
deal of mischief; for those in the predicament last
mentioned are unprincipled turncoats in religion,
who scruple not to throw out every calumnious as-
persion upon that which they have not only forsaken
but abandoned, in order, if possible, to impress an
idea of the sincerity of their conversion in embracing
the other. Vain effort — it only exposes the hypo-
critical apostacy in either case to tlie dignified con-
tempt of every intelligent and principled man. I
know two Protestant gentlemen, who, if they had
been Catholics, would not have escaped at this crit-
ical time. They also attribute the saving of their
lives to gambling, of the good effects of which I never
before heard an instance. However, certain it is
that these gentlemen had lost some money at play,
previous to the insurrection, which luckily for them
bad not been paid at that period ; and the gallant

316 HISTORY OF THE

heroes who were tlie honorable creditors on the oc-
casion, and who were eminently active in suppress-
ing the rebellion, hiimanehj considered that none of
the debt could be recovered if the two gentlemen
were hanged, and tiicrefore they suffered their in-
terest to work upon their mercy, which operated to
the procurement of pardon and release for the gen-
tlemen in question, as well as the consequent pay-
ment of these debts of honor. I know the two gen-
tlemen well, and have often heard them relate this.,
adventure, which is deemed to have preserved two
fine fellows.

Mr. E. Kyan, whose courage and humanity de-
served a better fate, was taken near Wexford, on
his return home in the night, tried, condemned, and
executed the next day ; for although manifest proofs
appeared of his humanity and interference, so con-
spicuously effectual on the bridge of Wexford, on the
20th of June, yet this was insufficient to save him,
as he had arms about him when apprehended. His
fate is the more lamentable, as Mr. Fitzgerald, on
surrendering to General Dundas, had secured the'
same terms for Mr. Kyan as for himself ; so that had
any circumstance interfered to delay his execution
for some time, the life of a brave man would have
been saved.

General Hunter was indefatigable in his exertions
to appease the minds of the people, and to restore
confidence and tranquillity to this distracted country.
In this he was very materially assisted by the ad-
dress and exertions of Captain Fitzgerald, who by
the special appointment of the British government,
was attached as a proper person to attend the general
as brigade-major on the service in Ireland ; and to
this station, besides his acknowledged mihtary talents,
a recent display of courage, independent of his know-

IRISH REBELLION. 317

ledge of the country, certainly recommended him.
He was even invested with the extraordinary privi-
lege of recommending such as he thought deserving
of the protection and mercy of government.

Some principal gentlemen of the county, and others
besides, attempted to interpose their authority to su-
persede the tenor of the general pardon held out by
proclamation, pursuing the same line of arbitrary
conduct which they practised previous to the insur-
rection. They even proceeded to such a length as
presuming to tear some of the protections which the
country people had obtained ; but this coming to the
general's knowledge, he soon quieted them by
threatening to have them tied to a cart's tail and
whipped. Others had been rash enough to levy ar-
bitrary contributions for the losses they had sustained
during the insurrection ; but were glad upon dis-
covery, and refunding what they had received, to es-
cape punishment, which favor was generally obtained
through the intercession of Major Fitzgerald. Even
a beneficed clergyman of the Established Church
partook of the general's indulgence. Another, who
was but a curate, was induced to wait on the general
with an account of the intended massacre of the
Protestants, which he detailed with appearance of
the utmost alarm, and was patiently heard out, with
the greatest complacency by the general; who, when
the curate had ended, addressed him with this mark-
ed appellation and strong language ; — " Mr. Massa-
cre, if you do not prove to me the circumstances you
have related, I shall get you punished in the most
exemplary manner, for raising false alarms, which
have already proved so destructive to this unfortu-
nate country." The curate's alarm now from gener-
al became persona!, and on allowing that his fears
had been excited by vague report to make this repre-

27*

318 HISTORY OF THE

sentation, his piteous supplication, and apparently
hearty contrition, procured him forgiveness. Many
and various were the representations of a similar ten-
dency, made to General Hunter, which other com-
manders were led to believe, but which his superior
discrimination deemed false and groundless, and
were discovered so to be in several instances, by the
activity and acumen of his brigade-major.

Annesley Brownrigg, Esq., a magistrate of the
county of Wexford, received nine-and-thirty charges
of pillage and slaughter against Mr. Hunter Gowan ;
and on the informations being submitted to General
Hunter, he sent out a party of the Mid-Lothian cav-
alry to conduct him prisoner to Wexford, whither he
was brought accordingly, and there it was determin-
ed to bring him to trial. Mr. Brownrigg returned
home, in the mean time, to collect the evidence, but
it was previously settled that he should have suffi-
cient notice ; but on the day appointed for the trial,
no prosecutor attending, Mr. Gowan of course was
discharged. An official letter had been dispatched
in due time, yet he did not receive it until it was a
day too late. Whether the miscarriage of the letter
Was by accident or design, continues yet a secret.

The various outrages that were committed in the
country, prevented vast numbers from coming into
the quarters of the several commanding officers to
obtain protections, as many of the yeomen and their
supplementaries continued the system of deflagration
and shooting such of the peasantry as they met ; and
this necessarily deterred many from exposing them-
selves to their view, and prevented of course the hu-
mane and benevolent intentions of General Hunter
from having due weight or extensive effect. The
melancholy consequences of such a system of terror,
persecution, and alarm, were very near being woful-

IRISH REBELLION. 319

ly experienced in a shocking instance of dreadful se-
verity— the extermination of all the inhabitants of a
large tract of the county of Wexford. This was ac-
tually deteruiined on, and the execution of it already
planned and concerted, when its horrid perpetration
was providentially prevented by the timely and hap-
py intervention of Brigade-major Fitzgerald, under the
direction and orders of General Hunter. Incessant
applications and remonstrances were made by differ-
ent magistrates in Gorey and its vicinity, to govern-
ment, complaining that an entire quarter of the coun-
ty of Wexford, extending from Courtown to Black-
water, which range of county is denominated the
Macomores, was infested with constant meetings of
rebels ; and no means were left untried to prevent
travellers from proceeding to Wexford in that direc-
tion without escorts ; and many persons whose hab-
itations lay in the neighborhood of this district left
their homes deserted, from a belief that another rising
of the people was inevitable ; and it was daily ex-
pected to take place : nay, the reports laid before
government were even confirmed by affidavits ; and
so generally was it believed, that persons resident
within two miles of the confines presumed not to in-
quire into the veracity of the reports, to which, how-
ever, they gave implicit credit ; while, at the same
time, they were accredited by government, to whom
they were handed in under the specious, imposing,
and solemn appearance of facts by a magistracy that
should be deliberate, grave, and respectable ; and the
noble viceroy who then held the helm of the govern-
ment was rendered justly indignant by these reitera-
ted complaints of the abuse of his clemency, on the
represented imminent danger of the country. Or-
ders were accordingly sent to the different generals
and other commanding officers in and contiguous to

320 HISTORY OF THE

the devoted tract, to form a line along its extent on
the western border, and at both ends, north and
south, on the land side, so as to leave no resource to
the wretched inhabitants throughout its whole range,
but to be slaughtered by the soldiery, or to be driven
into the sea, as it is bounded by the channel on the
eastward. Even women and children were to be in-
cluded in this horrid plan of terrific example. The
chief command in execution of this measure, the
time for its commencement, and the final determina-
tion of its necessity, were intrusted to the discretion
of General Hunter, nor was the confidence, indeed,
misplaced. He was himself, with the second or
queen's, and the twenty-ninth regiments of infantry,
together with the Mid-Lothian fencible cavalry, sta-
tioned in Wexford ; Brigadier-general Grose was
with the South Cork militia at Enniscorthy; Lord
Blaney commanded the camp at Ferns, composed of
the light brigades ; Brigadier-general Skerret with
his regiment of foot in Gorey ; and General Eustace
with his brigade at Arklow. These, together with
the general assistance of all the yeomanry corps
throughout the country, were to form the cordon
round the country of the Macomores, and the troops
were to move at once to the dreadful expedition. So
terrifying were the reports at this crisis, that even
some liberal but timid and credulous minds approved
of these melancholy means of sacrificing thousands,
(that tract being very populous,) as the only effectual
resource for restoring tranquillity !

General Hunter, through the honest exertions and
bold scrutiny of Major Fitzgerald, fortunately dis-
covered in time the inhuman tendency of the misre-
presentation that had dictated and determined this
shocking enterprise. The devoted victims found ac-
cess to the general, and he cheerfully acceded to

IRISH REBELLION. 321

their entreaties to send an officer to inquire into their
complaints, imploring protection from the incursions
of the black mob, (they thus denominated the supple-
mentaries to the ditferent corps of yeomanry,) who
wreaked their vengeance even upon those who had re-
ceived protections from General Needham at Gorey ;
as different parties of the soldiery and yeomanry
waited their return in ambush, and slaughtered every
one they could overtake ! This naturally prevented
great numbers from coming in for protections. After-
wards these sanguinary banditti made incursions into
the country, fired into the houses of the peasantry, and
so killed and wounded many. Several houses after
being plundered were burned, and the booty was
brought into Gorey. By the frequency of these hor-
rible excesses and depredations, such houses as re-
mained unburned were of course crowded with sev-
eral families ; and this multiplied the number of vic-
tims at each succeeding incursion. At last most of
the inhabitants of necessity took refuge on the hills,
and armed themselves with every offensive weapon
they could procure. The elevation of their retreats
necessarily made their assemblages conspicuous, and
this afforded some color to the pretext for desolation,
as it appeared a specious proof that a general rising
was intended ; and this was most strenuously urged
by those who seemed bent on the extermination of
the unfortunate inhabitants of the Macomores terri-
tory, so as to work upon the minds of some well-dis-
posed but timid persons an approval of the dreadful
expedient. General Hunter, however, having, along
with his general orders, a discretionary power to act
as circumstances might require, sent Major Fitzger-
ald to inspect the different military corps that were
to be in readiness for the enterprise, in case his mis-
sion for the purpose of conciliation proved unsuc-

322 HISTORY OF THE

cessful ; he being vested with fall powers to under-
take that task of benevolence and mercy. Major
Fitzgerald accordingly inspected the troops at Ennis-
corthy and Camolin, and from the latter place dis-
patched Surgeon White of the Camolin cavalry (son
of Mr. Henrys White of Donoughmore, a gentleman
much respected in the country of the Macomores) to
announce his intended visit to the inhabitants. The
major then proceeded on his inspection to Gorey,
and here had great difficulty to procure an escort to
accompany him, as the strongest fears were express-
ed for his safety should he enter into such a despe-
rate quarter as it was represented ; their dreadful ac-
counts of its state being an echo of the representa-
tions that had been made to government, and trans-
mitted to General Hunter, who felt good reason to
doubt their authority. However, the major was not
to be baffled, imposed upon, or disobeyed, and he
perceived evident features of great disappointment
exhibited by those who would fain dissuade him from
liis purpose, as they were conscious that the object
of his mission was not according to their wishes,
nay, that it must terminate directly contrarj^ to them.
The escort very reluctantly obeyed their orders, and
on being dismissed galloped full speed back to Go-
rey, wliile the major arrived in perfect safety at
Donoughmore, in tlie Macomores, where he slept
that night. On the next morning, Mr. White and
his son, who were beloved by the people, accompa-
nied the major to the place appointed for the meet-
ing of the people ; and soon after their arrival there,
some yeomen, arrayed in military attire, were ob-
served at some distance by the crowd. This in-
stantly excited alarm, and a rumor was circulated
that their extermination was determined on, and that
they were 'ed to this spot to be surrounded and cut

IRISH REBELLION. 323

off while the major was to amuse them with terms
and harangue ! It is providential that the conster-
nation and dismay produced by this incident did not
operate to the major's destruction, as it would have
afforded the abettors of extermination every argu-
ment to fortify their representations ; and it is to be
hoped that the appearance of this military body was
not intended for this purpose, in revenge for his une-
quivocally declared opinion of the misconduct of
some of the yeomanry. The major's death on this
occasion would have put an end to all accommoda-
tion ; and, from the very violent expressions used by
the people, on thinking themselves betrayed, nothing
but his coolness and presence of mind could have
preserved him in so critical a juncture. He calmly
wailed for silence, and then offered himself as a vic-
tim, should a military force of any consequence be
seen to approach them, as his inspection the day be-
fore was to prevent all accidents of that nature ; and
stated that he could by no means account for that
which occurred, but from the misconduct of some of
the yeomanry. This address instantly produced a
thorough conviction of his indubitable sincerity and
benevolent intentions, and the people unanimously
surrendered to him, and continued to flock into Wex-
ford for several days after, to give up their arms and
receive protections. Major Fitzgerald considered it
necessary to guard the roads with patrols of cavalry,
to prevent the people from being insulted or inter-
rupted in their return to their avowed allegiance ;
and General Hunter, being convinced of the expe-
diency of protecting the harassed peasantry from the
violence and machinations of party, ordered Captain
Cornock, who was selected as an experienced officer,
to protect the inhabitants of Macomores from the arm-
ed men closely adjoining their neighborhood ; and his

324 HISTORY OF THE

corps was accordingly marched from Enniscorthy by
Major Fitzgerald, together with a party of the Ennis-
corthy cavalry, under Lieutenant Sparrow, although
there were five corps of yeomanry stationed in and
near Gorey. Of these, that which attracted the
greatest notice was under the command of Mr.
Hunter Gowan, which it was found impossible
to restrain from pillage and slaughter. It was after
the rebelhon was suppressed that this body received
appointments as a cavalry corps, and as several of
them were not owners of a horse, they took a speedy
mode of mounting themselves without any expense.
They scoured the country, as they termed it, and
brought in without any ceremony the horses of the
wretched cottagers. On a day of inspection by Ma-
jor Fitzgerald, however, the poor claimants recovered
their horses, and the motley banditti, as the major
termed them, were thus transformed into dismounted
cavalry.

The false alarmists were not at all depressed or
intimidated at these discomfitures ; for although
General Hunter reported the country as in a perfect
state of tranquillity, they again returned to the charge
and renewed their misrepresentations. Mr. Haw-
trey White, captain of the Ballaghkeen cavalry, and
a justice of the peace for the county, sent several in-
formations to government of the alarming state of the
country ; and the commanding officer at Gorey was
so far persuaded of the intention of a general rising,
that he quitted the town and encamped on the hill
above it. These representations, made under the
semblance of loyalty, and by a person bearing the
appearance and authority of a gentleman, had not,
however, the wished-for weight with the govern-
ment. General Hunter was ordered to inquire into
the information of Mr. Hawtrey White, and Major

«

IRISH REBELLION. 325

Fitzgerald was again sent out, and the result of his
discriminating inquiry was, that the information was
unfounded. Upon this the general ordered Mr. Haw-
trey White to be brought to Wexford, and he was
accordingly conducted thither with the greatest ten-
derness and humanity by Major Fitzgerald ; he was
then put under arrest at his lodgings, although it was
first intended to have sent him to jail. Mr. White still
persisted in maintaining that there was an encamp-
ment of the rebels (though not so numerous as he
had previously represented it to be) on a rock of
great extent in the sea, two miles from the land,
whither the rebels retired in the daytime, after pa-
rading through the country at night; and he express-
ed a wish to be sent with a party by land, to inter-
cept them in their progress to the shore. General
Hunter, however, did not agree entirely to this pro-
posal, as he was apprehensive that the people of the
country might be alarmed at the appearance of Mr.
White conducting a military force ; and that they
would be induced to fly at his approach, which
might give some countenance to the information ; but
although he considered the island to be but imagina-
ry, yet in order that truth should prevail over false-
hood, he ordered a gunboat to convey Mr. White to
the island he described, and that a party of military
should be sent by land to cut off the rebels, when he
should drive them from their sea-girt station. In the
mean time the captain of the gunboat had orders to
bring back Mr. White, to receive thanks for his ex-
traordinary information, should it prove true, and to
concert further measures for defence ; but if found
otherwise, to be dealt with accordingly. The sea
and land expedition failed, in consequence of the de-
scribed rock being found covered by the sea at the
time, and of course, if any rebels had been there.

t-

'?••' '.■; I.

326 HISTORY OF THE

they must have been all drowned, when this new
Delos immerged into the deep! Mr. Hawlrey White
was conducted back to Wexford, and General Hun-
ter determined to bring him to a court-martial. Many
gentlemen and ladies, however, interfered in the most
earnest manner to prevent this investigation, repre-
senting that Mr. White's great age might have sub-
jected him to the imposition of fabricated informa-
tion ; and the firmness of the general relaxed at the
instance of so many respectable persons ! ! It is
m.uch to be regretted that this inquiry did not take
place, as this and many other uncommon occurrences
wei'e variously reported and believed, in different
shapes and forms, according to the bias or inclina-
tion, the prejudice or the disposition of the narrators.
The general afterwards regretted his clemency, as
he was not sensible at this period of the machinations
practised, and of the extent of party prejudice, the
evil efTects of which every day's experience con-
vinced him too fatally existed in the county of Wex-
ford. False alarms are always productive of the
greatest mischief, and are deemed in -all countries
offences of the most dangerous tendency. . Ireland
has suffered much by the tales of adventurers in these
infernal practices ; but I am glad to perceive a grow-
ing disposition to discountenance these pests of so-
ciety, who must, if continued to be encouraged, keep
all well-disposed persons in a constant state of alarm,
and screen the malignant intentions of their original
projectors from the infamy they so well deserve.

A court-martial, of which Lord Ancram was pres-
ident, was instituted at Wexford for the trial of per-
sons accused of treason ; and contrary to the expec-
tation and wishes of the committee for procuring ev-
idence, many were acquitted. Lord Ancram, how-
ever, soon left the town, and his departure was much

IRISH REBELLION. 327

regretted by the people ; but his lieutenant-colonel,
Sir James Fowlis, of the Mid-Lothian cavalry, suc-
ceeded him as president of the court-martial. To
say merely that he acquitted himself with honor and
integrity, would not be doing adequate justice to his
merits. I believe no judge ever sat on a bench, that
displayed more judgment, discrimination, and mercy,
in selecting the innocent and misled, from the crim-
inal and the guilty ; and his conduct inspired so
much confidence throughout the country, as to induce
such as were conscious of integrity to submit to trial,
which they would not otherwise dare to do, from a
well-founded opinion of the rancor of their accusers,
who attempted at first to warp, and afterwards to
counteract his upright intentions, which those who
experienced them can alone appreciate. Was the
character of Irishmen such, as too many have been
led, from misrepresentation, to believe, would such
a dignified character choose Ireland as his place of
residence ? Does it not rather appear that the re-
sult of numerous trials not only convinced him for
the instant, but even left a lasting impression on his
mind, that the people of Ireland were goaded into
rebellion, notwithstanding the unnatural calumnies
of those whose prejudice and bigotry urge them to
revile their country ! ! !

General Hunter's object of conciliation was so
evident, that many insurgent leaders were induced
to surrender themselves to him, on obtaining protec-
tions. General Edward Roche surrendered on con-
dition of transportation, and Major Fitzgerald accord-
ingly brought him into Wexford, where he was lodg-
ed in the jail. On the morning of the very day on
which he submitted, a rumor had prevailed of the
landing of the French in the west of Ireland, and al-
though Mr. Roche accredited this rumor, it did not

328 HISTORY OF THE

prevent him from surrendering. The landing of the
French force, imder Humbert, was officially trans-
mitted to General Hunter, and he was ordered off
with the queen's and twenty-ninth regiments of in-
fantry. This sudden and unexpected news created
great alarm, and many ladies and gentlemen were
anxiously desirous to quit the country, as they had
been at the commencement of the insurrection, and
were actually making preparations to that effect.
The county of Wexford assuredly felt an impression
of the general temper of Ireland at this critical pe-
riod. The inhabitants of the territor}' of the Maco-
mores, however, (though led to believe on the first j
intelligence that tlieir former enemies would resume
their plan of desolation,) were impressed with the
fullest conviction, that they were rescued from ex-
termination by the interference of Brigade-major
Fitzgerald, and the humane exertion of General
Hunter's authority. Under this patronage and pro-
lection, therefore, they wished to remain, (not know-
ing that the general had been ordered off;) the spon-
taneous effect of their feelings on the occasion was
manifested in an offer of their services to march
against the French. The style and expression of
their memorials to Major Fitzgerald and General
Hunter, I will not attempt to describe in any lan-
guage but their own : they are therefore inserted in
the Appendix ; and although altered, perhaps, and
corrupted in style and orthography, as they have
come to me, yet their force and sincerity are mani-
fest.*

On the departure of General Hunter, the inhabit-
ants of this county, as they received no answer to
their memorials, were so alarmed, that they sent re-

* See Appendix, No. X.

IRISH REBELLION. 329

peated remonstrances 1o Brigade-major Fitzgerald,
requesting his interference for protection. The ma-
jor, therefore, now thought it necessary to consult
Sir James Fowlis, on the expediency of going into
the Macomores, and Sir James esteemed it of such
material consequence, that the proposal met his most
hearty approbation. The major, however, was de-
tained by his official situation for some days in Wex-
ford ; and during this time he received repeated
messages, informing him that Holt and Hackett had
come from the county of Wicklow, and were tam-
pering with the people, and using every means in
their power to induce them to proceed with them to
attack Dublin, which they represented at the time
as destitute of regular troops, as Lord Cornwallis
had led them all otf to meet the French, From the
general uncertainty of the public mind at this mo-
mentous period, with respect to the actual strength
of the invasion ; and from the subsequent accounts
of the success of the French on the first onset, it
may be very well supposed that the minds of a peo-
ple so lately rescued from concerted extermination
must be strongly affected, and ready to be influenced
by the solicitations and remonstrances of the adven-
turers who came among them. It therefore required
the utmost address and energy to fix their wavering
opinions, and Brigade-major Fitzgerald accordingly
set out from Wexford for this purpose, and on the
way he met different groups assembled in anxious
uncertainty what to determine. These, however, on
being assured by the major that neither he nor Sir
James Fowlis were to quit Wexford, under whom
the people were sure of protection, all their fears and
apprehensions were calmed. The major represented
that if they left the country, their wives and families
who so lately escaped extermination, would be left

28*

330 HISTORY OF THE

destitute and defenceless at the mercy of their ene-
mies, who would not fail to take advantage of their
absence as a pretext for their destruction, and this
argument prevailed. Though many and various
were the opinions Major Fitzgerald had to encounter,
yet he pursued his intended course and arrived that
night at Donoughmore, and here he was further con-
vinced of the representation of the people. He heard
the signals of movement made by Holt and Hackett ;
but the people remained quietly at home, and suffer-
ed these adventurers to depart, accompanied only by
those whom they originally brought along with them ;
and the intended attack upon Dublin was given up
in consequence of the Wexford men not joining, for
much reliance was had on their exertions, from the
courage and intrepidity which they displayed in the
course of the insurrection.*

These incontrovertible facts give the lie so palpa-
bly to the calumniators of Ireland, that I cannot help
adducing the testimony of an English lawyer of em-

" Dublin, December 14, 1802.

* " Sir — I return, with my thanks for your polite attention, your
manuscripts you were so kind as to leave for my perusal. Am ex-
ceedingly glad to find through the whole of your compilation, so
strict an observance of facts, which chiefly come under my cogni-
zance as brigade-major. It is with pleasure I observe also, your
adherence to truth and impartiality — free from the rancorous spirit
of party fabrication, which is the true criterion that exalts the his-
torian above the class of party scribblers, who dissipate as rapidly
as unerring truth unveils itself, strongly exemplified in the past and
present times. I give you much credit in not retorting as you
might for your unmerited sufTerings, by exposing the crimes of some
. espectable persons ; for, indeed, if they are not verj' forgetful and
Tery insensible, the compunctions of their consciences must be suf-
fic'ently tormenting. There is little doubt of your labors meeting
their due reward from an unprejudiced public, which is the wieh of

" Your obedient humble servant,

" B. E. Fitzgerald.

" To Edward Hay, Esq."

IRISH REBELLION. 331

inence nearly two centuries ago, but very applicable
to our own time, of the character which ll)e Irish
have ever maintained. In 1620, Sir John Davies,
then attorney-general in Ireland, published a work
on " The state of Ireland," in which he strongly as-
serts as follows : — " They will gladly continue in the
condition of subjects without defection or adhering
to any other lord or king as long as they may be
protected and justly governed, without oppression on
the one side, or impunity on the other ; for there is
no nation under the sun that doih love equal and in-
different justice better than the Irish, or will rest
better satisfied with the execution thereof, although
it be against themselves, so as they may have the
benefit and protection of the law, when upon just
cause they do desire it." And again he says what
is very applicable to the unfortunate situation of the
people, " The Irish were out of the protection of the
law, so that any Englishman might oppress, murder,
or spoil them with impunity."

I cannot omit here mentioning the case of Mr.
Waller Devereux, who, having obtained protections
from several general officers, had gone to Cork to
embark for Portugal ; he was there taken up, tried,
condemned, and executed. Mr. Gibson, a yeoman,
and wealthy Protestant shopkeeper, and Mr, William
Kearney, an extensive brewer, were summoned and
attended at his trial, and proved that he was in Wex-
ford, and even in jail, at the very time some soldiers
of the Wexford militia were shot thirty miles from
that town ; and the principal charge against him was,
that he gave orders and was present at their execu-
tion, which some men of that regiment were harden-
ed enough to swear ! ! ! I myself saw him in Wex-
ford on the alleged day. He was also accused of
aiding and abetting the abomination at Scullabogue,

332 HISTORY OF THE

and this charge was similarly supported by the tes-
timony of some soldiers' wives ! and yet it is an un-
doubted fact, that he was all that day engaged at the
battle of Ross, where he displayed the most heroical
bravery and courage — qualities inconsistent with the
odious crime it was falsely sworn he had perpetra-
ted ! ! ! But what puts the falsehood of the facts
alleged against him beyond all question is, that after
his execution another Mr. Devereux was taken up
on the discriminating sagacity of the same witnesses
who prosecuted the former to death ; but who now
(as they said) discovered the rigid Devereux. The
trial of the latter has been published, and I would
recommend its perusal to such as wish for further
proof of the miserable and lamentable condition of
those existing in the county of Wexford during the
insurrection. The following case is also distinguish-
ed for its peculiar hardship : — After the insurrection,
the Rev. James Dixon was anxious to spend some
time with his step-brother, Mr. Denis Butler, a mer-
chant in Bristol, where he might enjoy that peace
and tranquillity which the distracted state of his na-
tive country wiiolly precluded. His intentions were
well known to the late Colonel Lehunte, who lived
in the vicinity of Castlebridge, where Mr. Dixon re-
sided, and having therefore the best possible opportu-
nity of being acquainted with i)is unimpeachable con-
duct and demeanor, invited him to accompany his
lady and family to England, where on his landing he
was recognised by some of the incensed Wexford
refugees, who immediately denounced him as a
Catholic pi'iest. By this outcry, (and the prejudice
against his order,) those on the beach were roused
to inflict severe treatment on him ; it is probable that
these active prejudices might have proved fatal, had
not the providential interposition of the Rev. Mr.

IRISH REBELLION. 333

Draffen, the Protestant clergyman of the parish where
the Rev. Mr. Dixon officiated as a Catholic priest,
interposed in his favor, protected and covered him
from the full exercise of their rage. This philan-
thropic divine was as distinguished for his loyalty as
his attachment to the constitution of his country, and
for his exemplary piety and abhorrence of rebellion.
This act of manhness and goodness on the part of
the Rev. Mr. Draft'en cannot be too much extolled,
and while it manifests the purest sentiments of Chris-
tianity, it cannot fail to impress the strongest convic-
tion of the Rev. Mr. Dixon's innocence, which, along
with other representations of the principal gentlemen
of the county, laid before the lord-lieutenant, did not
prevent his transportation to Botany Bay. This in-
nocent clergyman was brought back from Milford a
prisoner, and lodged in the jail of Waterford, where
he was tried and condemned on evidence that is in
every degree questionable ; and notwithstanding the
strongest proofs of his undoubted innocence, yet pre-
judice was too triumphant on this occasion in pre-
venting a reversion of his sentence.

The county of Dublin militia, who had distinguish-
ed themselves so much at the battle of Ross, under
the command of Major Vesey, whose gallantry on
ihat day afterwards procured him the command of
the regiment, were sent to Wexford ; but a wound
which the colonel received at the battle of Enniscor-
thy, prevented his coming with them, and the com-
mand, as well as that of the town, necessarily de-
volved upon Lieutenant-colonel Finlay. On the
night of the 8th of September, 1798, the turnkey of
the jail went round along with the guard, (composed
of Ogle's blues, formerly the Shilmalier infantry,)
with general notice to all the prisoners, that if any
riot should happen that night in any part of the coun-

334 HISTORY OF THE

ty of Wexford, the prisoners were oil to he shot !
When these orders were so officially notified to me,
I desired the turnkey begoue about his business, for
that no officer would give such orders ; nor could I
be persuaded that the orders were given, until the
sergeant of the guard offered to save me from the
massacre, as he said he had heard of my good ac-
tions during the rebellion. I could not but express
my gratitude for such an oifer of essential service ;
but I naturally felt great anxiety at the gloomy pros-
pect before me, of which no doubt could now be en-
tertained. The jailer, whose humanity had been so
successful in saving Mr. Bagnal Harvey, as I have
related on a former occasion, was then in Dublin,
being summoned before parliament to prove that
fact. I w^as therefore necessitated to write to Brigade-
major Fitzgerald an account of the transaction, and
he without loss of time waited on Sir James Fowlis,
and both instantly came down to the jail, where upon
inquiry they found my representation to be too true ;
but they took measures to counteract the execution
of this denunciation, should it be attempted. The
commanding officer of the town was supposed at
that time to be too fast asleep (occasioned by a too
free indulgence of the bottle) to attend to any re-
monstrance on the occasion.

The departure of General Hunter from Wexford
was an irreparable loss to the county ; but his pres-
ence proved a great blessing in Kilkenny, where he
displayed his usual discrimination, judgment, and
humanity in developing and unravelling the proofs
of the melancholy situation of the persecuted inhab-
itants, who were consequently impressed with that
confidence with which his noble and manly conduct
never failed to inspire the oppressed. Although his
absence was severely felt in the county of Wexford,

IRISH REBELLION. 335

yet his representation of its state to the government
had such a salutary effect as to prevent alarm from
assuming so serious or formidable an aspect as be-
fore. Petty depredators, however, still continued
their usual practices, and this they w^ere enabled to
do with the greater impunity, as, under general or-
ders and martial law, the inhabitants were liable to
be shot, and their houses burned, if discovered out
at night. The regular military, with the yeomen
and their supplementaries, were the only persons
privileged to be out between sunset and sunrise ; and
as the latter description of persons now received
military pay, they were rendered independent of in-
dustry and labor, (which ever and anon depraves the
minds of working people,) and having the enforce-
ment of the general orders intrusted to them, depre-
dations and excesses were committed by persons un-
known, until the frequency of robbery and murder
urged the necessity of furnishing the country farm-
ers, at the discretion of the commanding officers,
with arms for the defence of their families and prop-
erties. Some yeomen and supplementaries were
consequently shot in attempting houses, and this
plainly discovered who were the marauders. Indeed,
it must be observed, that some outstanding insur-
gents were some time after taken into company by
the primary robbers, and that the religious and po-
litical differences of both parties were united in the
consideration of mutual assistance in robbery and ra-
pine. This multiplied the evil tenfold ; and motley
gangs of this description infested several parts of the
country the winter after the insurrection. This evil
was remedied in some degree by sending out parties
of soldiers from the towns into different parts of the
country, to be there stationed ; and it was considered
an indulgence by most of the people, that a soldier

836 HISTORY OF THE

was permitted to quarter upon them, and his protec-
tion was purchased by every kind of care and sedu-
lous attention. It merits singular observation, that
men were called upon to deliver up the identical
sum they had collected or received by the sale of
substance at fair, market, or by private hand, on the
day previous to the night of attack ; and although
numbers could give information against the perpetra-
tors of these enormities, yet they preferred silence
of their wrongs to the risk of being murdered or
burned inlheir houses, which others had experienced,
and with which all were threatened if they would
dare to inform.

The orange system now became very prevalent
throughout the county of Wexford, and was strength-
ened by the accession of almost every Protestant in
it ; this general promotion was forwarded by a re-
ceived prejudice, that no man could be loyal who
was not an Ora}igema?i. Doctor Jacob, who was
captain of a yeomanry corps in Wexford, however,
did not deem it at first an essential of loyalty to be-
come an Orangeman ; but he was afterwards in-
duced to alter his opinion, by a resolution entered
into by a majority of his corps, tiiat they would re-
sign if he would not join the association. Not will-
ing, therefore, to possess the mere empty title of
captain, he condescended to gratify their wishes.

It has not yet come to pass, that any political as-
sociation has invariably adhered to the principles that
dictated their original formation ; as some individuals
generally dictate to the body at large, and raise
themselves to consequence by the support of their
adherents, who cannot recede without deviating from
an avowed principle of honor, which binds them to-
gether ; and the society thus shoves its leaders into
consequence, and these frequently, when they find

IRISH REBELLION 337

another opportunity of benefiting themselves, secede
and make way for new adventurers to succeed them,
and the same routine takes place, so that the individ-
uals of a political society are so far not their own
masters, but are led on by party on various occa-
sions, to give public sanction to what they inwardly
disapprove. I however know valuable and estimable
characters possessing the utmost integrity, members
of pohtical societies, and whose motives and conduct
are unexceptionable ; and although I approved of
their principles and actions, yet I have ever and al-
ways avoided entering into any political society,
from a consideration, that I might thereby be obliged
to surrender my opinion contrary to my inclination,
and would not, therefore, feel myself thoroughly in-
dependent. From a review of the many and various
political societies and parties in this unaccountable
age, I have observed, that in the most perilous times
well-disposed persons, unconnected with party, have
escaped, where others, venturing into societies, have
been cut off, for no other reason but their association
has been inimical to some other that in the turn of
aflairs gained an ascendency ; and thus has one po-
litical society risen on the destruction of another ;
while a true lover of his country, individually enga-
ged in the pursuit of whatever is for its advantage,
has outlived the storm. Most political societies avow
their sentiments publicly, with a view of obtaining
general approbation ; my information does not, how-
ever, enable me to give a sketch of the two rival so-
cieties of United Irishmen and Orangemen, whose
rivalry has indeed been productive of such serious
consequences in Ireland. *I must therefore refer my
readers to the memoir and examination of Messrs.
O'Connor, Emmett, and M'Neven, published in
London and Dublin, since the rebeUion, as the most

29

w

I

338 HISTORY OF THE - |l

authentic account extant of the rise, progress, and i ye
uhimate views of the former society ; but I must ' ad
also observe, that the utmost extent of the informa-
tion during the insurrection in the county of Wex-
ford was the oath of admission and secrecy : and
with respect to the latter society, I can make no au-
thentic reference whatever.

Orange associations became at length so general
and indiscriminate, that their members could by no
means be considered capable of constituting a select
assemblage, as multitudes of them were of the lowest
and uninformed vulgar, and of course subject to the P j
weakest passions, prejudices, and frailties of human U (';
nature. Many of them certainly did no honor to the i|:i
association ; but it must be also said of United Irish-
men, that individuals of them, contrary to the avow-
ed principles of union and brotherhood, which they |||
were sworn to preserve, disgraced themselves by acts ei
quite opposite to the spirit of their institution. Free-
masonry, though very generally embraced through-
out Ireland, has yet escaped similar imputation, which
I believe is owing to its being rather a social and o
moral than political fraternity.

I have conversed witii many gentlemen who F
avowed themselves Orangemen, and whose conduct
and principles I have every reason to suppose hon-
orable ; yet, I have heard them declare, that they
would by no means graduate in the society, but re- d
main in the slate of simple Orangemen. I do not i ji
mean, however, in any degree to compare these hon- i j
orable men to the Orange informers in Wexford, on
the 20th of June, 1798, who said they had not taken
the purple degree of the order. How the conduct of
persons assuming the name of Orangejnen, in the n j
county of Wexford, may be viewed by the associa-
tion at large, I know not ; but truth imposes on me

tf

IRISH REBELLION. 339

the task of relating the melancholy consequences of
the conduct of some who avowed themselves Orange-
men. After the insurrection in the county of Wex-
ford was suppressed, Orangemen wore ribands and
medals without any disguise ; and on the death of an
Orangeman, the general decorations of black were
laid aside, and orange substituted at their wakes and
funerals. After the interment, houses have been
burned, alleged to be in retaliation for the previous
conduct of croppies whose houses were adjacent to
the churchyard. Not unfrequently, on the night of
a well-attended funeral, or after a rejoicing day, a
Cathohc chapel was consumed, and the frequency of
these conflagrations manifests the njost rancorous
spirit of intolerance and inveterate party-prejudice ! ! !
What makes these transactions more lamentable is,
that not a single person has as yet been punished or
even arrested for the perpetration of these crimes.
Is it possible this could be the case but through the
supineness of the magistracy ? How could the rep-
etition and impunity of such acts be otherwise ac-
counted for, but from their not doing their duty ? and
does not such neglect necessarily imply connivance ?
From my knowledge of the country, I would venture
to stake my existence, that I would discover the per-
petrators, had I the assistance of an English or Scotch
regiment to protect those who could give information
from the merciless fury of these incendiaries ; and it
is much to the disgrace of the country that this is not
accomplished. A reward of one hundred pounds
was offered for the discovery of those that had burned
Catholic chapels by the grand-jury of the county of
Wexford, at the summer assizes in 1799, published
in some Dublin papers, which, however, produced
no information.

340

HISTORY OF THE

Chapels burned in the cou
with the dates of

nty of Wexford and diocese of Ferns,
their respective conflagration.

Boolevogue,

May 27,

1798

Ballegarret,

Jan. 15,

1799

Ma glass,

May 30,

1798

Ballinamouabeg

Jan. 18,

1799

Ramsgrange,

June 19,

1798

Askamore,

Feb. 24,

1799

Drumgold,

June 21,

1798

Murntown,

Apr. 24,

1799

Ballemurrin,

June do..

1798

Monamoling,

May 3,

1799

Gorey,

Aug. 24,

1798

Kilrush,

May 15,

1799

Annacurragh,

Sept. 2,

1798

Marshalstown,

Ju. 8or9

1799

Crane,

Sept. 17,

1798

Munfin,

June do.

1799

Rock,

Oct. 12,

1798

Crossabeg,

June 24,

1799

BalledufF,

Oct. 19,

1798

Killeneerin,

June 29,

1799

Riverchapel,

Oct. do..

1798

Monageer,

July 1,

1799

Monaseed,

Oct. 25,

1798

Kiltayley,

Oct. 1,

1799

C'lologue,

Oct. 26,

1798

Glanbryan,

Mar. 13,

1799

Killeveny,

Nov. 11,

1798

Kaim,

Sept. 3,

1800

Ferns,

Nov. 18,

1798

Balliniackesey,

Sept.

1800

Oulart,

Nov. 28,

1798

Courtenacuddy,

Aug. 13,

1801

Castletown,

Nov.

1798

The Protestant church of Old Ross was burned on the second of

June, 1798.

These and many other shocking deeds could not
have been constantly reiterated throughout the coun-
try, were the magistrates willing to do their duty ;
and it is astonishing that the country gentlemen could
so far forget their own real interests, which are su-
perseded by the narrow and prejudiced notions with
which they are blindfolded. It will scarcely be be-
lieved that such neglect was possible ; and the gen-
tlemen themselves will lament it hereafter, Avhen
ihey come to their sober recollections, and feel the
melancholy effects of religious prejudice, in the in-
evitable consequences of leaving such acts unpunish-
ed ; which although they did not actually commit
themselves, yet they have encouraged them by their
inactivity and negligence.

It is to be observed that the insurrection was com-
pletely suppressed in the county of Wexford, in June,

IRISH REBELLION. 341

1798, previous to, and during which period, five
Catholic chapels appear to have been burnt, and the
remaining conflagrations took place when the coun-
try was not disturbed by any other transactions but
these enormities, perpetrated when the utmost tran-
quillity otherwise prevailed. Various depredations
and excesses were also committed through the coun-
try. Murders were prevalent, iiouses were burnt,
and notices were posted on the doors of many Cath-
olics, desiring them to quit their habitations, of a
similar tendency with those in the county of Armagh
in the year 1795. The notices in the counties of
Wexford and Wicklow, prevalent in 1798, 1799, and
1800, were conceived pretty nearly in the following

terms : — " A B , ive give you notice in six

days to quit — or if you don''t, hy G — , xoe will visit
your house with fire, and yourself with lead. We
are the grinders — Moll Doyle's true grandsons^ .

These and such like notices were posted on the
doors of Catholics in the night, and many quitted
their houses and habitations in consequence of some
of these threats being put into actual execution. I
shall cite an example of these dreadful practices, ex-
emplified in the case of Mr. Swiny, a Protestant gen-
tleman, who resided for several years in Yorksiiire,
and had an estate called Court, between Oulart and
Ballecanow, which was tenanted by many Catholics,
whose leases expired in 1799 ; but who, by the pre-
vailing system, were rendered incapable to retake
their farms, as their houses were all burned, and all
the property they possessed destroyed ; but what
manifested this business quite systematic was, that
notices were posted up afterwards through the coun-
try, purporting that no papist should presume to take
the lands ; and that, if even a son of Moll Doyle
should offer more than half-a-guinea an acre, (worth

29*

li

342 HISTORY OF THE

fifty shillings,) he should forfeit all privileges of the
fraternity, and undergo the same punishment for his
transgression as if he was a papist. The lands of
Court thus proscribed, remained waste for nearly
two years ! Is it not melancholy to reflect that this
and many such manifest outrages, but more preva-
lent in the Macomores than any other part of the
county, did not rouse the feelings of landlords, at a
time that their own interests were so closely con-
nected with the suppression of such deeds ? And
yet the tribe of middlemen seems to have so much
influence, as to be able still to keep up the like oc-
currences, in the hope that they might benefit by the
destruction or banishment of the great majority of the
people. Miserable policy, that low minds alone, de-
based by prejudice, can harbor ! These cannot be
sensible that the population of a country constitutes
its principal advantage, and is what enables them to
raise themselves on a foundation of which they medi-
tate the destruction, and thus endanger the super-
structure which they wish to enjoy ; not perceiving
that it must totter, when so undermined, and involve
themselves in the general ruin !

Courts-martial continued to sit in Wexford for
nearly three years after the insurrection, although the
regular assizes and general jail delivery were re-
sumed in the spring of 1799. Prisoners confined in
the jail of Wexford were parcelled out into different
lots, to be tried by the civil and military tribunals,
according to the discrimination of the gentlemen of
the county ! Others have been arraigned at an as-
sizes, and on showing legal cause, had their trials
put off to the next ; when the judge has called for
prisoners not produced, although returned on the
crown-book, then it has been discovered that they
had been handed over to a military tribunal, and ac-

IRISH REBELLION. 343

cording to their sentences had been transported or
hanged. With the utmost respect and veneration, I
look up to that great bulwark of the constitution,
TRIAL BY JURY ; and shall always esteem juries less
liable to bias, than any other mode of trial. How-
ever, it so came to pass in the county of Wexford,
from various occurrences that took place, that many
prisoners preferred to be tried by a military rather
than a civil tribunal, which the conduct of Sir James
Fowlis contributed to inculcate. It would, however,
be great injustice not to mention that the judges of
the realm who presided in the criminal court in Wex-
ford distinguished themselves by their benevolent
humanity, and the most liberal construction of the
amnesty bill ; and whenever religious prejudice or
party spirit broke out, they were not backward in
expressing their dissatisfaction : they supported their
just judgment with manly dignity, and by their re-
commendations rescued some from execution, on
whom the laws of tlie land obliged them to pronounce
sentence, and thus were actuated by the god-like vir-
tues of justice and mercy. I most sincerely hope
no other opportunity may ever occur of making any
comparison between courts-martial and trial by jury.
God grant that juries will ever hold in their minds
the true spirit of impartiality, and then we shall ever
consider them as the true basis of a free constitu-
tion.

Another kind of depredators made their appear-
ance in the county of Wexford in the course of the
winter of 1798 and 1799 : they assembled in the
wood of Kilaughrim, between Enniscorthy and Scol-
lagh-gap, and were denominated, among other appel-
lations, " the babes of the wood." Independent of
some outstanding insurgents, deserters from diflerent
regiments associated in this band ; and they levied

344 HISTORY OF THE

small contributions throughout the country. Those
immediately in their vicinity were to supply their
quota in provisions ; while those at a distance were
called upon for money, which was supplied in general
without opposition, to avoid greater violation ; as
they, for the most part, behaved civilly if freely given,
and did not at all pursue the merciless conduct of
the depredators already noticed.

Different military detachments were sent out from
Ross and Enniscorthy, and these endeavored to sur-
round the extensive woods of Kilaughrim, supposed
to contain them, but their efforts proved fruitless, as
they never could come up with the babes in the
wood ; who generally had a rendezvous in the night,
and dispersed towards morning into such a variety of
lurking-places, that but few of them were apprehend-
ed, and though several plans for their annihilation were
contrived, they all proved ineffectual. The activity of
Brigade-major Fitzgerald was again called forward,
and he brought them to a consent of surrender ; but,
however, since the recall of General Hunter, who
would have immediately put a final stop to their pro-
ceedings, (his absence on this occasion was produc-
tive of serious evil,) instead of the babes of the wood
surrendering on condition of being suffered to enlist
in the army, they continued their predatory system,
during which they were occasionally visited by Holt
and Hackett, and some of their associates ; but most
of them at last surrendered to Captain Robinson of
the South Cork militia. Some of these were sent to
Prussia, others enlisted into different regiments, and
some were executed at Newtownbarry. Afew whodid
not surrender, not thinking it prudent to continue in
their old haunts, abandoned the county of Wexford,
and joined the marauders in the county of Wicklow.

Estimates of the actual damages in consequence

IRISH REBELLION. 345

of the conflagration of the Calhoh'c chapels were
made out by order of the government of Ireland, and
the sums so awarded paid out of the treasury for re-
building them. Many persons who at staled times
had received certain proportions of their losses during
the rebellion, have bitterly complained, and express-
ed their apprehensions that the rebuilding of the
Catholic chapels was to be defrayed out of the fund
for the relief of the suffering loyalists. This scheme
of supply must be considered very political, had it
the effect of preventing the reiteration of these enor-
mities, which many consider it had. Government
has thus interposed in favor of public Catholic pro-
ferty. I therefore cannot conceive it is intended to
exclude Catholics- individually ; yet it is almost ex-
clusively the case in the county of Wexford, occa-
sioned by the existing deep-rooted religious preju-
dice ! Was the conduct of these public accusers to
undergo the same scrutiny they have subjected others
to, they would not appear in so favorable a light to
the world as they wish to maintain. Poor claimants
have been constrained to prosecute against their in-
clinations, to prove their loyalty sufficiently not to
exclude them from payment ! 1 therefore imagine
that all Catholics against whom there does not exist
any charge but general prejudice, ought not to be
debarred of this privilege, as well as all those who on
trial have been honorably acquitted, as many have
withheld their just claims from the apprehension of
the general prejudice entertained against Cathohcs.
The case of Mr. Edmund Stafford is peculiarly ap-
posite. This gentleman claimed as a suffering loy-
alist, and I am confident no person in the county was
more deserving of that title ; yet for daring to do so,
he was accused and arraigned for murder, on the
discriminating sagacity of evidence that had been the

346 HISTORY OF THE

cause of the execution of many, but whose villany
was not publicly known, until the trial of Mr. Staf-
ford could not be put off, and he was discharged
without trial, after a confinement of several months,
for presuming to enrol his name among the suffering
loyalists.

Although the conduct of the militia regiments, it
might be naturally hoped, was such as to defy the
possibility of any reflection on their behavior; yet
prejudice operated so strongly in some of ihem, that
the officers behaved in so partial a manner as to in-
duce Catholics particularly to offer themselves as
volunteers to serve in different regiments of the line.
These afterwards formed a considerable pai't of the
army sent to Egypt. Many, who were doomed to
transportation, were also sent on that expedition.
Then it was considered a fortunate circumstance that
these were sent out of Ireland ; not from any idea,
however, that they would have been the means of
redounding to the fame of the British army, and im-
mortalizing their glory, by the courage and intrepid-
ity they displayed ; that must forever silence their
indiscriminate calumniators. I wish those who have
been in the habit of dealing out illiberal opinions re-
specting Irish Catholics, may keep the conduct of
these in recollection, as it may induce them to join
in praise of men whom they ought to endeavor to
imitate. They might thus too become sensible of
the inestimable value, to any country, of such men,
as, with proper encouragement, would be invincible,
and so prove the most impenetrable bulwark and con-
sequent support to the constitution ; far superior to
any thing which the system of coercion can possibly
effect, and this irrefragable truth, I hope, may have
its due weicrht.

At the summer assizes of Wexford in 1801, James

I

IRISH REBELLION. 347

Redmond was tried and condemned for the murder
of the Rev. Robert Burroughs, a Protestant clergy-
man, at Oulard, on Whitsunday the 27th of May,
1798; and pursuant to his sentence, was executed
on the 30th of July, and his body delivered to the
surgeons, who after dissecting it permilted it to be
taken away, and it was buried. The corpse was
dug up out of its grave, and placed in the shed erect-
ed for the priest to officiate, on the site of the Cath-
olic chapel of Monamoling, which had been burned.
This exhibition was not discovered till the congrega-
tion had assembled to hear mass on the Sunday fol-
lowing—the 3d of August, 1801. Although this
man was guilty of murder, yet there is something so
vastly shocking in disturbing the dead in their graves,
and repugnant to human nature, that the vilest of
pikemen never were guilty of such a transaction in
all their uncontrollable sway. Independent of the
savage disposition of this occurrence, the disregard
for religion is so manifest, that it is the more lament-
able, as it keeps alive those prejudices which it is so
much the interest of all parties to suppress.

The ratification of the treaty of peace with the
French republic, has brought back many who were
distinguished in fighting for their country in the navy
and army ; and these, upon their return home, found
many of their relatives destroyed ; and on being in-
formed who the depredators were, they were induced
to accost them at different fairs and patrons through-
out the country, intimating that they had proved
themselves loyal men by fighting the enemies of their
country, and not by murdering their neighbors or
friends, or burning their houses. These altercations
constantly produced fights, and the result, though it
has disturbed the public peace, yet has corrected, in
some degree, the overbearing contempt in which

ff

348 HISTORY OF THE

some high-spoken gentry held the generahty of the
people, whom they now condescend to respect
through these their relatives ; nay, they treat with
more reserve some of the very insurgents who have
returned from transportation, after having obliterated
all stain of previous political delinquency by their
subsequent exploits in the service of their country —
and thus do the brave ever awe cowards into shame
and submission ! The rooted aversion, however,
which has been by various means encouraged and
inculcated against the great body of the people, has
led many to adopt the most illiberal expressions; and
I am sorry to learn, that both in high and low life it
is a prevalent notion to deplore the existence of the
amnesty bill, as it precludes the accomplishment of
the views of exterminating those who are protected
by it from indiscriminating vengeance. Those who
make use of such language seem to have no notion
of the crimes which call to heaven for vengeance !
I would recommend to those who express such an
illiberal and shocking sentiment to reflect seriously,
whether they are not protected by the indemnity bills,
as they might otherwise be exhibited on the gibbet.
Let these unreflecting assertors of prejudice look to
the fate of Governor Wall of Goree. The recur-
rence of their own deeds to their minds, by such a
contemplation, may, perhaps, produce hearty contri-
tion for their past misconduct, and may induce them
to make what reparation remains in their power for
the many injuries, in various shapes, which they
have committed ! Though justice did not overtake
the governor of Goree for twenty years, yet then the
recital of his horrid crime of ordering a soldier, whom
he considered refractory, to be lashed, which pro-
duced death, roused the English nation, and exem-
plary punishment was the consequence ! If this

IRISH REBELLION. 349

solitary case, which regarded a distant colony, excited
so much indignation in the breasts of Englishmen,
can the same people overlook similar and greater
deeds of atrocity committed a thousand times over
against the Irish, now incorporated with themselves ?
Can the feelings of any wise, just, and good man be
withheld from most earnest endeavors to contribute
all in his power to the coalescence and harmony of
ail parts, as well as of all ranks of the united king-
dom ? and if that desirable object be attainable — and
I do believe that by proper management it can be
effected — who is the monster that will oppose its ac-
complishment ? But it must not, it cannot be op-
posed. A merciful and benevolent sovereign, whose
throne is now supported by consolidated dominion,
and the united attachment of all his people, will not
suffer so valuable a portion of them, as the great
majority of the Irish, to be debased and degraded by
thraldom the most intolerable, while they are deemed
to man his fleets and arnjies in a proportion greater
than the one-half, and display the most unrivalled
bravery in his service, bearing terror and dismay to
liis enemies. He will certainly recommend them for
relief from oppression to his imperial parliament,
who will not forfeit the character of wisdom and jus-
tice, or the name of the most dignified legislature on
earth, by being swayed by the tales of rancor, mis-
representation, and prejudice. They will redress,
as truth and reason direct, a magnanimous and vir-
tuous people, groaning under a partial tyranny, in
the midst of an empire denominated free, to which
they would be an incalculable accession of strength,
if protected from oppression, persecution, torture,
and the dread of threatened and meditated extermi-
nation— if secured effectually in their lives, liberties,
and properties, without impeachment of their religion

30

350 HISTORY OF THE IRISH REBELLION.

and principles ; but should this be neglected and
their grievances left a galling incumbrance upon
them, in consequence of malevolent and fabricated
calumnies, there will surely abide a rankling discon-
tent, likely at all times to produce disturbance and
distraction, which must necessarily weaken and par-
alyze the energies of the state, and perhaps eventu-
ally annihilate the connection between these coun-
tries. I would earnestly advise the most violent and
unthinking supporters of division to consider their
own real interests as connected and involved with
the peace and happiness of the nation, (which an im-
partial picture of tlie miseries experienced can best
inculcate,) as well as to dissipate the misconceptions
of. error, and to disprove the false representations
which have been sent abroad, with zealous industry,
to impose on and mislead public feeling.

My real object and earnest wishes are for concili-
ation ; but if a doubt can possibly arise respecting
my statements, I can only say that I could detail
more numerous enormities than I have, and of which
I entertain as little doubt as of those I have related.
I have therefore confined myself to facts and circum-
stances vouched to me beyond the possibility of
doubt, for which I can produce good authorities, and
on this occasion limit my narrative to my native dis-
trict, where my local and personal knowledge were
least liable to deception or misinformation ; and
should the members of both houses of the imperial
parhament deem it necessary, in their wisdom, to in-
vestigate the truth decisively, I will stake my exist-
ence that my relation shall be found, on an impartial
scrutiny, extremely moderate.

THE FOLLOWING ARE ABSTRACTS FROM PLOW-
DEN, TEELING, GORDON, AND MADDEN.

The French entered the bay of Killala under Eng-
hsh colors, commanded by General Humbert, on the
22d of August, and the feint succeeded so well, that
two sons of the bishop of Killala threw themselves
into a fishing-boat, with the port surveyor, Mr. Jas.
Rutledge, and were presently surprised to find them-
selves prisoners. Some alarm had been given in the
morning of the 22d, to the people of Killala, by the
unusual appearance of ships of that size in their bay ;
insomuch that the only magistrate of the town, Mr.
Kirkwood, who commanded the yeomanry, had kept
his corps under arms the whole day at the seahouse,
called the castle, as did also Lieutenant Sells, of the
Prince of Wales' Fencibles, with 20 militiamen.
Yeomen and fencibles together formed a corps of
50 men, all Protestants. Intelligence having arrived
that near 300 of them were within a mile of the
town, the cavalry officer rode off directly, in full
speed, with the intelligence to Ballina. The yeo-
manry and fencibles drew up before the castle gate,
and resolutely advanced into the main street to meet
the French advance guard. Borne down by num-
bers, and seeing two of their corps fall, they were
seized with a panic, and fled. Kirkwood and 19
yeomen were taken, and ordered into close custody
at the castle. All opposition being now at an end,
the French general marched into the castle yard at
the head of his officers, and demanded to see the
bishop, who, fortunately, was conversant with the
French language. Humbert desired him to be un-
der no apprehension for himself or his people ; they
should be treated with respectful attention, and noth-

352 ABSTRACTS FROM

ing should be taken by the French troops, but what
was absolutely necessary for their support ; a pro-
mise which, as long as those troops continued in
Killala, was most religiously observed. On the
morning after his arrival, Humbert began his mili-
tary operations, by pushing forward to Ballina a de-
tachment of 100 men, 40 of whom he had mounted
on the best horses he could seize. A green flag was
mounted over the castle gate, with the inscription,
Erin go Bragh, importing to invite the country peo-
ple to join the French. Their cause was to be for-
warded by the immediate delivery of arms, ammuni-
tion, and clothing to the new levies of the countrj\
Property was to be inviolable. Ready money was
to come over in the ships expected every day from
France. Humbert left Killala with a quantity of
ammunition in the possession of 200 men and 6 offi-
cers, and on the 25th, about 7 o'clock in the even-
ing, took possession of Ballina, from whence the gar-
rison fled on his approach. Here he left behind him
an officer named True, with a very small part of the
French, and several of the Irish recruits. Humbert
was sensible of the advantage of pushing forward
with vigor, and that a rapid progress into the interior
could alone bring the natives to his standard. At
Ba:!ina, many hundred peasants repaired to the
French standard, and with eagerness received arms
and uniforms. The French commander determiijed
to attack the forces at Castlebar, and began his
march on the morning of the 26th, with 800 of his
own men, and less than 1500 Irish. He advanced
through mountains, by ways generally deemed im-
passable to an army, with two small curricle guns,
the repairing of the carriage of one of which, broken
by the ruggedness of the roads, caused, fortunately
for our army, some hours delay in their march. The

PLOWDEN, TEELING, ETC. 353

French were, at 7 o'clock, within two miles of the
town, before which our army had taken their posi-
tion on a rising ground, to receive them. Our artil-
lery at first made such execution among the French,
that they instantly fell back some paces. They then
filed off in small parlies to the right and left, and as-
sailed our troops in flank, who had scarcely fired a
second round, when the royal army, seized with a
panic, broke on all sides, and fled in extreme confu-
sion through the town on ihe road to Tuam. Some
have asserted that General Lake gave an order for
retreating. The force that general commanded at
Casllebar fell very little short of 6000 men. They
never halted till they reached Tuam, and the same
night renewed their march to Athlone. The artillery
lost by our army in this defeat, consisted of 14
pieces, of which 4 were curricle guns, besides that
of the carbiniers ; the loss on either side has been
never known. After their victory at Castlebar, the
French received great accessions of Irish peasantry
to their standard. The advanced guard of the
French having arrived at Coloony, met Colonel Ve-
reker, who had marched from Sligo with about 230
men, and 2 curricle guns, who, after 2 hours' fight,
retreated back to Sligo, losing his artillery. Hum-
bert directed his march to Drummahair, towards
Manorhamilton, in the county of Leitrim, and taking
his way by Drumkerim, intending to reach Granard,
in the county of Longford ; (Crawford's troops hung
so close on the rear guard of the French, as to come
to action with it on the 7th, between Drumshambo
and Ballynamore.) Crawford's troops coming to
action with him on the 7th, between Drumshambo
and Ballynamore, were repulsed by Humbert with
loss. The French army passed the Shannon at
BdUintra, and hailing at Claone, arrived at Ballina-

30*

}

354 ABSTRACTS FROM

muck on the 8ih of September, so closely followed
by the troops of Col. Crawford and Gen. Lake, that
its rear guard was unable to break the bridge at
Ballintra, to impede the pursuit ; while CornwalHs,
with the grand army, crossed the same river at Car-
rick-on-Shannon, marched by Mohill to Saint-Johns-
lown, county Longford, in order to intercept the
enemy in front, on his way to Granard ; or should
he proceed, to surround him with an army of 30,000
men. In this desperate situation, Humbert arranged
his forces, with no other object, as presumed, than
to maintain the honor of the French arms. The rear
guard havmg been attacked by Colonel Crawford,
about 200 of the French infantry surrendered. The
rest continued to defend themselves for about half
an hour, when, on ihe appearance of the main body
of General Lake's army, they also surrendered, after
they had made Lord Roden, with a body of dra-
goons, a prisoner. He had precipitately advanced
into the French lines, to obtain their surrender. The
United men who had accompanied the French to this
fatal field, being excluded from quarter, fled in all
directions, and were pursued with the slaughter of
500 men, which seems much less to exceed the
truth, than the returns of slain in the southeastern
parts of the island. Notwithstanding the diminution
by desertions on the march, about 1500 United men
were with the French army at Ballynamuck, at the
lime of the surrender of General Humbert. The
loss of the British was officially stated at 3 privates
killed, 12 wounded, 3 missing, and one officer
wounded. The troops of General Humbert were
found, when prisoners, to consist of 746 privates,
and 96 officers ; having sustained a loss of about
200 men, since their landing, at Killala on the 22d
of August. Some thousands of United men assem-

PLOWDEN, TEELING, ETC. 355

bled in the neighborhood of Granard, chiefly from
Weslmealh and Longford, on the 5t.h of September,
but being defended by Captain Cottingham, ihey re-
treated with some loss. Castlebar, which, on its
evacuation by the French, had been occupied by the
king's troops, was attacked on the morning of the
12lh of September, by 2000 United men. The gar-
rison was defended by 57 Frazer's fencibles, 34 vol-
unteers, and one troop of yeoman cavalry, under
Captain Urquhart. The assailants were routed A
battle was fought near the village of Ballynascarty,
county of Cork, where, on the 19th of June, 220 men
of the Weslmeath regiment of militia, with two 6
pounders, under the command of their Lieutenant,
Sir Hugh O'Reilly, were attacked on their march
from Clonakelty to Bandon, by a body of 3 or 400
men, armed principally with pikes. This was only
a part of the United force here placed in ambush, in
a very advantageous position. The attack was made
from a height on the left of the column, so unex-
pectedly and rapidly, that the troops had scarcely
lime to form ; but at that critical moment, a hundred
men of the Caithness legion arrived on the spot, and
by a brisk fire helped to put the assailants to flight.
Their loss amounted to between 50 and 100 men;
that of the royal troops, only a sergeant and one pri-
vate. On the 7th of June the town of Antrim was
attacked by the United men, commanded by Henry
Joy McCracken, at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, and
soon overpowered the troops within it, nearly gaining
possession. Major-general Nugent with a body of
troops attacked them, but his vanguard, consisting of
cavalry, being repulsed, with the loss of 23 men
killed and wounded, of which three were officers.
Colonel Durham brought the artillery to batter the
town, which obliged the United forces to abandon

356 ABSTRACTS FROM

it, together with a 6-pounder they had brought with
them, and two curricle guns they had taken from the
army. They were pursued towards Slanes castle
and Randalstown with some loss. On this day Lord
O'Neil was mortally wounded. A small body of
men made an assault on the town of Larne, and at
Ballymena and Ballycastle: the main body retired
to Donegar Hill, where they surrendered their arms,
and almost all dispersed. On the 8th of June, an-
other body of Uniled men in the county of Down,
near Saintfield, commanded by Dr. Jackson, set fire
to Mackee's house the informer, and the next day,
from an ambuscade, surrounded the York fencibles
under Colonel Stapleton, and killed about 60 ; the
balance retired to Comber. The United troops oc-
cupied Saintfield that night. On Sunday, the 10th
of June, the men of Ards attacked Portaferry, and
after a hard fight, retired \from the town. On the
1 1th, there was at Saintfield about 7000 United men,
commanded by General Munroe, who had, besides,
a strong force at Creevy Rocks. The British, under
Generals Nugent and Barber, arrived from Belfast
to meet him at Ballynahinch. McCance, an oflficer
of great courage, defended Windmill Hill ; while
Munroe posted his men on the hill of Ednevady.
Several battles were fought, where loss was sustained
on both sides. Munroe assembled a council of war :
the voice of the people declared for instant action ;
the commander-in-chief alone opposed it. The am-
munition was insuflficient for to-morrow, but not for
a night attack ; for the pike and the bayonet were
more efficient. To-morrow might reinforce the ene-
my's ranks ; to-night every thing favored an attack.
General Munroe said : *' We scorn to avail ourselves
of the ungenerous advantage which night affords ;
we will meet them in the blush of open day . we

PLOWDEN, TEEUNG, ETC. 357

will fight them like men, not under the cloud of
night, but the first rays of to-morrow's sun." This
determination was received with discontent by the
troops, and many retired from the field. A division
of nearly 700 men, and more generally armed with
muskets than the rest, marched off in one body with
their leader. Such was the romantic character of
the man in whose hand was placed the destiny of
thousands. On the morning of the 13th, he com-
menced the attack on Ballynahinch, by a discharge
from 8 small pieces of ship cannon, which were
drawn up against the town, and well served ; these
were promptly replied by the heavy artillery of the
enemy. Munroe headed a formidable column, while
a strong division marched from the hill, and drove a
body of troops into the town, having lost their com-
mander. The column led by Munroe consisted of
the greater part of the disposable force which re-
mained ; and no men could have displayed greater
courage and enthusiasm than they evinced in the ad-
vance. They bore down all opposition ; forced an
entrance into the town under the most destructive
fire of musketry and cannon ; repeated rounds of
grape-shot sweeping whole ranks, which were as
rapidly replaced. A piece of heavy artillery fell
into the hands of the pikemen, who charged to the
very muzzle of the guns. Munroe gained the cen-
tre of the town, where, exposed to the cross-fire of
musketry in the market-square — raked by the artil-
lery— his ammunition exhausted — he pressed boldly
on the enemy with the bayonet and the pike. The
charge was irresistible ; and the British general or-
dered a retreat. The United troops, unacquainted
with the trumpet's note, and enveloped by the smoke
which prevented a distinct view of the hurried move-
ments in the British line, mistook the sounded re-

358 ABSTRACTS FROM

treat for the signal of charge, and shrinking, as they
conceived, from the advance of fresh numbers, fled
with precipitation in a southerly direction from the
town, while the British were as rapidly evacuating
it on the north. This unfortunate circumstance led
to the total defeat of the United army. A British
regiment of cavalry, the 22d light dragoons, who had
borne no active part in the operations of the day,
charged the flying troops of Munroe, while the in-
fantry, recovering from their panic, joined in the pur-
suit. Munroe halted on the hill of Ednevady, but
being nearly surrounded by the enemy, lie retreated
with his last division, scarcely mustering 150 men.
The attack of Prosperous, a town in the county of
Kildare, was made an hour after midnight on the 23d
of May, 1798, by a large body of United men, sup-
posed to be conducted by Dr. John Esmond. The
garrison was assailed by surprise — the barrack was
flred— and the greater number of the city of Cork
militia, with their commander, perished in the
flames, and by the pikes of the United men ; 28 also
of a Welsh regiment of cavalry, styled Ancient Bri-
tons, were slaughtered on this .occasion, and a few
were made prisoners. The attack of Naas an hour
and a half after that of Prosperous, was made by
nearly 1000 men, under the conduct of a chief
named Reynolds. Possessing themselves of all the
avenues, they made a general assault in almost
every direction. Being repulsed in their attack on
the jail, and being unable to make an impression on
the troops, they fled on all sides, after two hours and
a half of irregular firing, and vv'ere pursued v/ith
slaughter by the cavalry of the king's forces. Sev-
eral officers and privates were slain. Of the United
men, about 200 were killed in the streets, and a
greater number were slaughtered on the roads and

I

PLOWDEN, TEELING, ETC. 359

fields in ihe pursuit. The boldness of the United
men in Leinster and Munster, yielding so little on the
whole amount, that many acts of hostility were com-
mitted against the royalists, by men assembled in
large numbers ; an instance of which has been
thought worthy of notice in the report of the secret
committee of the House of Lords : That a body of
men amounting to about 800, on horseback, had en-
tered the town of Cahir, in the county of Tipperary,
openly in the day, and held possession of it until
they collected all the arms and ammimition which
they could find, after a regular search through all the
houses.

Thomas Fitzgerald, high sheriff of Tipperary,
seized at Clonmel a gentleman of the name of
Wright, caused 500 lashes to be inflicted on him,
and confined him several days without permitting his
wounds to be dressed, so that his recovery from such
a state of torture and laceration could hardly be ex-
pected. In an action of damages, brought by Mr.
Wright against this magistrate^ the innocence of the
plaintiff appeared so manifest, that the defendant was
condemned to pay 500 pounds to his prosecutor. On
the 156th of May, a large body of United men
assembled on the hill of Tara, in the county
Mealh, situated 18 miles northward of Dublin, was
completely routed, with the slaughter, it is said, of
1150 of their men, found dead on the field of battle,
together with two of their generals, and many infe-
rior officers. The loss of the victorious party was
acknowledged to be very great. The position of
this hill, insulated by a widely surrounding plain,
is well adapted for defence against an attacking foe,
but ill for escape from victorious cavalry, from
whose pursuit they could be protected only by
the enclosures of the fields, so that many doubt-

360 ABSTRACTS, ETC.

less were killed or wounded in their retreat. On the
29th, a little after 11 o'clock in the morning, a body of the
United army posted themselves in the village of Rathangan,
county of Kildare, 29 miles west of Dublin, fortified their
post with chains across the streets, was dislodged, and about
60 of them killed, by a party under the command of Lieuten-
ant-colonel Longfield, of the Cork militia, who advanced
against the town with his artillery, infantry, and cavalry.
The loss on the British side was inconsiderable, as the United
men gave way on the fifth or si.xth discharge of their cannon.
In the action at Kilcullen, at 7 in the morning, about 600
men attacked General Dundas, who lost Ids colonel, a num-
ber of subaltern otlicers, and privates, besides many mortally
wounded. About 2000 on Knockawin Hill, surrendered
their arms to General Dundas, on condition of retiring to
their homes, and liberating Colonel Perkins. Major-general
Sir James Duff, hearing of this body of men being at Gibbet-
rath, on the Curragh of Kildare, ready to surrender their
arms ; when the troops advanced near the United men to re-
ceive their arms, one of them incautiously fired his gun in
the air ; the soldiers, pretending this an act of hostility, fired
on them, when the people fled, and were pursued with unre-
lenting slaughter by the fencible cavalry, denominated Lord
Jocelyn's Fox-hunters. Above 700 of the people fell upon
this occasion, and a far greater number would have shared
their fate, if a retreat had not been sounded with all possible
dispatch, agreeably to the instructions of General Dundas,
who sent an express from his quarters at Kilcullen, to pre-
vent such an accident. In tl)e populous town of Drogheda,
the unfortunate Bergen was tortured to death. He was an
honest, upright citizen, and a man of unimpeachable moral
character. He was seized on by those vampires, and in the
most public street, stripped of his clothes, placed in a hori-
zontal position on a cart, and torn with the cat-o'-nine-tails,
long after the vital spark was extinct. The alleged pretence
for the perpetration of this horrid outrage was, that a small
gold ring had been discovered on his finger, bearing a national
device, — the shamrock of his unfortunate country.

APPENDIX.

No. I.

The speech of Edward Swectman, captain of a late independent
company, at a meeting of the freeholders of the county of Wex-
ford, convened by the sheriff, on September 22, 1792, to take
into consideration " Mr. Edward Byrne's letter, recommending
a plan of delegation to the Catholics of Ireland, in order to
prepare an humble petition to the legislature."

Mr. Sheriff — I rise with a diffidence proceeding
from the magnitude and awfulness of the subject, not
from respect to the resolutions I have heard, which
I deem exceptionable in every part ; a circumstance
which the silence of those who bring them forward
would seem to acknowledge. I implore your atten-
tion while I deliver some thoughts, which are the
fruit of my best researches, my honester feelings, and
the unextinguishable love I bear this ill-fated country.
I shall not consider the language or grammar of Mr.
Byrne's letter — it is beneath the dignity of this meet-
ing, and this great question, to descend to an alterca-
tion with inquisitors of woi-ds and dissectors of sylla-
bles : I shall enter into the subject at large, and speak
to the scope and object of the letter, as it affects Ire-
land, and as it is the expression of Catholic hopes
and desires. You will not expect brilliant remarks
and exquisite deductions of reasoning from a man
born a victim to the popery laws, and driven at an
early period into foreign climes, for prohibited, im-
perfect education, and scanty bread. I shall speak
like a soldier, with candor and with frankness, yet

362 APPENDIX.

with respect and fear of offending, unmoved by slan-
der, uninfluenced by any thing but truth. Truth is
libel, faction, sedition, and treason, in the eyes of
those who live by its opposite ; but it is the only cri-
terion of honesty, the only basis of lasting settlement
to your country, and every lover of it should utter it
with courage, and hear it with patience. I belong
to no party ; I am an Irishman ; I care as little for
those who are in as for those who are out : I am the
humble but the sincere and unbought advocate of a
w'o-worn people. I therefore conjure you to hear
me, and forgive my inaccuracies and inexperience in
speaking. I know that honored names, illustrious
patriots, characters which Ireland inust ever revere
and love, men who led her to freedom and to fame —
one of whom (Mr. Ogle) I behold in this assembly,
with many mixed sensations — and who won the
principle of prosperity from our common tyrants, a
principle wliich remains a dead letter without the
union of your people ; I know, I say, that some of
these differ in opinion with the persons whom I take
to be the best and most enlightened friends of Ire-
land : I know this, and I lament it ; and in it I la-
ment the deplorable inconsistency of human nature,
with the same poignancy that I lament the unac-
countable but most certain fact, that the wise, the
virtuous, the philosophic, the magnanimous Julian
was a persecutor. In the face of those men whom
I revere, as I hope I should in the face of death, I
venture to stand forward the advocate of this wo-
worn people, because I think it is for the honor of
the Irish crown, for the credit and consistency of
Protestantism, for the prosperity and fame of your
country, that British privileges should be restored to
all who are the supporters of British and Irish free-
dom. I wish for equal fate and equal freedom to

APPENDIX. 363

every loyal subject in his majesty's dominions. Upon
no other terms do I wish Ireland connected with any
country. Upon those conditions I wish it forever
confederated with England. Those objects cannot
be attained till Catholics. are emancipated, and Cath-
olics cannot be emancipated till they obtain the elec-
tive franchise, and an equal participation of the ben-
efits of trial by jury. While their liberties, their pro-
perties, and their lives are at the mercy of those over
whom they have no control, nor can acquire a con-
trol, it will not be contended the Catholics are free.
Taxed without being represented, bound without
their consent, and tried by their superiors, the Prot-
estants, and not by their peers, their situation is the
very definition of slavery, unmitigated, unqualified
by any thing but a fleeting liberality, which may
perish with the fashion of the hour.

I have said, it was for the honor of the Irish crown
that Catholics should be emancipated, because I
conceive that honor to be deeply interested in, and
inseparably interwoven with, the question. The
honor of the Irish crown has been perpetually violated
by a perpetual breach of faith with the Irish, ever
since our English ancestors first landed in this island.
They were induced to come hither by a tyrant and a
ravisher, and their political conduct and yours (for
we have been all guilty alike) has never once belied
the principles of their introducer. Henry the Second
granted the Irish the common law of England, and
they gratefully received and swore to the observance
of it. They, in justice, became entitled to the bene-
fit of that law. Instead of this, every means v.'hich
fraud could invent, avarice suggest, or violence en-
force, were employed to plunder and destroy the
brave and simple aborigines of the isle, while the
^'Jty of their kings, whom they had sworn to obey,

364 APPENDIX.

and who from that instant were bound to protect
them, shmibered, or rather presided over these cruel
outrages upon human nature. Sir John Davis says,
the old Irish were out of the protection of the law, so
that any Enghshman might oppress, spoil, or murder
them with impunity. Sir John was certainly pos-
sessed of a better understanding, and had more
honesty than most Englishmen who have ever blessed
us with their presence in this island : yet he was an
Englishman, that is, a foe to Irish freedom, and
wished to throw the whole blame of these horrible
and absurd oppressions, as Hume phrases them, upon
the English settlers. Those settlers were guilty of
innumerable villanies to the ancient Irish ; yet they
wished not that their enmities should be immortal,
like modern settlers, but sought at last to bury all
animosity in the mutual peace and harmony of a final
coalition and mcorporation. What did the English-
Irish king of the day ? Alarmed at this incipient in-
corporation and prospect of happiness held out to
the people, he dispatches his grandson, Lionel, Duke
of Clarence, to counteract it, and to revive the dying
embers of civil discord. This prince passed the fa-
mous statutes of Kilkenny, so much extolled by Eng-
land, and the slaves of England, that once more sow-
ed the seeds of that everlasting hostility, which di-
vided the sons of Ireland from each otlicr, and has
subsisted in one horrid shape or other to this very
day. The English settlers, inflamed by those dia-
bolical laws, became the executioners of English
vengeance and hatred, and the base procurers to
English passions. The proscribed natives were
driven into rebellion, and then dispossessed of their
property, for the unavoidable effects of the crimes of
their oppressors. You see I feel little propensity to
canonize the vices and follies of my ancestors, hke

APPENDIX. 365

some noble lords,* who might justify the massacre
of St. Bartholomew's day and the fires of Smithfield
upon the same silly principle of mistaken pride.
Near four hundred years passed away, during this
dreadful scene of misery, rapine, and blood, in all
which period, every virtue was invoked, while every
crime was perpetrated. The sword of war was at
length sheathed, and the sword of justice commenced
the work of extermination. The English now availed
themselves of every chicanery of law to oust the na-
tives from their remaining lands. They did this
without danger, for they did it with fraud, by the safe
and bloodless method of statutable plunder. In these
iniquitous proceedings they were sanctioned by their
king — the king of Ireland! This royal miscreant
confiscated six entire counties without having found
or looked for an evidence of guilt, while he boasted
of his descent from the ancient inhabitants whom he
spoiled. Subsequent kings have not been less faith-
less to Ireland. The insincerity and tyranny of the
blessed martyr — the profligacy and ingratitude of
Charles the Second — the holy impositions, the cow-
ardice and bigotry of James, have been all equally
fatal to, all equally levelled against Ireland. Your
glorious deliverer's open and avowed suppression of
our native and favorite maimfacture will be no re-
commendation to anybody who is a lover of Ireland.
That he confirmed you in your estates is partly true ;
but it is much more true, that you dearly bought that
advantage by the sacrifice of the independence, trade,
commerce, manufactures, prosperity, and name of
your country. He drove a Dutch bargain with
you, and you bartered your freedom for a paltry con-
sideration. You and the Catholics since have been

* Lords Enniskillon and Aldborough.

366 APPENDIX,

set at variance, in order to govern you with a more
easy iniquity, contrary to the duty and honor of your
kings — the solemn faith of treaties has been violated
by the house of Hanover, in the first of George the
Second, by which the Catholics were deprived of the
elective franchise, their unalienable right — the price
of their blood — the honorable condition of their capit-
ulation at Limerick. I therefore say, it is for the
honor of the Irish crown that King George the Third
should repair the wrongs of his predecessors to a
loyal and unfortunate race : for though he is not the
original author of these wrongs, yet as the king never
dies, he is in some degree chargeable with the
wrongs continued under his government, and stands
accountable in his reputation for the evil he is at no
pains to prevent. The recommendation of this late
act of justice from the throne, will become him full
as well as the recommendation of charter schools :
he should at last remember, that allegiance and pro-
tection are reciprocal : he should bear in mind, that
he no longer deserves to be a king, who systemati-
cally ceases to be just to millions of his subjects.

The credit of Protestantism and its consistency is
equally involved in this great question of Calhohc
emancipation. The Protestants abandoned the Ro-
man Catholic religion for one fundamental reason
among others : because they pronounced its follow-
ers to be persecutors upon principle, and to want
charity, that grand desideratuin in Ireland, without
which religion itself is rather a curse than a blessing.
They should now abandon the Protestant religion for
the same reason, if they are true to their original
principles : for the Protestants of Ireland have been
persecutors — unrelenting, inquisitorial persecutors,
for upwards of two hundred years. But the spirit
of neither religion is persecution — bad priests, bad

APPENDIX. 367

ministers, bad parliaments, and bad kings, have per-
verted the principles of both, for the purpose of fixing
a lawless yoke on the necks of their fellow-creatures.
Sanctis nominibus rixpere imperium, has been their
maxim. Good Protestants and good Catholics have
ever reprobated these sanctified iniquities. The
worthy Cardinal Pole, in the reign of the sanguinary
Queen Mary, though a Catholic upon principle, rec-
ommended toleration ; Bishop Gardiner, though ready
to conform to any religion for interest, taught that
persecution was lawful. The history of the Jewish
and the Christian religions incontrovertibly proves
the truth of that axiom in the schools — that what is
best, when corrupted, becomes worst. The purer
the worship, the more abominable has been the per-
secution it gave rise to, and the more corrupt the
morality practised in its name. The name of God
has been the watchword for the abominations of man.
The religion of the Jews was pure and sublime —
their manners and disposition detestable : the reli-
gion of the ancient Egyptians was absurd and impi-
ous— their manners and government were the glory
of humanity and model of nations. The same moral
mischief I have described among the Jews, must
unquestionably be produced again, when more trust
is reposed in faith than in charity ; in profession,
than good works. The knave professes any thing —
llie honest man practises without profession. A poet,
who knew man and woman well, writes :

Whoevcr's faith is than his neighbor's more,
If man, believe him rogue.

Your popery laws engender and propagate this evil
with a foul increase. They punish a belief in Cath-
olics, which, being harmless, should be allowed with-
out the infliction of disabilities ; and they condemn

368 APPENDIX.

principles which Cathohcs have abjured in words,
and ever proved to be false charges by their actions.
You give the reward of honesty, loyalty, and patriot-
ism— I mean the right of citizenship— to oaths, to
nugatory declarations and abjurations. For a bare
recantation of the faith of his fathers, and hard anti-
christian swearing, puts your Catholic neighbor in-
stantly upon a footing with yourself, while all the
virtues which Christ or Socrates ever taught or
practised, would leave him a slave without it. Do
you not daily see the effect of these laws ? Does it
not require great fortitude in an honest man to be-
come a convert, and expose himself to the obloquy
and suspicion of both parties ? Are not the general-
ity of those who apostatize to your religion the ba-
sest of mankind ? Do they not slanderously abuse,
and rancorously persecute the wretches they have
forsaken ? And yet, those creatures are caressed
and courted, while honest Catholics are despised and
trampled on ! Thus your laws become a premium
to vice — a penalty on virtue. Judge, then, if the
continuation of this vile system can do credit to the
Protestant religion. No ! — it takes from you at once
all pretensions to Protestantism and Christianity.

It is equally fatal to the prosperity and fame of
your country in every particular. It has been truly
said, that oppression is a smothered warfare : it an-
nihilates the peace and comfort of society. Can the
Protestant esteem the Catholic he dooms to slavery ?
Can the Catholic love his oppressor? They are both
hypocrites if they pretend to it. They must in the
present state of things most inevitably hate and fear
one another. It is the law of nature, which laughs
to scorn the unnatural institutions of man, and what
can you expect from such a situation ? Does not the
tranquillity of your country hang by a thread, and

APPENDIX. 369

are you still determined to leave it in this feverish
tremulous existence ? You have been bred in a
contempt for Catholics — a contempt originally instill-
ed by your oppressors, the JEnglish, and which they
are by no means sparing of to yourselves. And in-
deed none of us have been totally wronged by our
kind and affectionate sister: for we have not respect-
ed ourselves. America has respected herself, and
therefore she is respected. She has performed a
very arduous task — she has taught Englishmen man-
ners. But the English have grossly deceived you in
their description of your countrymen. They have
refused them credit for every good quality, and fixed
the stigma of every bad one upon them. They have
denied them courage and understanding — that they
persuade them and the world that they had neither
sense to perceive, nor spirit to assert their rights.
But I tell you again, they have grossly deceived you.
There is not in Europe a nobler peasantry than the
peasantry of Ireland, the great body of the people
you have enslaved. The English began their system
of calumny against the Irish, not before they began
to despoil them. Had they reported them as an in-
nocent people, they would have wanted a pretext for
their undoing. You will find the proof of this in the
venerable Bede, who loads them with the highest
praise, and the lying Giraldus Cambrensis, who cov-
ers them with foul reproach. Sir John Davis ac-
knowledges this race of men to be endued with ex-
traordinary abilities of mind and body ; and that
there is no people under heaven who love equal and
indifferent justice better than the Irish. The enlight-
ened doctors Young and Campbell do them the same
justice. The immortal Swift, in a posthumous work
which has lately appeared, declares that the common
Irish who understand English, have a much better

370 APPENDIX.

taste for reason and raillery, than the English of the
same description. Lord Chesterfield and Adam
Smith call them the most able-bodied and handsome
men in Europe. Camcfen testifies that they are in-
credibly active, ingenious, and warlike. British ad-
jutants inform you that they are made soldiers sooner
than any subjects in the three kingdoms ; and Amer-
ica, Hindoslan, and Europe bear witness to the ar-
dor and firmness of their courage. See then the
gallant race of men you have to govern, and reflect
how you have governed them ! You have endeavor-
ed to unman them, and reduce them to the level of
the beasts that perish. Bereft by law of almost ev-
ery stimulus to industry — precluded from education,
foreign and domestic — from conjugal connection with
their favored brethren — from every blessing, civil
and political — it is a miracle that they have retained
any thing human but the shape. The prototype of
your policy, Machiavel, in the eighth chapter of his
Prince, lays it down as a maxim, that cruelty may
be necessary in a recent settlement acquired by war
and crimes, but if prolonged beyond that necessity,
that it ultimately proves the ruin of its upholders.
You have outstripped your model ; take care how
you verify his prophetic observation. When the
city of Sparta was overthrown by an earthquake, the
helots surveyed the visitation with rapture, and re-
doubled the horrors of the calamity. Your Protest-
ant settlement is secure beyond the probability, nay,
the possibility of dangers, if you do not continue the
temptation, and, the language of the constitution
might add, the duty to uproot it, in the hearts of
those whom you mean to destroy. You have noth-
ing to fear from those miserable beings whose an-
cestors' estates the chance of war delivered into your
hands one hundred and thirty-eight years since.

i

APPENDIX. 371

Most of ihem have perished in exile and in want.
Some of them are fighting the battles of foreign
kings, being incapacitated even from dying for their
own. Their sad remains are the porters of your
towns, the clowns of your country, and beggars of
your streets. They do not look for power ; they
ask but leave to die. The Catholics have given you
every security which the most solemn declarations
can give : you have a much better security in their
uniform demeanor, and still a better in their interest
— that interest

Which like the sword of kings,
Is the last reason of all things.

It is the interest of every honest and independent
mind in Ireland, that the smothered warfare of op-
pression should cease ; that the feelings, the preju-
dices, the passions, the faculties of all should be col-
lected into one common focus, to cheer, reanimate,
and illumine this aggrieved, palsied, and long-be-
nighted country. Have you not had enough of ven-
geance and petty despicable monopoly, or are you
still resolved to persist in it even at the expense of
your own well-being and honor ? Is not your coun-
try a prey to foreigners through the imbecility en-
tailed upon it, by emasculating four-fifths of your
people? Were the provisoes, indulgences, and mort-
mains of popery in any degree so pernicious as the
ruin and ignominy of English influence ? Impostors
delude you, while they are practising ancient villanies
under new names. Does not this influence yearly
drain you of two-thirds of your whole revenue ?
Does it not send undeserving viceroys to rule over
you to the degradation of your own nobility, many
of whom were known in Europe long before the
great majority of the present English nobility had

372 APPENDIX.

crawled from their original obscurity ? Does it not
quarter the worthless followers of those insignificant
viceroys — the buffoons, panders, and parasites of a
corrupted court — the trash and refuse of another
land, upon the most productive spots of your island ?
Does it not exalt the most unprincipled and shame-
less politicians to the very highest stations — and for
what ? for reviling your country and denying its in-
dependence !* Has it not made you a by-word
among nations, and the very sound of your name a
subject of laughter ? Are not your mines unexplored,
your fisheries neglected, your trade and commerce
restricted, your manufactures unprotected, your lands
unimproved, your country denuded of its wood and
shorn of its beauty and means of naval strength, nay,
your very character debased through this influence ?
Whence the want of employment ni Ireland, whence
the rack-rents of absentees, whence the squalid ap-
pearances and concomitants of poverty ? Whence
the wanderings of your people to every corner of the
earth ; the alarming emigrations of northern industry
to America ; of southern hardihood, to England,
France, and Spain — to the East and to the West ?
Whence, I say, does all this proceed, but from the
wide-wasting, pestilential influence of England ?
Even now it is clandestinely aiming at the extinction
of your parliament and your lately recovered name.
I myself heard the Marquis of Dovvnsiiire express
his ardent wish for a union in the House of Loi'ds of
England ! Ireland appears loosened from its foun-

* If such a man as I have here portrayed, had not carried the
audacious impurities of the senate to the judgment-seat, but admin-
istered law in justice and in mercy, as became his great abilities,
the circumstance should be a drawback on the detestation of his
countrymen — it should take but little from the distrust of the char-
acter. Nemo unquatn imperium jlagitio quccsitum bonis ariibus
exercuit.

APPENDIX. 373

dations by this influence, and floats at the breath of
every bold and flagitious English undertaker, who is
sent to defame and to devour it. She might most
happily maintain more than double her population,
were she not inhibited from availing herself of the
bounties of heaven. But your Draconian laws against
popery, the loathsome but unacknowledged offspring
of the influence I have been describing, have worn
her natives down to a degree of wretchedness not to
be equalled by that of slave or freeman in any quar-
ter of the globe : they have given your country the
melancholy pre-eminence among nations of being
supreme in misery. But she has borne her adversi-
ties with fortitude. You may thank your stars, that
the suicide principle of those laws has not utterly
eradicated the spirit of your people. If it had, you
would have looked in vain for freedom. Had they
stood aloof in the day of trial, or joined with your
enemies — had they not listened to the dictates of
their own virtues, but followed your example in
wounding themselves through the heart of their
country, you had still been in bondage. They dis-
dained the inglorious example — they pledged their
lives and their fortunes for your freedom, and you
PLEDGE YOURS to hold them in chains ! They are a
conquered people, you say. But when they resigned
their power in 1691, after their glorious defence of
Limerick, they stipulated for freedom with arms in
their hands. What did you ? When you got them
in your power, you stripped them of their arms, and
robbed them of their freedom — you kept no faith
WITH Catholics ! They ask for restitution, there-
fore, and they would be unworthy of it if they did
not. They ask for the liberty their ancestors planted
and preserved in this island : for nine-tenths of them
are descendants of those English who first won the

374 APPENDIX.

country by fraud and by force from the ancient Irish.
They and their forefathers are your benefactors, and
you are still bent upon remaining their destroyers ;
for slavery is the destruction of the people. Such
being their conduct and yours, is it decorous to talk
of their ingratitude? would it not be more decorous
to retrieve the honor you have lost by your ovt'n ?
You say they want to intimidate you into a compli-
ance with their humble supplications. The assertion
is falsified by the fact, 'lliey presented a petition
to parliament praying for a share of that freedom
they contribute to support. They did not make the
compliance of parliament the condition of their alle-
giance : they have evinced the contrary by the un-
varied tenor of their conduct; for though refused in
no very flattering manner, amidst scoffs, and scorn,
and indignity, their enemies have not gained their
point : they have not driven them into violence : they
have remained unaltered in their loyalty, their love
of order, and obedience to the law. A brave gen-
eral in your House of Commons invites these de-
fenceless citizens to draw their swords, and make
their appeal to heaven. These oppressed men have
no swords, and if they had, they would only draw
them in defence of their king and country. They
and their fathers have so demeaned themselves in
every vicissitude of fortune. I wish this great officer
may be as well-disposed. Shame on the man, who
can thus mock at the unfortunate, and pour new
misery into the agonizing bosom of a tortured gen-
eration !

That the Catholics are not prepared for freedom,
is a proposition unfounded in reason and contradicted
by the experience of every age and the feelings of
every heart. Liberty, which is equal justice to all,
is taught by nature to all — the savage and the bar-

APPENDIX. 375

barian feel its sacred impulses as completely as the
philosopher. The liberty of England originated in
the woods of Germany. We know that the Ger-
mans were not a lettered race — they had no property
but what was in common : yet these sturdy barba-
rians were at least as free and as zealous assertors
of their independence, as their descendants the Eng-
lish. Many of the mighty barons who extorted mag-
na charta from John, were unable to read or write ;
yet the rude feelings of their untutored breasts fitted
them admirably to wrest that palladium of happiness
from a tyrant. I hope we shall hear no more of this
insidious and hypocritical cant, invented by the de-
signing to mislead the unwary. To be fit for free-
dom, it is sufficient to be born, and it affords an ad-
ditional aptitude to be bred a Christian — for I hope
it is unnecessary to inform you, tliat the service of
the Catholic God and yours is perfect freedom. I
should imagine the requisite knowledge for choosmg
a representative does not lie far beneath the surface :
surely a Catholic has as good an opportunity of learn-
ing the acts of wisdom, justice, humanity, and forti-
tude which distinguish a neighboring gentleman, and
recommend him to notice at an election, as a Prot-
estant ; or do the magic syllables of Protestantism
bestow sense and sensibility, while the execrated
name of papist bereaves its unhappy owner of every
organ of feeling and understanding ? Away with
such fooleries ! Were their absurdity not lost in the
immensity of their mischief, they would be as con-
temptible as the dreams of dotards. If your execra-
ble laws had unfitted the Catholics for freedom,
freedom only could recreate that moral and political
fitness your laws had done away. Slavery is the
worst of all possible schools to teach the principles
of liberty : you would not manacle the limbs of the

376 APPENDIX.

man you would enable to start in the race ! Be not
afraid of overpowering the tender optics of your
brethren with the new light of liberty : the eagle eye
of nature looks steadily at the sun of liberty in every
stage and every condition of this many-colored and
wearied life.

It is also said that the Catholic committee* is an
unlawful meeting. Those who say so, do not under-
stand the law, or misinterpret it with an evil intent.
No meeting is unlawful which is peaceably met for
a lawful purpose — whether the mode of meeting be
borrowed from Constantinople or Paris, whether
from the empire of slavery or the seat of democracy.
The Catholic committee is not acknowledged by the
law, totidem verbis, but every thing is allowed by the
law which is a quiet assertion of right, and hurts no
man. Now the object of this meeting is not, as has
been foolishly or maliciously said, to consolidate the
power of the Catholics ; but to ascertain their utter
impotence to protect themselves, to concentrate their
miseries and their tears, to lay them at the foot of
the throne, to supplicate parliament to give freedom,
consequence, and union to Ireland. They hope it is
no offence to wish to add dignity, strength, and sta-
bility to their country, and they are sure petitioning
is lawful. The Catholics labor under grievances,
and there are two ways of removing them — the one
is by war ; the other by peace. They seek not re-
lief through the calamities of war : they adore their
country. They desire that peace may be the har-

* Posterity will honor tlio memories of those prudent and un-
daunted citizens of Dublin, who, unshaken by the secession of their
deceived fellow -sufferers, brought those very men back to their opin-
ion by the irresistible force of truth, and cast the foundation of Cath-
olic Emancipation amidst the intrigues, and lies, and calumnies, and
menaces of their enemies. Their names will live, when court pros-
titutes, and hirelings, and slaves will be forgotten.

APPENDIX. 377

binger of their freedom. That peace can be pre-
served by no better means, than by quietly assem-
bling and humbly proposing their grievances to the
consideration of the legislature. The legislature
may refuse granting the prayer of their petition, but
they have no right to spurn the begging, prostrate,
and obedient subject from their door. You are angry
with these miserable people for stating their numbers
at three millions. You are then angry that they were
born. You are then angry that they tread the earth,
breathe the air, or survey the heaven. By that
heaven I conjure you to dismiss those deadly senti-
ments of shocking uncharitableness from your other-
wise generous hearts, and dare to have the magna-
nimity to forgive those you have so deeply and so
cruelly injured. Be united, be Irishmen, be free.

I hear a great deal of the favors already conferred
upon Catholics, and that their emancipation should
be gradual. — The Catholics are a grateful people,
but the fashion of the day and your own exigencies
gave them most of what they have got, and your
hberality wears too much the appearance of selfish-
ness to entitle you to much gratitude. Recollect
that you only lately set your hand to a partial resto-
ration of their rights, and that those acts of grace
were accompanied with no small share of reluctance,
no small portion of contempt. By giving the Catho-
lics the power of purchasing land, you converted a
flux, moneyed property, which might be employed
against you, into an immoveable pledge for their
abiding by your fate, and binding their own chains
the faster ; and by withholding the elective franchise
from them, you refuse them the shield by which they
might protect their new acquisition. So that the
privilege you rate so high, makes them but the more
dependent upon your good will and caprice. As to

378 APPENDIX.

gradual emancipation, if you mean to treat your
brethren as the English parliament has the negroes,
you should mark a period for their emancipation, as
that parliament has done for the more fortunate Afri-
cans. But you do not wish it ; you are withholding
their rights from your fellow-creatures, and indulg-
ing them now and then with a few fragments from your
table, fondly hoping that an opportunity may arise to
dash their hopes forever, and plunge them back into
that unfathomable abyss of misery from whence they
have but just raised their heads. But the opportu-
nity will not arise : the imperishable spirit of free-
dom has gone abroad, and cheers the heart of the
meanest peasant. He trusts in the justice and vir-
tues of his king, and the tardy humanity of his
brethren. His king longs already to burst his chains :
for he can do no wrong ; and many of the fathers,
restorers, and preservers of political Protestant free-
dom in the north, are working seriously, honestly,
nobly, and independently in their cause. Your really
and truly glorious deliverer, Mr. Grattan, and many
of the most exalted natures in Ireland, are at the
same godlike work of redemption. The Catholics
will deserve it — for I know them — and of course
they will be free. They have nothing to dread ;
they walk in the fearlessness of virtue.

But what shall become of the Protestant ascen-
dency ? I revere the Protestant ascendency, if, like
the prerogative of kings, it is limited by justice and
the safety of the people. I cannot revere it if it is
nothing but an luicontrollable sway. Such a sway I
could never respect, though seated on the throne of
Great Britain or the chair of St. Peter. If by Prot-
estant ascendency you mean that the great power of
the country should remain in the hands of the present
possessors, more than three hundred years would

i

APPENDIX. 379

not transfer the power (for property is the power) in-
to the hands of Cathohcs, even if the whole penal
code was swept away at this moment ; and I beheve
it requires no inspiration to foretell, that the folly and
wickedness of religious animosity will have died with
those who harbor it long, long before that period.
But if you define the Protestant ascendency, a Prot-
estant king, a Protestant peerage, a Protestant house
of commons, a Protestant constituency, and make no
account of your Catholic brethren, but wish, with the
representative of the whole Irish nation, as he was
pleased to denominate himself,* that their liberties
should be forever extinguished, while you but half
retain your own, I abhor the inhuman idea, as I do
the author of evil, and exactly upon the same princi-
ple, because it is the enemy of mankind.

I have now done : and I implore mercy for your
brethren, and justice for your country. If you re-
fuse that mercy, and withhold this justice, you should
prepare for a union : things cannot remain in their
present situation ; you must either give freedom to
the Catholic or abdicate it for yourself. Your an-
cient oppressors are on the watch to inflame your
passions, and re-insnare you into worse than your
former bondage. A union would be advantageous
to the Catholic. By it the Protestant would lose his
all, if freedom be all to the noble-minded and the
brave. The Catholic would not be raised to the
Protestant, but the Protestant would be levelled
down to the Catholic, and sunk into a slavish acqui-
escence in the will of a country accustomed to despise
him. The Catholic would be more happy : for that
liberty he is never doomed to taste, would be re-
moved far from his wounded ear, his aching sight.

• The lat© Richard Sheridan, Esq., then M. P. for Charlemont

380 APPENDIX.

The Protestant would have no consolation for past
glories and present shame. He would experience a
servitude more grievous than death.

Extracted from " The Wexford Herald" of Monday, Sept. 24,
1792. — County Meeting.

Saturday being the day appointed by the high-sheriff
to lake into consideration a letter, purporting to have
been written by order of the sub-committee of the
Catholics of Ireland, and signed Edward Byrne,
about one o'clock the sheriff took the chair, and the
letter having been read, the following resolutions
were moved by the Hon. Francis Hely Hutchin-
son : —

1. Resolved — That it is the undoubted right of all
his majesty's subjects to petition every branch of the
legislature. — Adopted.

2. Resolved — That it appears to this meeting that
the object of the plan referred to by the letter which
has been read, this day from the chair, is to collect
the sense of all the Catholics of Ireland, in order
that their wishes may be laid by the petition at the
foot of the throne. — Rejected.

3. Resolved — That the said plan is agreeable to
laio, and that those who shall endeavor peaceably and
quietly to carry it into execution, will not, by so do-
ing, co?nmit any act, either illegal or unconstitu-
tional.— Rej ected .

A debate for some hours having taken place upon
the above resolutions, and the question having been
put, the first was passed in the affirmative unani-
mously ; and a division having taken place upon the
two last, they were rejected by a majority -of one
hundred and ten, to forty-five.

This division having taken place, Mr. Maxwell

APPENDIX. 381

moved the following resolutions, all of which were
carried in the affirmative : —

We, the freeholders of the county of Wexford,
convened by the high-sheriff at the requisition of the
last grand jury, to take into consideration a paper,
signed " Edward Byrne," purporting to come from a
body of men styling themselves " The sub-commit-
tee of the Catholics of Ireland," think it highly in-
cumbent on us to express in the strongest terms our
disapprobation of the contents of it.

Resolved — That we see with much surprise, the
many favors so liberally conferred, of late years, by
the legislature, on the Roman Catholics of Ireland,
do not meet with the return of thanks and gratitude
to which they were so justly entitled.

Resolved — That since the proceedings of Catho-
lics are unwarrantable, and their demands unreason-
able, it is time for the Protestants to make a stand,
and to be firm in refusing to make further conces-
sions.

Resolved — That we firmly rely on the wisdom of
our most gracious sovereign, that he will not give his
sanction to any measure that may militate against the
principles that placed his family on the throne, or
tend to diminish the Protestant ascendency of this
kingdom.

Mr. Maxwell moved an address to the representa-
tives of the county, to entreat them to give their op-
position to any bill which might be introduced either
now or any time hereafter, extending to the benefit
of the elective franchise, or a participation of the trial
by jury.

The address having been a long time debated, was
at last withdrawn. Mr. Hutchinson then moved the
thanks of the meeting to Matthew Derenzy, .Esq., the
high-sheriff, for his very correct and proper conduct

382 APPENDIX.

in the chair, which motion was carried unanimously ;
and the question of adjournment having been put and
carried, the meeting was dissolved at a very late
hour of the night.

Extracted from " The Wexford Herald" of Thursday, the 27th
of September, 1792.

We, the Roman Catholics of tlie town and vicinity
of Wexford, ever anxious to cultivate the friendship
of our Protestant brethren, and to unite with them in
all the bands of social happiness, embrace this flat-
tering opportunity of testifying our gratitude to the
virtuous and independent forty-Jive, whose united ef-
forts and interests supported our cause at the county
meeting, convened by the high-sheriff on Saturday
last.

The malignant shafts of calumny, directed by the
iron hand of arbitrary power, will never awe us into
an acquiescence of guilt, which we most solemnly
abjure. We are, have been, and ever shall be,
grateful and loyal. Were we possessed of more our
noble friends should participate thereof, did their
generous and disinterested patriotism permit the idea
of a transitory reward ; nay, we respect our enemies
as members of the state, but hope they will not expect
gratitude from us until they become our benefactors,
that is, proselytes to the true political faith, on which
depends the salvation of our country.

We hail our illustrious and glorious protectors, who
with irresistible energy, eloquence, and truth, pleaded
the cause of injured innocence and degraded human-
ity, attempting to raise its head amidst its implaca-
ble oppression ! We hail them as being invaluable
co-operators with the saviours of our country ; on
whom alone, and on men of such minds, depends the

APPENDIX. 383

perpetuity of the constitution as established at the
revolution. Signed by order,

James E. Devereux

No. II.

To the gentlemen, clergy, freeholders, and other inhabitants of
the county of Wexford.

We, the undersigned magistrates of the county of
Wexford, convinced that you have not a wish nearer
your heart than to have an opportunity of expressing
your loyalty and inviolable attachment to our king
and excellent constitution, (in the absence of the high
sheriff,) request your attendance at the county court-
house, on Friday, the 1 1th of January next, for that
purpose. A measure we conceive at this time not
only highly becoming, but also essentially necessary,
thereby to contribute so far as in us lies to the resto-
ration of public and private credit, which we have
experienced to be materially injured by the seditious
practices of a few designing and turbulent incendia-
ries.

"Walter Hore, John Heatly,

Henry Hatton, Richard Newton King,

John Harvey, William Hore,

Ebenezer Jacob, John Cox,

James Boyd, William Glascott,

Robert Hawkshaw, Miller CliiFord.

At a meeting of the freeholders and inhabitants of the county of
Wexford, convened by requisition of the magistrates thereof, and
held at Wexford, on Friday, the llth January, 1793.
Walter Hore, Esq., in the chair.

We, the freeholders and inhabitants of the county
of Wexford, convened by the magistrates, think it
right at this time, unanimously to declare our attach-

Cor

(fl
Hoi

m

384 APPENDIX.

ment to the constitution, consisting of king, lords,
and commons ; and have resolved —

That the principles of the British constitution are i fi
founded in wisdom and justice, equally providing for ik
the liberty and happiness of the people. If,e«

That an hereditary monarch, an assembly of the ■»
nobles, and a body of representatives derived from ;(' ii
the people, by free and general election, are each of |iliie
them integral, vital, and essential parts of our consti- | Poj
tution, in so much that the decay or corruption of
any of them will taint or destroy the whole system.

That the representative part of our legislature is
not derived from the people by tiiat free and general
election which tiie fundamental principles of our con-
stitution require, and the state and condhion of this
nation would warrant.

That the permanent peace and welfare of Ireland
can only be established by a radical and effectual re-
form in the commons house of parliament, and that
this object once obtained, the people ought to remain
content and grateful.

That we will, by all constitutional and lawful u
means, promote a radical and effectual reform in the IL,
representation of the people in parliament, including
persons of all religious persuasions ; and we rely on
the wisdom of parliament to grant such reform.

That we are happy thus publicly to declare, that
the people of this country are perfectly peaceable
and quiet, and we know of no seditious practices
therein, nor do we see the least shadow of, or ten-
dency to, riot or tumult in this country ; but lest any
such should be entertained or intended by any fac-
tious persons, we do declare, that we will resist all
attempts to introduce any new form of government
into this country, or in any manner to subvert, cor-
rupt, or impair any of the three essential parts of

■:ili
-.11

I ./::i

APPENDIX. 3S5

our constitution, consisting of king, lords, and com-
mons.

Resolved — That copies of the above resolutions
be forwarded by our chairman to the Right Hon.
George Ogle and the Hon. John Loftus, representa-
tives in parliament for this county.

Resolved — That the above resolutions be inserted
three times in the Dublin Evening Post, Morning
Post, and Wexford Herald.

(Signed) Walter Hore.

Walter Hore, Esq., having left the chair, and
Cornelius Grogan, Esq., being called to it, the thanks
of the meeting were unanimously voted to Walter
Hore, Esq., chairman, for his impartial and upright
conduct this day.

(Signed) Cornelius Grogan.

No. HI.

At the request of Mr. Edward Hay, late of Bal-
lenkeele, in the county of Wexford, I certify that I
became acquainted with him in the year 1793, for
which year I was high-sheriff for said county, and at
which time the country was much disturbed. I
thought necessary to consult the gentlemen of the
county, and called meetings for this purpose. Mr.
Hay attended these meetings, and was, with other
gentlemen, as active and zealous as possible in en-
deavoring to suppress the disturbances, and to re-
store peace to the country. From Mr. Hay's actions
and expressions, I had every reason to consider him
a loyal man : I have often heard him declare that he
did not, nor never would belong to any political so-
ciety, and that he disapproved being of all such so-
cieties. I was appointed, in the year 1797, admin-

3S6 APPENDIX.

istrator during a suit respecting the Hay properly.
On the 1st of May, 1798, I attended at Ballenkeele
as administrator, on which day Mr. Edward Hay, or
Mr. Fitzgerald, as his trustee, gave me up possession
of the house and demesne of Ballenkeele, and other
lands, part of the disputed property ; and delivered
what furniture he had in the house to his brother,
with whom I understand he had settled, and declared
he would want immediate payment for this furniture,
as he intended to go without delay to America, and
settle there. Mr. Edward Hay was much dissatis-
fied with me about that time, l)ut this did not prevent
him from rendering me the most essential services in
the rebellion. The rebels attacked the town of En-
niscorthy in great force on the 28th of May, 1798,
on which day, after a severe engagement, and the
town being in flames, I retreated with my corps, and
the rest of his majesty's troops stationed there, to
Wexford. On my arrival in that town, I saw Mr.
Edward Hay in the street, who seemed and express-
ed himself much distressed at what had happened at
Enniscorthy and elsewhere. On the 29th of May,
I again saw Mr. Hay, when he was approved of as
one of the securities for Mr. Edward Fitzgerald, who
was then confined in Wexford jail, but was liberated
that day, on giving bail, and sent out to endeavor by
his supposed influence with the rebels to disperse
them. On the 30th of May, after the rebels had cut
off a detachment of the Meath militia, near the Three
Rocks, the troops which marched from Wexford to
oppose the rebels at that place, retreated to the town,
we found the greatest confusion prevailing there ; af-
ter some time the town was evacuated, and finding
it impossible for me, situated as I was, to retreat by
land, I made an unsuccessful attempt to effect my
escape by sea, but was taken and brought back to

APPENDIX. 337

Wexford, where I was in the most perilous situation,
not knowing the instant I should fall a victim to pop-
ular fury. I was taken to a house where a number
of ladies and gentlemen were ; a furious mob came
to this house and called for me to be put to death.
A particular friend of mine, who was then in the
) house, assured me lately, that Mr. Edward Hay
went to the door, stood there, and declared they
should kill him before they should hurt a hair of my
t head, and he succeeded m sending them away. It
being generally understood that every person who
I had not taken the United Irishman's oath, or did not
I know their signs, would inevitably be put to death, I
I asked Mr. Edward Hay to swear me, which he as-
sured me he could not do ; and I have further reason
to think he was not a United Irishman, as the week
before the rebellion broke out, when I was, as a
magistrate, giving certificates to the people on their
taking the oaths of allegiance, surrendering their
arms, and giving on their oaths such information as
J they could, respecting the intended rebellion, not one
of them — and I was very strict in my inquiries —
mentioned Mr. Edward Hay, though they gave me
information against most of those who in a few days
after, in this country, were leaders in the rebellion.

While a prisoner in Wexford, some people inti-
mated a wish to take me home, and I thought I would
be safer, if where I was well known, than at Wex-
ford. Mr. Hay told me he would not let me go, as
I would be certainly put to death, as the rebels acted
with greater cruelty at Vinegar Hill, near which my
house is situated. An order was sent by the rebels
for twelve prisoners to be taken from Wexford to
Vinegar Hill ; Mr. Edward Hay told me of this or-
der, and said he would endeavor to prevent these
men being sent, as he feared they would be executed,

38S APPENDIX.

and he succeeded for some time. The event proved
he was right, as some of the same persons were after-
wards taken there and put to death. The house in
which I was for about ten days was often searched
for arms and Orangemen. Mr. Hay, when in the
house, endeavored to save me by attending the
searchers, and conducting them to different parts of
the house from where I was. When at last a party
of those searchers found I was in this house, my
destruction was considered inevitable had I remained
there. I w^as conducted to the prison-ship as a place
of safety, and I do believe, had it not been done 1
most probably would have lost my life. Considering
the popularity of Mr. Hay, and he being a Catholic,
I am surprised he was not obliged to take a command
among the rebels, and I am confident he could have
had a high one was he so inclined : I do not believe
Mr. Edward Hay had any command in the rebel ar-
my, nor did I ever see him appear in arms of any
kind : and I consider it a fortunate circumstance for
some of the Protestant loyalists that he was in Wex-
ford during the rebelhon, as I knew that he expressed
his earnest desire, and I behove he exerted himself
for the preservation of many of them. I think it but
justice to give Mr. Hay this certificate, the substance
of which I would have proved on his trial had I been
called on, and to which 1 had been summoned.

Solomon Richards,

Captain Enniscorthy Cavalry, and Magistrate
of the county of Wexford
Solshorough, August 30, 1799.

I hereby certify, that on the 20lh of June, 1798,
while the massacres were perpetrating on the bridge
of Wexford, Mr. Edward Hay came into the room
where I was with other ladies ; he was in tears, and

APPENDIX. 389

seemed much distressed at the cruelties that were
going forward. I earnestly entreated him to use his
influence to save the prisoners' lives. He replied it
was in vain for him to try, as he had no influence
with the people. I also know that he prevented
twelve prisoners from being sent to Vinegar Hill, on a
belief that they would be massacred there ; and I do
believe that he had no command in the rebel army.
Given under my hand this 30th of August, 1799,

Martha Richards.

County of Wexford, ) Mr. Thomas Taylor of the town
to wit. i qI Wexford, merchant, who was a

prisoner in the jail of Wexford during the rebellion,
freely and voluntarily maketh oath on the Holy
Evangelists, and saith he has known the prisoners
to express the comfort and consolation they experi-
enced from Mr. Edward Hay's deportment and man-
ner towards them, and had always heard them ex-
press their joy on Mr. Hay visiting the jail. Depo-
nent being an Englishman, and not long in Ireland,
had no kind of acquaintance with Mr. Hay, but al-
ways approached him when he saw him conversing
with his fellow-prisoners, and experienced the conso-
lation of his conversation, although not addressed to
him, but considered Mr. Hay the greatest friend to
the loyalists, as the purport of his visits to the jail
evidently was, to give general comfort to all he saw
in distress, as he communicated his sentiments open-
ly and candidly to them, and undeceived the prison-
ers with respect to many false reports that were
circulated. Deponent has heard Mr. Hay express
his horror and detestation of the barbarous proceed-
Jings of the rebels ; and that he would lose his life or
,aiiiiBput a stop to the cruelties that were committing on

390 APPENDIX. ;

Vinegar Hill had he been there. Deponent remem-
bers to have heard of an order for several prisoners
to be sent to Enniscorlhy, which order might have
been complied with had not Mr. Hay gained intelli-
gence that they were to be put to death ; and at the
earnest request of the prisoners from the neighbor-
hood of Enniscorthy, Mr. Hay declared he would
make such representations to the principal inhabit-
ants of Wexford as to have them detained in jail as
their only place of safety ; on which occasion he
has heard the prisoners express their utmost grati-
tude to Mr. Hay, whom they consulted on all occa-
sions of distress, and from whom they received ev-
ery possible comfort. Various reports were propa-
gated, which tended to rouse and irritate the passions
of the people to revenge — that the army had com-
mitted the greatest excesses, which alarmed the
prisoners very much, who consulted Mr. Hay about
a proposal they had drawn up to be forwarded to
government, intimating their great danger, and hoping
that the prisoners taken by the army might meet
with the like good treatment that they did, otherwise
reprisals might be made, and their destruction inev-
itable. Mr. Hay undertook the task of endeavoring
to forward this proposal with the greatest alacrity,
and conducted Captain M'Manus to consult with
Lord Kingsborough, who accordingly wrote a letter
in the name of all the prisoners, among whom were
many officers and principal gentlemen of the county,
which proposal was dispatched by an officer to be
forwarded to the next commanding officer of his
majesty's forces, but who would not be allowed to
proceed farther than the rebel camp at Enniscorthy,
and was obliged to return to Wexford, at which dis-
appointment we considered our situation more critical
than ever, and experienced in a greater degree the

t

APPENDIX. 391

consoling visits of Mr. Hay, who truly sympathized
in our feelings, and felt this disappointment as much
as any of us. Deponent never saw Mr. Hay appear
with arms, or with any kind of green ornament, then
usually worn by all descriptions of persons; and
from what he has seen and every information he
could learn, believes that during the rebellion Mr.
Hay was solely actuated by principles of philanthro-
py, in any interference of his during that period.
Sworn before me this 28th day of August, 1799,

Eben. Jacob.
Thomas Taylor.

No. IV.

Extract from the debates of the House of Lords on the lOth of
July, 1793, on the convention bill, as it appeared in the public
papers.

Lord Farnham declared, " That he had received
letters from the county of Wexford, perfectly agree-
ing with what had been mentioned by the noble lord
on the woolsack. In that county the people had
held meetings at night, and from parish to parish had
sworn the inhabitants not to pay rents, tithes, or
taxes, expressing their disappointment that they had
not received ten pounds each man annually for the
emancipation, but a lease for which they were obliged
to pay." — He approved of the bill.

No. V.

At a meeting of the Catholics of the town and neighborhood of
Wexford, on Tuesday the 30tA of July, 1793, James Edward
Devercux, Esq., in the chair.

We, the Roman Catholics of the town and neigh-
borhood of Wexford, having acquiesced in the reso-

392 APPENDIX.

lution and recommendation of our late general com-
mittee, notwithstanding the many degrading and in-
jurious distinctions still existing against us, to act no
more as a body, but as Irishmen, united by one will
and interest, find ourselves most reluctantly compelled
by different attacks, immediately pointed at our honor,
to defend ourselves as a distinct people ; our loyalty
has been traduced, our views misrepresented, and
our conduct defamed ; we conceive that sinking un-
der such infamous and audacious slander would be
the ruin of our country, and bereave us of the affec-
tions of our king and our fellow-subjects, for we have J!
learned from the history of all nations, but particu-
larly from our own, that unrefuted calumnies lead
from the extinction of the honest fame of a nation, to
the final extinction of her liberties.

Resolved therefore — That it is a base and scanda-
lous falseliood that the Catholics of Ireland ever en-
tertained the thought or harbored the project, either
in private or public, of severing the sister countries
from each other, or of renouncing their loyalty and
gratitude towards a sovereign, to whom, of all who
ever sat upon the throne, they are the most indebted.

Resolved — That the Catholics of Ireland never
sought any other boon but that of equal law and
equal liberty, such as Englishmen possess, and such
as is equally the right of Irishmen, and that they are
satisfied forever to abide by one common fate with
Englishmen, so that they may forever enjoy the
common blessings of the constitution, as established
in king, lords, and commons, under a separate legis-
lature, and a common king.

Resolved — That the general committee of the
Catholics never exercised the right of taxation in any
one instance, nor any other right but in absolute
subordination to the laws of their country ; nor can

JCtDO

APPENDIX. 393

we understand how these proceedings and pursuits
can be accounted criminal, unless it is proved that
the British constitution — the sole object of those pur-
suits— is a code of iniquity and vice, which ought to
be rejected with detestation, and not contended for
at the hazard of every thing dear to man.

Resolved — That we are unalterably attached to

,^jj the peace, happiness, union, and liberty of Ireland,

■ and therefore from our hearts abhor and reprobate

any disturbances which may endanger the possession

of those invaluable objects, and that we recommend

rfbelj most seriously and earnestly to our Catholic brethren,

•I to join and co-operate in every loyal and constitu-

i tional measure to suppress them, be their authors

who they may.

Resolved — That we highly approve of the con-
duct of our late committee, who have proved us not
unworthy of freedom, by evincing our loyalty to our
king, our gratitude to the legislature and our friends,
and our unceasing desire to fulfil his majesty's gra-
cious wish to unite all classes and descriptions of the
people, in support of our most excellent constitution.

Resolved — That the silly assertion which has been
publicly made — that the Catholics of the county of
Wexford were induced to join the committee by the
promise of ten pounds a year, freehold, to the lower
classes — is equally devoid of probability and truth,
and deserves nothing but our contempt.

Resolved — That these resolutions be published,
and that our chairman do transmit a copy to each of
the gentlemen who were delegated to th^late general
committee.

of tie f

iCiOfii

:effilli

)Tll

394

APPENDIX.

No. VI.

To George Giles, Esq., high-sheriff of the county of Wexford.

We, the undersigned freeholders of the county of
Wexford, request you Avill convene a meeting of
your baiUwick on as early a day as possible, to pre-
pare an address, &c., &c., to the lord-lieutenant, on.
his excellency's apprehended departure from this
kingdom.

Cornelius Grogan,
Isaac Cornock,
ArLhur Meadows,
John Grogan,
Mattliew Keugh,
William HaUon,
Antliony Lee,
John Colclough,
Thomas Richards,
William Talbot,
Edward Sutton,
Patrick Keating,
Richard Waddy, M. D.
John Moyler,
Loftus Hatton,
Harvey Hay,
Matthew Talbot,
Solomon Richards,
John Richards,
Edward Hay,
Bartholomew Sparrow,
Joshua Pounden,
Clement Wolesley,
James Drury,
Robt. Sharp. Carew,
Maffhew Derenzy,
Joshua Nunn,

Goddard Richards,
John Pounden,
William Wheeler,
John Wheeler Pounden,
Stephen Lett,
Joseph Stringer,
William Barker,
John Stringer,
Anthony Rudd,
Michael Masterson,
William BarreU,
Loftus Richards,
Thomas Esmonds,
Jolin Johnston,
William Fitzhcnry,
Robert Meyler,
Frederick Flood,
Thomas Grogan Knox,
Joshua Nunn,
John Harv'cy,
William Keilet,
James Furlong,
Armstrong Browne,
Charles Vero,
Dudley Colclough,
William Harvey,
B. B. Harvey.

The foregoing requisition to the high-sheriff, as
well as the following to the magistrates, are copied
from the public papers, from some unaccountable ac-

APPENDIX. 395

cident without dates, as the original has been lost or
mislaid. The author is particularly cautious not to
introduce a particle that is not clearly substantiated ;
however, it is certain that many days intervened,
which he hopes at a future period to be able to as-
certain exactly.

To the Magistrates of the county of Wexford.

Gentlemen — We, the undersigned freeholders of
said county, being-informed that the high-sheriff is
not in his bailiwick, and deeming it highly necessary,
at this awful and alarming crisis, that this respecta-
ble county sliould meet for the above purpose, re-
quest that you will please to convene the freeholders
and inhabitants of said county as soon as possible.

Frederick Flood, Richard Waddy, M. D.

Joshua Nunn, Edward Hay,

Wilham Hatton, B. B. Harvey,

Matthew Talbot, William Kellett,

John Harvey, Armstrong Browne,

Edward Sutton, John- Colclough,

Matthew Keugh, Thomas Richards,

Joh.i Johnston, Loftus Richards,

William Talbot, William Harvey,
Loftus Hatton.

In compliance with the above requisition, we, the
undernamed magistrates of said county, request a
meeting of the freeholders and inhabitants of the
county, at the county court-house, on Monday the
23d instant, at twelve o'clock.

Wexford, 17th March, 1795.

Cornelius Grogan, Harvey Hay,

Ijl Isaac Cornock, John Grogan,

J Thomas Grogan Knox.

396 APPENDIX.

At a numerous meeting of tlie freeholders and inhabitants of the
county of Wexford, in the county court-house, on the 23rf of
March, 1795, Cornelius Grogan, Esq., in the chair, the following
resolutions passed unanimously : —

Resolved — That the resolutions of the freeholders
and inhabitants of this county in favor of Catholic
emancipation and reform, adopted by them at a
county meeting held at Wexford, on liie 11th day of
January, 1793, be now read.

Resolved — That we continue of the same opinion I
as declared by us at the above meeting. ' ,

Resolved — That Earl Fitzwilliam, by the wisdom i
of his measures, and by calling to his councils those •
men who have at all limes promoted the union and
supported the interests of the people, and proved j /
themselves the true friends of their king, the consti- ,
tulion, and their country, has deservedly obtained the ii
confidence and merited' the gratitude of Irishmen. ' j

Resolved — That we have good reason to be con-jl
vinced that the sudden recall of so patriotic a no-
bleman, at that moment when those friends of Ireland . ;
who had obtained his confidence were bringing for- i
ward measures that would have promoted the union
of the people, and increased the strength of the em-'?
pire, could have no other source than in the malig-
nant schemes and interference of a late administra-
tion, (supported by the influence of certain members
of the British cabinet,) who knew that while hisj
lordship remained in the government tliey could no
longer pursue a detested system of measures — which
seemed more calculated for the purposes of corrup-
tion, oppression, and persecution, than the prosperity!
of the slate.

Resolved — That strongly impressed by our pasti,
experience of so dangerous an administration, it is!

I

irtt

APPENDIX. 397

not without reason we dread the return of the men
dfM ^^^ formed it into power, and the revival of a sys-
l/M tern which filled tlie minds of the people with terror
'^fkiM and alarm, and had a fatal tendency to create dis-
union and disaffection ; and wc call upon every man
who regards the safety of the empire to come for-
I ward and deprecate the return of that administration
1 1 into power, and thereby rescue the nation from plun-
I der, dissatisfaction, and disunion.
j Resolved — That an humble petition to the king,
I expressive of our sentiments on this occasion, be
I forthwith drawn up and laid before us for our appro-
_ I bation, and that a committee be appointed to prepare
I the same — which being read —

I Resolved — That we approve of said petition, and
I that Cornelius Grogan, Edward Hay, and B. B.
Harvey, Esqrs., do present the same to his majesty.
I Resolved — That we should ill deserve the patriotic
I intentions of Earl Fitzwilliam to this country, if we
I did not declare our sense of them previous to his
tnciiu^ lordship's departure from this kingdom.
- ^ Resolved therefore — That an address be prepared
.1 by the committee accordingly — which being read —
I Resolved — That we approve of the said address,
., Ijand that Sir Thomas Esmonde, Bt., Sir Frederick
' I J Flood, Bt., and William Harvey, Esq., convey said
3 address to Earl Fitzwilliam.

Resolved — That we congratulate our countrymen
of the Roman Catholic persuasion, on the liberal and
honorable testimony which so many counties, cities,
and towns have borne to the justice and policy of
•"^""l their claims.

** |l Resolved — That the thanks of this meeting are

iipP"^* justly due to Mr. Grattan, for his honest and patriotic

J attention, as well in as out of power, to those mea-

^*"rlsures which on former occasions he had supported

(tCOUHl

tXU

398 APPENDIX.

and brought forward, and also for his spirited and mT^
constitutional answer to the address of the Roman B^
Catholics of Dublin,

Resolved — That we do publicly thank and enter
tain a due sense of the merits of those members of
both houses of parliament, who have uniformly stood
forward the advocates of those indispensably neces-
sary measures for the preservation of our constitu-
tion, the emancipation of our Catholic brethren, and
a reform in the representation of the people in par-
liament.

Resolved — That these our resolutions of thanks
be communicated by our worthy chairman to his
Grace the Duke of Leinster, and the Right Hon.
Henry Grattan.

Resolved — That our peculiar thanks are due to
the magistrates who so properly and spiritedly com-
plied with the requisition to convene this meeting in
the absence of the high-sheriff, who was not in the
county.

I

At a numefous meeting of the freeholders and inhabitants of the
county of Wexford, convened by public notice, held at the
county court-house on the 23rf of March, 1795, the following
petition to the king was unanimously adopted.

May it please your Majesty — We, your majesty's
most dutiful and loyal subjects, the freeholders and
inhabitants of the county of Wexford, convened by
the magistrates thereof, in absence of the sheriff, beg
leave to approach your throne, and with permission
of our most gracious sovereign to express our attach-
ment to your majesty's family and government, in
full confidence that our benevolent sovereign will
vouchsafe to hear his subjects in whose hearts he
reigns, and whose love for his sacred person will

■i

i

i

APPENDIX. 399

ever lead them to support with their hves and their
properties his throne and his government.

With gratitude we received as a signal instance
of our august sovereign's beneficence to his Irish peo-
ple, the appointment of Earl Fitzwilliam to the gov-
ernment of this kingdom — a nobleman whose wisdom
and whose virtues pecuharly qualified him to be the
beloved viceroy who would administer to the inhab-
itants of Ireland that happiness and union we know
your majesty would wish to be the lot of all your
people ; and we anticipated the happy consequence
from Earl Fitzwilliam's administration, when we had
observed he had called to his councils those men
who were most conspicuous in the nation for their
abilities, and their attachment to the interest of their
king and the constitution of their country ; and whose
measures promised a just appropriation of the pubhc
revenues, and additional strength to the euipire. But
particularly we contemplated with the most heartfelt
joy, the union of all your majesty's subjects, by the
removal of those civil distinctions arising from differ-
ence in religious opinion — a measure of such invalu-
able wisdom, as would forever shield the throne of
our revered sovereign with the unconquerable pha-
lanx of a loyal and brave people. But these our
most flattering expectations being suspended by the
removal of Earl Filzwilham from the government of
Ireland, we beg leave to represent to our most gra-
cious sovereign our fears and apprehensions lest
those men whose advice had for several years past
directed the administration of affairs, should again be
called into the confidence and councils of govern-
ment. We beg leave to represent that a contempt
for your people, and a prodigality and waste of the
public revenues, distinguished their administration ;
we therefore deprecate the return of such men into

400 APPENDIX.

power and confidence, as dangerous to your majesty's
interest and the welfare of your people ; and at this
awful and alarming crisis, most humbly throw our-
selves for rehef on the benevolence and affection of
our most gracious sovereign, in humble confidence
that his majesty will be pleased to restore to a grate-
ful nation, the prospect of those blessings which we
so anxiously hoped for, and call again to your coun-
cils those men whose measures nmst ensure the
prosperity and strength of the empire, and in whom
your people place their hopes and their confidence.

Subscribed by twenty-two thousand two hundred
and fifty-one signatures, presented to the king at St.
James's, 22d of April, 1795.

To his excellency, William, Earl Fitztcilliam, lord-lieutenant,
general, and general governor of Ireland.

The address of the freeholders and inhabitants of the county of
Wexford, convened by public notice, at the court-house at Wex-
ford, 23(f March, 1795, Cornelius Grogan, Esq., in the chair : —

May it please your Excellency — We, the free-
holders and inhabitants of the county of Wexford,
beg leave, in the present alarming stale of affairs in
this kingdom, to express to your excellency the sen-
timents of regret which we feel at the information
we iiave received of your excellency's departure from
this kingdom.

When we beheld 3-our lordship commencing your
government in this country by the proposition of
measures the most just and the most politic, the re-
moval of civil distinctions on account of differences
in religious opinions, and the investigation of abuses
which time and corruption had introduced into some
departments of the state — when we beheld your
lordship calling to your councils those men who
were most conspicuous in the nation for their attach-

APPENDIX. 401

ment to its interests and the true spirit of the consti-
tution— men in whose integrity the people placed
their hopes and their confidence, we exulted in the
glad proposal of union and harmony, and we antici-
pated with joy the approaching happiness of the peo-
ple. The honest and virtuous were inspirited, the
corrupt, the factious, and the rapacious oppressor
alone felt disappointment and chagrin.

But should your excellency withdraw from the
government of Ireland, these our most anxious hopes
must yield to apprehension and despondency : we
dread lest a set of men, as odious as they are vin-
dictive and tyrannical, should return into power, and
revive a system of measures which disunited the
people, and were dangerous to his majesty's interests
and the safety of his kingdom. The memory of the
unhappy discontents and divisions, which were pro-
duced by the evil counsels of such men, heightens
our regret at the recall of a governor whose wise
and conciliatory measures would have infallibly pro-
moted the union of the people, the strength of the
nation, and the stability of the constitution.

Happy then in that reward which the good and
virtuous alone can know — the consciousness of an
upright mind — receive, from a grateful people, their
thanks and their gratitude. And may our gracious
sovereign, when he shall have dismissed from his
councils those men who have, unfortunately for this
country, too long beset his throne, finally bestow on
your lordship every royal favor to which your ser-
vices and your virtues so justly entitle you.
Signed by order of the meeting.

Cornelius Grogan, Chairman,
Thomas Richards, Secretary.

402

APPENDIX.

Among the many losses the author sustained du-
ring the distracted state of the county of Wexford,
he has, on this occasion, particularly to lament the
answer of Earl Fitzwilliam. Independent of its
prophetic allusion, it also contained sentiments that
would be highly gratifying to the friends of Ireland,
This, and many other unavoidable wants in this
work, it is to be hoped may be given to the public
in a future publication.

No. VII.

At a numerous meetins: of the magistrates of the county of Ar-
mngh, convened on thc'2Sth of December, 1795, at the special
instance of Lord Gosford, governor. His lordship having taken
the chair, opened the business of the meeting by the following
address : — 1

Gentlemen — Having requested your attendance
here this day, it becomes my duty to state the grounds
upon whicli I thought it advisable to propose this
meeting, and at the same time to subnnt to your
consideration a plan which occurs to me as most
hkely to check the enormities that have already
brought disgrace upon this county, and may soon re-
duce it into deep distress.

It is no secret, that a persecution, accompanied
with all tiie circumstances of ferocious cruelty which
have in all ages distinguished that dreadful calamity,
is now raging in this county. Neither age nor sex,
nor even acknowledged innocence as to any guilt in
the late disturbances, is sufficient to excite mercy,
much less to afford protection.

The only crime wiiich the wretched objects of this
ruthless persecution are charged with, is a crime,
indeed, of easy proof — it is simply a profession of
the Roman Catholic faith, or an intimate connection
with a person professing this faith. A lawless ban-

APPENDIX. 403

ditti have constituted themselves judges of this new
species of dehnquency, and llie sentence they de-
nounce is equally concise and terrible ! It is nothing
less than a confiscation of all property, and an im-
mediate banishment.

It would be extremely painful, and surely unne-
cessary to detail the horrors that attend the execu-
tion of so rude and tremendous a proscription — a
proscription that certainly exceeds, in the compara-
tive number of those it consigns to ruin and misery,
every example tiiat ancient or modern history can
supply : for where have we heard, or in what story
of human cruelties have we read of more than half
the inhabitants of a populous countr}^ deprived at one
blow of the means as well as of the fruits of their in-
dustry, and driven, in the midst of an inclement sea-
son, to seek a shelter for themselves and their help-
less families where chance may guide them?

This is no exaggerated picture of the horrid scenes
now acting in this county ; yet surely it is sufficient
to awaken sentiments of indignation and compassion
in the coldest bosoms. These horrors are now act-
ing with impunity. The spirit of impartial justice
(without which law is nothing better than an instru-
ment of tyranny) has for a time disappeared in this
county, and the supineness of the magistracy of Ar-
magh is become a common topic of conversation in
every quarter of the kingdom.

It is said in reply — the Catholics are dangerous —
they may be so — they may be dangerous from their
numbers, and still more dangerous from the un-
bounded views they have been encouraged to enter-
tain ; but I will venture to assert, without fear of
contradiction, that these proceedings are not more
contrary to humanity than they are to sound policy.

It is to be lamented, that no civil magistrate hap-

404 APPENDIX.

pened to be present with the mihtary detachment on
the night of the 21st instant ; but I trust the sudden-
ness of the occasion, the unexpected and instantane-
ous aggression on the part of the dehnquents, will be
universally admitted as a full vindication of the con-
duct of the officer and the party acting under his
command.

Gentlemen, I have the honor to hold a situation in
this country, which calls upon me to deliver my
sentiments, and I do it without fear and without dis-
guise.

I am as true a Protestant as any gentleman in this
room. I inherit a property which my family derived
under a Protestant title ; and, with the blessing of
God, I will maintain that title to the utmost of my
power. I will never consent to make a sacrifice of
Protestant ascendency to Catholic claims, with what-
ever menace they may be urged, or however spe-
ciously or invidiously supported.

Conscious of my sincerity in this public declara-
tion, which I do not make unadvisedly, but as the
result of mature deliberation, I defy the paltry in-
sinuations that malice or party spirit may suggest.

I know my own heart, and I should despise my-
self, if, under any intimidation, I should close my
eyes against such scenes as present themselves on
every side, or my ears against the complaints of a
persecuted people.

I should be guilty of an unpardonable injustice to
the feelings of gentlemen here present, were I to say
more on this subject. I have now acquitted myself
to my conscience and my country, and take the lib-
erty of proposing the following resolutions : —

1. That it appears to this meeting, that the county
of Armagh is at this moment in a state of uncommon
disorder — that the Roman Catholic inhabitants are

APPENDIX. 405

grievously oppressed by lawless persons unknown,
who attack and plunder their houses by night, and
threaten them with instant destruction, unless they
immediately abandon their lands and habitations.

2. That a committee of magistrates be appointed
to sit on Tuesdays and Saturdays in the chapter-
room in the town of Armagh, to receive informations
against all persons of whatever description, who dis-
turb the peace of this county.

3. That the instruction of the whole body of
magistrates to their committee shall be, to use every
legal means within their power to stop the progress
of the persecution now carrying on by an ungovern-
able mob, against the Roman Catholic inhabitants
of this county.

4. That said committee, or any three of them, be
empowered to expend any sum or sums of money,
for information or secret service, out of the fund sub
scribed by the gentlemen of this county.

5. That a meeting of the whole body of the magis-
tracy be held every second Monday at the house of
Mr. Charles Reynolds, in the town of Armagh, to
hear the reports of the committee, and to give such
further instructions as the exigency of the case may
require.

6. That offenders of every description in the pres-
ent disturbances, shall be prosecuted out of the fund
subscribed by the gentlemen of this county.

From " The Dublin Journal" of January the 5th, 1795,
and copied in all the papers in Ireland,

I

406 APPENDIX.

No. VIII.

Adjutant General's Office. \

Dublin, 26th February, 1798.

General Orders, — The very disgraceful fre-
quenc)' of courts-martial, and the many complaints
of irregularities in the conduct of the troops in this
kingdom, having too unfortunately proved the army
to be in a state of licentiousness, which must render it
formidable to every one but the enemy ; the com-
mander-in-ciiief thinks it necessary to demand from
all generals commanding districts and brigades, as
well as commanding officers of regiments, that they
exert themselves, and compel from all officers under
their command, the strictest and most unremitting i i
attention to the discipline, good order, and conduct ; '"*
of their men, such as may restore the high and dis- ! !
linguished reputation the British troops have been i

accustomed to enjoy in every part of the world. It
becomes necessary to recur, and most pointedly to I .ri
attend to the standing orders of the kingdom, which,
at the same time that they direct military assistance j i-*'
to be given at the requisition of the civil magistrate, ' .
positively forbid the troops to act (but in case of at- I
tack) without his presence and authority; and the •;
most clear and precise orders are to be given to the ! ! t
officer commanding the party for this purpose. The i i -;
utmost prudence and precaution are also to be used < i^t
in granting parties to revenue officers, both with re- j t-^
spect to the person requiring such assistance, and
those employed on the duty ; whenever a guard is
mounted, patroles must be frequently sent out to
take up every soldier who may be found out of his
quarters after his hours.

A very culpable remissness having also appeared

APPENDIX. 407

on the part of officers, respecting the necessary in-
spection of barracks, quarters, messes, (fee, as well
as attendance at roll-calls, and other hours, com-
manding officers must enforce the attention of those
under their command to those points, and the general
regulations, for all which the strictest responsibility
will be expected for themselves.

It is of the utmost importance that the discipline
of the dragoon regiments should be minutely attended
to, for the facilitating of which, the commander-in-
chief has dispensed with the attendance of orderly
dragoons on himself, and desires that they may not
be employed by any general or commanding officer,
but on military and indispensable business.

Lieutenant-General Craig,

Eastern district.
Barracks, Dublin

No. IX.

By order of the council for directing the affairs of the people of
the county of Wexford.

Oaths to be taken by all the united army, in the most public and

solemn manner.

TEST OATH.

In the awful presence of God, I, A. B., do volun-
tarily declare, that I will persevere in endeavoring
to form a brotherhood of affection among Irishmen
of every religious persuasion ; and' that I will also
persevere in my endeavors to obtain an equal, full,
and adequate representation of all the people of Ire-
land. I do further declare, that neither flopes, fears,
rewards, nor punishments, not even death, shall ever
induce me, directly or indirectly, to inform on or
give any evidence against any member or members
of this or similar societies, for any act or expression

408 APPENDIX.

of theirs, done or made collectively or individually,
in or out of this society, in pursuance of the spirit of
this obligation. So help me God.

Oath of a private.

I, A. B., do solemnly and sincerely swear, and
take God, and his only Son our Lord Jesus Christ,
to v^'itness, that I will at all times be obedient to the
commands of my officers — that I am ready to lay
down my life for the good of my country — that I
have an aversion to plunder, and to the spilling of
innocent blood — that I will fight courageously in the
field, and have mercy where it can be given — that I
will avoid drunkenness as tending to disorder and ruin
— that I will endeavor to make as many friends and
as few enemies as possible — that above all, I detest
a coward, and that I will look upon him as an enemy
who will stand back in the time of battle. So help
me God.

Oath of an officer

In the awful presence of God, who knows the
hearts and thoughts of all men, and calling my coun-
try to witness, I, A. B., officer in, &c., do solemnly
swear, that I do not consider my life my own when
my countr}" demands it — liiat I consider the present
moment calls for a proof of the sincerity of that sen-
timent ; and I am ready and desirous to stand the
test ; and do aver, that I am determined to die, or
lead to vicrory ; and that all my actions shall be di-
rected to the prosperity of the common cause, unin-
fluenced by any inferior motive : and I further de-
clare my utter aversion to all alarmists, union break-
ers, and cowards, and my respect and obedience to

APPENDIX. 409

the commands of superior officers. So help me
God.

By order of the council,

B. B. Harvey, president.
Nicholas Gray, secretary.
Done at the council chamber,
Wexford, June 14, 1798.

No. X.

To Bregaddeer-Magar Figgerald, in Waxford.

Plaise your honour as you war good enof get the
general to give us pardon, and as you tould us, that
if there was an occasion youd expect that weed fite
for our king and cunlry, and as ever willin' to be up
to our word, wc send this paper about the bisness ;
and if your honour 'ill give us leave to fite weel do
every thing your honour bids us, and we minded noth-
ing else to-morrow but to fite for the king's officers
against the French ; and hopes your honour will ex-
cuse this haste an we wished to lose no time, and
excuse our not nowing how to write to such generals,
but if your honour will get a memoral drawn rite,
your honour may depend on us and put our names
to it for us as in the inclosed. O'Brien,

Walsh, and
Sullivan.

To the General Hunter, or Governor of Wexford, belonging to
King George the Third.

We the Macomore boys was in the turn out against
the Orrange-men, and to who your noble honour
gave your most grasous pardon, for we never de-

9

410 APPENDIX.

sarved any other if we war let alone, and being tould
that the French was cumeing to take this cunttry
from his royal highness the king, who we swore to
fite for, and in regard to our oath and to your lord-
ship's goodness in keeping the Orrange-men from
killing us all, weel fite til we die if your honour will
give us leave, and weel go in front of the battle, and
we never ax to go in the back of the army your
honour will send wid us, and if we don't bate them
weel never ax a bit to eat, and as you gave us par-
don and spoke to the king about us, as the bregad-
deer-magar tould us and as we tould him weed never
deceive your honour, tho' the black mob says weel
turn out a bit again, but we'el shew them and the
W'orld if your honour will bid us, that weel fite and
won't run away from the best of them, and if your
honour will send down the magar that was wid us
from your lordship afore, or the Honorable Magar
Curry, or the Lord Sir James Fowler, general of the
Middle-lothin sogers in Waxford, and let them lave
word at Pepper's castle and weel march into Wax-
ford, go wiiere your honour bids us, do any thing
atal to fite for your honours, and weel expect to hear
from your honour what weel do ; or if your honour
will order a signal to be made with a red flag, weel
draw up and march as good as any sogers, and, as
far as one or two thoughsand good stout boys goes,
weel fite for your honour to the last man, and weer
sure all the barneys 'ill do the same if you will give i
them lave.

Signed by the desire of all the parishes in the
Mackomores, O'Brien,

Walsh, and

August 27th, 1798. SuLLIVAN.

M

>

^

APPENDIX. 411

The author applied to Major Fitzgerald for au-
thentic copies of the addresses to him and General
Hunter, from the inhabitants of the Macomores, of-
fering their services to march against the French, and
received for answer, that he had no copies by him,
although such addresses had been forwarded, but not
exactl}' in the form in which the foregoing are there-
fore unavoidably introduced, which it is hoped may
be sufficient apology for the burlesqued manner they
appear in, however intended to undo the innate spirit
and intention of the originals.

Major Fitzgerald got several messages and notices
from the Macomores, respecting the arrival of Holt
and Hackett, but was induced to set out immediately
on the receipt of a letter from a respectable gentle-
man, who docs not wish to have his name appear in
print, but is authenticated by a copy in the hand-
writing of Major Fitzgerald, with his initials, as fol-
lows ; —

Dear Sir — I am requested by the respectable far-
mers of this county to entreat you to come here with-
out delay, as the people are much agitated. The
industry and domestic happiness which you estab-
lished among them seems suspended ; and to-mor-
row appears to be an appointed day for general meet-
ing. Your appearance would certainly quiet the dis-
tracted people, and I trust your humanity and ardent
exertions will induce you to interfere. If you honor
me with an answer, and that you promise the people
the pleasure of a visit, the most respectable farmers
are ready to attend your arrival, and accompany you
through the Macomores. I remain in anxious ex-
pectation of seeing you, &c. &c. G. S.

C— h— e, September 2d, 1798.
To Brigade-major Fitzgerald.

412 APPENDIX.

No. XI. '

County Wexford, ) Stephen Lett, jun., upholder and •<
^° '^^''^- ) auctioneer, of Enniscortliy, iu said i -'

county, came before me this day, and maketh oath \ M
on the Holy Evangehsts, tiiat Captain Philip Hay j a
called upon deponent to value the furniture at Bal- ! ..'
lenkeeJe, which he was to take from his brother, i ..^
Edward Hay, and which he imderstood formed part ; -x.'-
of a settlement between them, previous to Mr. Ed- ij
Avard Hay leaving Ballenkeele. Deponent accord- u
ingly attended at Ballenkeele about the middle of ts
May last, and on the valuation being made, Captain 'f
Philip Hay declared they were too dear, and would \ rs
not take them. In consequence of which, Whiisun i ^
Monday was, as a holiday, considered the best day
for a countr}'-auction, requiring at least two market
days to post up printed advertisements, which was
accordingly done. Deponent avers that Mr. Edward
Hay was distressed at this delay, as it w^as quite
contrary to his inclinations, as he declared his inten- T.j
tions of leaving the country as speedily as possible, j i.j,
Deponent had often heard Mr. Edward Kay declare ; ii-
in the most solemn manner, that he would never be- (-Sj,
come a member of any political society. Deponent ,
retreated from Enniscortliy to Wexford along with .|i,
the army, on the 28th of May, 1798, and the day f
after Wexford was taken by the rebels, while depo- |1
nent was in a boat along with Mr. O'Toole and fami- ||i
ly, with Mrs. Lysler, going to Edermine, verily be-
lieves that he would have been put to death, had not
Mr. Edward Hay thrown himself between the mob
and the boat, and with great dilHculty kept them oil'
with a stick, until he shoved the boat irom the quay.
Sworn before me this loth of November, 1798,

Stephen Lktt, jun., IsAAC CoRNOCK.

Sergeant in the Enniscortliy cavalry.

JIPPENDIX. 413

Wexford, 6th January, 1799.

Dear Sir — T received yours, and shall with plea-
sure say every thing in my power consistent with
honor and justice, touching your character, so far as
I am capable of judging, during the rebellion. At
that time I considered myself honored by your ac-
quaintance, and llie frequent visits I paid you at
Ballenkeele, and the intimacy that existed between
us, leads me to believe I could form a just opinion of
your principles in political matters, which we con-
stantly talked over. I most solemnly declare I never
heard you drop one sentence that was inimical to the
constitution or government of our country, but the
reverse — reprobating the conduct of such as were
disturbing the peace of the country, and condemning
their proceedings ; and I have heard you declare
most solemnly, that you never would belong lo any
political society whatever. Since my return to Wex-
ford, after the country was recovered, I have not
heard any man say you committed an act that would
disgrace your name, which I verily believe, from
what I experienced, and also was informed of your
humane and tender actions to individuals of every
description. I remain, with warmest wishes for
your speedy liberation,

Dear Sir, yours most truly,

Arthur Murphy,

To Edward Hay, Esq. Lieut. Ilealthfield cavalry.

Wexford jail.

County Wexford, ) Edward Roche, of Garrilough,
*° ^'^- \ who acted as a rebel chief in the

late rebellion, voluntarily maketh oath, that the_ rebels
vowed vengeance against Mr. Edward Hay, for aid-
ing and assisting the late Edward Turner, Esq., who

414 APPENDIX.

was a magistrate for said county, on the surrender
of their arms and pikes at Newpark, on Saturday,
the 26th of May, 1798, thereby supposing him their
enemy. Deponent saith that the rebels constantly,
during the rebellion, called for Mr. Edward Hay to
go out to their camps and take the command ; and
if said Edward would not, he should be put to death
by them. Deponent saiih that, from the hate and
violence of the rebels, and their threats against said
Edward, his personal safety became uncertain and
precarious : and the more so, as frequent represen-
tations were made to the rebels by certain persons
that had influence among them, that said Edward
was inimical to them. Deponent saith that said
Edward never carried arms, attended the rebel
camps, or did any thing to conciliate the rebels. De-
ponent saith he was in Wexford on the 20th of June,
1798, being the day of the massacre on the bridge,
where deponent saw Mr. Edward Hay exert himself
Aviili zeal and activity in preventing the wicked and
blood-thirsty designs of the rebels ; and saith that the
said Edward, in so doing, exposed himself to almost
inevitable destruction. Deponent saith that the rebels
loudly declared Mr. Hay to be their enemy — that his
whole designs were to protect their enemies, the
Orangemen ; and if he was not one himself, he
would not oppose them, (the rebels,) and e.xert him-
self for the protection of Orangemen.

Sworn before me this 18th day of April, 1799,
Edward Roche. Eden. Jacob.

Dear Sir — In compliance with your request, and
having received a summons to attend your trial, I
shall relate the circumstances I recollect of your con-
duct during the rebelhon, as you mention you want
to have your instructions made out for your lawyers

APPENDIX, 415

previous to the assizes. I was taken prisoner along
with Lord Kingsborough and Captain O'Hea, on the
2d day of June, 1798. We were confined together
in a house in Wexford, with a strong guard on us.
From the great fury of the people against Lord
Kingsborough, we expected every nnoment to be put
to death. Mr. Edward Hay visited us frequently,
and we clearly perceived his disposition to aiford us
every consolation in his power, as he took every op-
portunity he could of softening our captivity, and has
frequently conducted my wife and family to see me,
at a time it was extremely dangerous to seem or ap-
pear friendly to us. Whenever we experienced any
kind of distress, we always sent for Mr. Hay, who
readily came to us, and never left us without our be-
ing convinced he would do his utmost to be of ser-
vice to us. I have every reason to believe he saved
our lives on several occasions, when the mob were
for bringing us out and putting us to death. One
day in particular, I perfectly recollect his standing
with his back to the door of the house in which we
were confined, where he remained until the tumul-
tuous crowd had dispersed, who sought our instant
destruction. I always heard Mr. Hay express his
horror at any barbarous proceeding of the rebels, and
his earnest wish that peace and good order might be
restored. Various reports being circulated, that
tended to rouse and irritate the passions of the peo-
ple to revenge, that the army had committed the
greatest excesses, which alarmed us and all the rest
of the prisoners in Wexford for our situation; we as
usual consulted Mr. Hay on this peculiar cause of
distress, and found him particularly anxious to for-
ward a treaty of negotiation of prisoners, proposed
by Lord Kingsborough as the best mode of re-estab-
lishing peace and good order. During this dilemma,

416 APPENDIX.

letters had been forwarded through the rebel camps ,
from Dublin to Lord Kingsborough, in answer to ,
which was considered a favorable opportunity of,
forwarding this measure, which Mr. Hay readily i
undertook ; and he accordingly conducted Captain
M'Manus to consult with us, and in consequence a
letter was written by Lord Kingsborough, in the ;
name of all the prisoners, among whom were thir-
teen officers, a great number of yeomanry officers, j
and principal gentlemen of the county, intimating that '
they were well treated, and in every respect prison-
ers of war ; hoping, therefore, that the prisoners taken j
by the army might meet with the like good treatment j
that they did, otherwise they feared reprisals might be j
made, and our destruction inevitable, which proposal i
was confided to my charge, and with which 1 was to i
proceed to the next commanding officer of the army,
and to return with the answer with all convenient
speed. I accordingly set out from Wexford on the
14th day of June, 1798, and proceeded as far as En-
niscorthy, where I was stopped by the people, and
not allowed to proceed any further, and obliged to re-
turn to Wexford the next day, at which disappoint-
ment we felt our situation more alarming than ever, |
and experienced in a greater degree the consoling |
visits of Mr. Hay, who was truly concerned at this j
disappointment. I never knew nor heard of Mi. \
Hay having any command among the rebels, nor did
I ever see him appear in arms or wear any mark or
distinction of uniform, which I had a daily opportu-
nity of witnessing had it been so, as the house in
which we were confined was situated in the bull-
ring, and commanded a full view of the most frequent-
ed streets in Wexford, through which all the armed
men in the town passed and repassed twice a day.
Among the many attentions paid us by Mr. Hay,

APPENDIX. 417

he brought us letters that had been directed to us,
and had fallen into the hands of the rebels, which if
made public to them might have proved our instant
destruction, for which piece of service Mr. Hay nar-
rowly escaped with his life, as Captain Keugh, who
then commanded in Wexford, expressed great anger
on hearing it from Lord Kingsborough, who inad-
vertently mentioned Mr. Hay having done so, and
Mr. Hay was afterwards constantly prevented from
visiting us by order of Captain Keugh.

On the 20th day of June, 1798, the day of the
massacre on the bridge of Wexford, considering our
situation more critical than ever, we wished to see
Mr. Hay ; Lord Kingsborough sent for him, and lie
immediately attended, but was denied admittance to
us, but he spoke to him out of the window, and he
declared to us, that as long as he was alive himself,
we might depend upon every exertion of his. We
had at last the consolation of Mr. Hay being admit-
ted up stairs to us at eight o'clock in the evening ; we
found him beyond expression affected at the cruelties
that had been committed, which he had in vain done
every thing in his power to prevent, and anxious to
undertake any thing for the safety of the prisoners.
After a variety of consultation, Lord Kingsborough
and Mr. Hay agreed to go out to meet the army that
was approaching Wexford, in order to save the town
from destruction. The Wexford-men that had gone
out of the town that day, returned from the battle of
Fooks's-mill while Mr. Hay was still with us ; he
then proposed to go and consult the principal inhab-
itants, who he had not the smallest doubt would agree
lo and facilitate the plan : it being then late at night,
lie promised to return early in the morning to set off
along with Lord Kingsborough, who was so anxious to
carry this project into execution, that he was dressed

418 APPENDIX.

in full regimentals, and completely ready to set out
at three o'clock in the morning of the 21st of June,
1798, at which time he sent for Mr. Hay, who in-
stantly came, represented to Lord Kingsborough the
danger of his going out equipped as he was, for it
would prove their inevitable destruction, if they went
without the consent of the people. Lord Kingsbo-
rough then entreated Mr. Hay to hasten a meeting
of the principal inhabitants, and to have the drum
beat to arms, and the men would speedily repair to
parade, where their consent might be obtained, as the
smallest delay would prove the destruction of the
town and all its inhabitants. Mr. Hay instantly com-
plied, and returned with an account of the Wexford-
men having agreed to the plan with the greatest
alacrity, and it had been further resolved on, that
Lord Kingsborough should not leave the town, which
should be instantly surrendered to him as military
commander ; and that Doctor Jacob had re-assumed
the ofiice of mayor, all of which was immediately
carried into effect, with some opposition on the part
of Captain Kcugh, who wanted to retain the com-
mand, but was most spiritedly opposed by Mr. Hay.
Mr. Ha}' set off with Captain M'Manus, as soon as
Lord Kingsborough could write out the necessary
dispatches to the next cotnmanding officer of his ma-
jesty's forces, announcing the town of Wexford be-
ing surrendered to him ; and that in consequence of
the behavior of those in the town during the rebel-
lion, they should all be protected in person and prop-
erty, murderers excepted, aiid those ivho had insti-
gated others to co?nmit murder, hoping that these
terms might be ratified, as he had pledged his honor
in the most solemn manner to have these terms ful-
filled on the town being surrendered to him, the
Wexford -men not being concerned in the massacre

APPENDIX. 419

which was perpetrated by country people in their
absence. I saw Mr. Hay on his return from Gen-
eral Lake on the 22d day of June, 1 798, when Lord
Kingsborough considered himself under so many ob-
ligations to him, which he acknowledged in the
strongest terms, and insisted he should live in ll)e
house with him, where Mr. Hay remained with us
until we left Wexford on the 29th of June, during
which period I have repeatedly heard him express a
desire to be brought to trial if any tiling was alleged
against him, as he would wish to have the benefit of
our testimony before we went to Waierford. I con-
sider myself bound on all occasions that may be af-
forded me, and I think it an indispensable duty, to do
justice to the meritorious conduct of Mr. Hay during
the rebellion in Wexford ; and actuated by principles
of honor and gratitude I think myself bound to prove
and subscribe to.

Michael Bourke,

Sailing, June 3d, 1799. Paymaster North Cork militia.

To Edward Hay, Esq., Wexford jail.

I believe the above account of Mr. Bourke, with
the alteration I have made, to be true.*

Kingston.

Colney, December 14th, 1799.

Sii- — From what I saw of your conduct while I
was at Wexford a prisoner, I am convinced that you
did all in your power to save the people whom the
rebels wished to murder, and myself among that
number ; and it was through you that the town of
Wexford was given up to me, which circumstance I
believe saved the lives of many ; and by what I have

* Alteration alluded to is in italic

I

420 APPENDIX.

heard from you of your trial, do think you have been
very unjustly persecuted.

I am your most obedient humble servant,

Kingston.

To Edward Hav, Esq.

ia

Dublin, March 19, 1800.
Sir — According to your request I have made a
proper retrospect on the circumstances you allude to
in your letter of the 17th, and recollect perfectly
when a memorial was presented to Major-general
Hunter on your part, from on board a prison ship,
denying that you had ever petitioned for transporta-.
tion, and to be liberated under the general proclama-
tion ; that the general had a very good disposition to
liberate you, and believe would have complied with
your petition, but on questioning the committee, they!
still asserted you had petitioned for transportation.
General Hunter declared if so, you should apply to
his excellency the lord-lieutenant, and if you wished'
it would forward such memorial. When you were,
afterwards removed from the prison-ship to the jail
on account of ill health, through the interference of
General Craddock a recommendation came by which
I was sent to you to inquire more particularly into
your situation, wjicn you demonstrated the facts so
clearly to me by documents, &c. J had every reason
to believe the general would liberate you on discov-
ering the iniquitous designs of the committee, as I
conceived you iiad sufficient proofs to show the fal-
sity of their assertions ; but unfortunately for you at
that period, the landing of the French in this king-
dom obliged the general to depart hastily from Wex-
ford, which left you and many more innocent per-
sons the victims of a persecuting sanguinary party,

14

APPENDIX. 421

which I call that vile body, commonly called the
committee ! !

However, I congratulate you on your happy es-
cape from becoming the victim of suborned perjury,
which to my knowledge was too commonly resorted
to in that town, under the pretext of law.

I regret exceedingly General Hunter is not in the
realm, as you would be certain to meet from him
every honorable testimony of your situation, as he
never countenanced party of any kind, and was al-
ways ready to relieve the oppressed. I shall be
happy at any time to come forward to attest any
thing that comes to my recollection, and should long
since unveil the horrid atrocious practices of that
town, if my public duties did not interfere. I wish
you may succeed in getting redress ; and have the
honor to remain.

Sir, your obedient humble servant,

B. Edward Fitzgerald,

Major of brigade.
To Edward Hay, Esq.

County of Wexford, i Margaret Breen, the wife of

^° ^'"^' $ Matthew Breen, of the town of

Wexford, mariner, came before me this day, freely
and voluntarily maketh oath on the holy Evangelists,
and saith that she was on board the sloop Liberty in
the harbor of Wexford, on the 29th day of May — the
day before W^exford was surrendered to the rebels.
Saith that on the same day deponent saw Mr. Ed-
ward Hay take shipping on board the vessel called
the Adventure, of Wexford, as deponent believes, to
make his escape from the said town. Saith that on the
31st day of May, 1798 — being the day after the town
was possessed by the rebels — a furious mob came
calling loudly for Edward Turner, Esq., deceased,

422 APPENDIX.

late magistrate for said county ; declaring they would
put him to death at the same moment, and were
about to destroy the house wherein he the said Ed-
ward Turner was concealed, Saith that the said
Mr. Hay being informed of the designs of the said
mob, interfered for Mr. Turner's protection, and ex-
postulated with them, saying that Mr. Turner was
his most intimate friend, that he was a good charita-
ble man, and a protector of the poor. Saith that the
mob, on the warm solicitations of Mr. Hay, were in-
duced to withhold their design of murdering Mr.
Turner ; but insisted on his being sent a prisoner to
the jail. Deponent saith that in some few days after-
tiie town was so possessed by the rebels, she saw a
great multitude assemble in a clamorous and riotous
manner near the house where Lord Kingsborough
and two other officers of the North Cork reijiment
of militia were prisoners : saith the rebels seemed
furiously determined to bring the said prisoners out
and put them to death. Deponent saith she saw the
said Edward Hay interpose for their preservation,
and addressed the mob in terms strongly reprobating
the idea of killing in cold blood, and that ihe ven-
geance of God would overtake all murderers. Depo-
nent saith that she has frequently heard the rebels
threaten the lives of Lord Kingsborough and his of-
ficers ; and believes their safely and protection in a
great measure attributable to the efforts of tlie said
Edward Hay. Deponent was summoned on Mr.
Hay's trial, and this affidavit is the substance of her
testimony, had she been deemed necessary to be
called on.

Sworn before me this 17th day of August, 1799,

Eben. Jacob.
Margaret Breem.

APPENDIX. 423

Dear Sir — I shall be happy to bear testimony upon
any occasion that may be afforded me, of such parts
of your conduct as came within my observation du-
ring the late unhappy rebellion. In the first instance,
I perfectly recollect that on the 27lh of May last,
you joined the corps of yeomanry to which I belong,
but from appearing in colored clothes in common
with a few other persons who had offered their ser-
vices, it was thought advisable by the officer com-
manding the party, that such persons as were not in
military uniform should return to Wexford. For the
space of fifteen days, I had frequent opportunities of
seeing and hearing of your conduct, which I believe
to have been strongly marked by mildness and hu-
manity, and an abhorrence of the excesses that were
daily committing, which you had it not in your pow-
er to prevent ; nor did I ever sec j^ou carry arms
during that period. I have to acknowledge many
kind and friendly visits from you during my confine-
ment, when you gave me, Mrs. Browne, her sister
Mrs. Huson, and family, all the consolation in your
power ; but in particular, after I had been dragged
down to jail by a party of the rebels, you immediate-
ly repaired there, used your exertions, brought down
General Roche, and happily for me you succeeded
in effecting my release. After this I was advised to
go to my own house in the country, but being again
made a prisoner there, and being surrounded by nu-
merous perils, in the midst of my distress you wrote
a most friendly letter, which was delivered to Mrs.
Browne in the most secret manner, communicating
the violent threats you had heard against me in
Wexford, and recommending me to return to town,
in order to refute the charges that had been brought
against me. Upon the whole, I am convinced that
your conduct towards me was solely actuated by

424 APPENDIX.

motives of esteem and regard for my preservation,
for wliich I should be happy to render you any ade-
quate kindness. I am well convinced that during
the disastrous period of three weeks — while the reb-
els had possession of Wexford — many loyal subjects
were obliged to act in a manner repugnant to their
feeling, in order to save their lives and please the
multitude, who threatened vengeance against many
persons for not aiding and assisting in their designs.
Your letter dated the 18th ult. I assure you I never
received till about one o'clock )'esterday, when it
was handed to me in the court-house, which will
apologize for my not attending to it in due time.

I am, dear Sir,
Your obliged and faithful humble servant,
Armstrong Browne,

First Lieutenant Shilmalier cavalry
Wexford, 2d April, 1799.
To Edward Hay, Esq.

«

No. XII.

Testimony of Ehenezer Jarnh, Esq., M.D., on the trial of Edward
Hay, at the assizes of Wexford, on the 27th of July, 1799, pro-
duced and sicorn as an evidence for the crown.

Examined by Timothy Driscol, Esq.

Recollects the time in 1798, when the rebels were
in possession of Wexford ; was in Wexford during
that period ; knows the prisoner ; believes the first
time he saw Mr. Hay after the rebels came into
Wexford, was when he was inquiring where General
Fitzgerald was ; heard he was at Mr. Lett's, where
Mr. Bagnal Harvey lodged ; went to Mr. Lett's and
found him there ; to the best of his recollection, he
saw Mr. Hay, Captain Keugh, and Mr. Harvey ;
cannot say in what situation Bagnal Harvey acted
during the rebellion ; saw Keugh at the head of a

APPENDIX. 425

party of rebels in arms ; has seen Keugh act as an
officer; has no positive knowledge of a committee
existing in Wexford at that time ; saw Mr. Hay
again passing by with Mr. Harvey ; said they were
going to give circulation to bank-notes ; does not be-
lieve there was any one else in company with them ;
believes he saw them near the court-house, moving
on to the left of the town ; remembers the 21st of
June, 1798; was called on by Robert Meyler, who
told him several persons were at Keugh's, and re-
quested he would go there ; went accordingly, and
saw the prisoner at Keugh's house ; saw Keugh,
Harvey, R. Carty, priest Roche, and several others,
whose names he does not recollect, in company with
prisoner ; Keugh asked if they should speak on the
subject Doctor Jacob was sent for ? Hay said yes,
and he did so ; Keugh said, it would be madness not
to surrender the town, as there were great numbers
of the king's troops marching in different ways to
Wexford ; one army he said was marching from
Taghmon, another from Oulart, and a third from
Enniscorlhv ; they all immediately agreed but priest
Roche, who was overruled. It was proposed that
he and Robert Carty should go with a flag of truce
to the Taghmon army, and that the prisoner and
Captain M'Manus should go to the Oulart army ;
Captain M'Manus was selected as a loyalist ; cannot
tell why Mr. Hay was selected ; cannot say whether
Keugh gave any reason for coupling them ; Captain

O'Hea and were sent to the Enniscorthy army ;

Mr. Hay consented to go ; spoke to that effect and
went ; the persons he met at Keugh's were of a tol-
erable degree, persons he conceived of high situation,
from opinion, not knowledge ; does not recollect any
others that were there ; the persons so assembled
assumed authority ; it was mentioned in Mr. Hay's

n

426 APPENDIX.

ni

i

presence that he was to go with Captain M'Manus, ,'
and he consented; does not beheve Mr. Hay was ?i.
an officer, never saw or heard he carried arms ; can-
not say whether Carty was an officer or not ; never .
saw Bagnal Harvey act in the capacity of an officer ; ;jj
Carty was a rich farmer ; Harvey was a man of *
property ; Keugh was an officer in the army, and
always considered a gentleman.

Cross-examined by Peter Burroughs, Esq

It was after the town was surrendered to the reb-
els he saw Mr. Hay ; believes he did not meet Mr.
Hay in company more than once or twice before
that day ; many loyal persons were desirous of being
in the company of Harvey and Keugh, to afford
themselves protection ; believes that the religion of
a Catholic might make him more respected with the
rebels, and might give a Cathohc more influence
than a Protestant ; believes great bloodshed was pre-
vented by those who iiad influence ; beheves that a
loyal man might be glad to have influence with the
rebels ; docs not actually know that Mr. Hay used
his influence to save lives, but is confident lie would
do so if he could ; the loyal inhabitants would have
been in great danger liad there been a battle m ta-
king the town ; a loyal and humane man ought to
join in the terms of recapitulation, but he conceived
a loyal Roman Catholic would be preferred to go to
the army ; many persons favored the rebellion that
detested it. Q. Do you not believe that many Prot-
estants submitted to be christened by priests? A. I
do believe many loyal men did so, but no true Prot-
estant need do so, if it was not his own choice. Q.
Do you not believe that Captain Hay was considered
a rebel ? A. I do. Q. Did you not hear that he

APPENDIX. 427

was tried and honorably acquitted by a court-martial?
A. I did.

No. XIII.

Letter from Mr. Hay to the Rev. Mr. Gordon,

Reverend Sir — As you have publicly professed a
I wish to be informed of any involuntary errors con-
' tained in your history, at a time when speculative
opinions supply the place of fact, and are so preva-
lent, hearsay evidence — whether oral, manuscript,
or even printed — is to be received with the greatest
caution. The great superiority of ocular informa-
tion to any other, induces me from personal know-
ledge of facts to send you along with my own opin-
ion auxiliary documents that cannot fail to convince
you, that the introduction of my name into your
history is not such as I am entitled to, and I hope
your professions of candor and liberality may be
realized, by doing justice to my present communi-
cation.

According to the plan contained in Mr. Byrne's
circular letter, two persons deputed from each Cath-
olic congregation in the county of Wexford, assem-
bled at Enniscorthy, on the 29th of July, 1792,
where they elected delegates to represent the county
in the general committee of the Catholics of Ireland.
I attended this meeting as a voter from the congre-
gation I belonged to, and had the honor of being
elected one of the delegates for the county of Wex-
ford. So that the intermediate step of baronials,
which you mention in your history, had but a specu-
lative existence, invented, I do suppose, with a view
of assimilating the Catholic committee with the sys-

42S APPENDIX. ]

tem of Vnited Irishmen — a circumstance totaHy de- 1
void of truth, as no kind of communication existed !
between them. In order that the meeting of the ;
general committee should be publicly attended, pro- ,
posals were made to hire different pubHc places, i
which could not be obtained, so that no other place I
but the Taylors-hall, Back-lane, could be procured. <
This precluded the possibility of being able to admit
any but the delegates, as it was scarcely sufficient ,
to contain them, and thus was the committee frus-
trated in having their assembly publicly attended.
The first meeting of this general committee took
place in December, 1792, for seven days only, which
vou mention to be many weeks. The second and
final meeting for eight days in April, 1793, and the
meeting ended in a dissolution, beginning on the 16th
and ending on the 25th, as Saturday the 20th was i
taken up by the attendance of all the delegates in i
the court of King's Bench, to take the oaths prescri-
bed by a late act of parliament. The collections
made by the Catholics of Ireland to defray the ne- j
cessary expenses attendant on the pursuit of their ■
emancipation, were voluntary subscriptions, and not ]
in any degree assessments. It is evident the en-!
treaties, by no means orders of the sub-committee,
were not attended to, as two-thirds of the counties
of Ireland never produced one farthing. I paid the }
collection of the county of Wexford to the treasurer
in 1792, and no second collection ever was made
there. The statue of the king could not be erected,
although voted as a monument of Catholic srratitude,
which along with other honorable encasements, were
superseded by the general and calumnious outcry
raised at the time against our collections.

The peljiion of the Catholics of Ireland mi^bt be !
supposed to escape animadversion, when his majesty j

APPENDIX. 429

as graciously pleased to signify his strongest ap-
•obation in his recommendation to the parliament of
eland, who, in consequence, repealed the greater
irt of the penal statutes against Catholics. The
te Earl of Clare did assert, as you have done in
3ur histon', " that the Catholic petition was sur-
risingly fraught with misrepresentation." On this
ssertion being made, the petition was republished,
iciting the statutes on which the allegations contain-
i in the petition were grounded, prepared by the
[on. Simon Butler, whose reputation as a lawyer
le chancellor was too well acquainted with, to at-
mpt to expose his error a second time, and gave up
le point. So that I imagine this public document
ill be equally convincing to you, which I send,
ong with all the proceedings of the Catholic com-
liltee relating to this event, for your perusal, as I
ould wish your avowal to proceed from the most
srfect information on the subject.

Although I profess the Roman Catholic religion,
should not be of that communion a single hour,
ere their tenets as they are represented, through
lat baneful prejudice, so prevalent in Ireland, that
roves such an effectual drawback to the otherwise
ifalHble prosperity of my country- ; and I cannot suf-
ciently lament to see such so industriously circula-
;d, as it only serves to keep alive those prejudices
lat all liberal men see llirough and reprobate as a
est to society.

A sloop which had been fitted up by the insurgents
1 Wexford, but had been twice condemned as to-
iUy unlit for that service, was hauled on one side in
be harbor, where she sunk within a foot of her deck,
nd remained in that situation for a month, when she
vas pumped out. I was the same day, without trial
ir inquiry, put on board along with those that had

430 APPENDIX.

been tried and sentenced to transportation. The
wet straw was left in her hold, and a little dry straw
shook over, which our walking on soon made as bad
as the rest ; so that it was not possible to sit or lie
down without imbibing the wet, nor had we even the
satisfaction of resting against the sides of the ship,
as the planks were water-soaked. The effervescence
of the putrid malt was so strong as to turn money
black in our pockets in the course of a few hours.
We had also a profusion of rats that bit some of the
prisoners. My health has been greatly impaired by
five weeks' confinement on board this sloop, and 1
fear it will never be perfectly re-established. I should
detain you too long, to enumerate the various hard-
ships I suffered during the period of thirteen months
that I was confined, which I was at last released
from by an honorable acquittal, at the summer assizes
in Wexford, in August, 1799, independent of the
amnesty bill. Whereas, my persecutors could be
punished by the fundamental laws of the constitution,
had ihey not the indemnity bills to screen their base
and tyrannical conduct towards me. I have confined
myself merely to the facts staled in your history, in
which I have been in some degree concerned, and an
eye-witness, which precludes the possibility of cavil-
ling or contradiction. I hope you may be kind enough
to set them in their proper colors. I request the fa-
vor of your answer, as I am anxious to learn your
determination on a subject you have hitherto been so
iininformcd about, as I do not mean to let such trans-
actions go uncontradicted to posterity.

I have the honor to be, with great respect, rever-
end sir, your most obedient, humble servant,

Edward Hay.

Dublin, 6th July, 1802.
To the Rev. Mr. Gordon, Boro Lodge.

APPENDIX. 431

Answer of the Rev. Mr. Gordon.

Sir — I have received your documents, and think
you much aggrieved ; I am satisfied of their veraci-
ty ; they remove a mistake in my history ; I shall
pubhsh them in my next edition with suitable ac-
knowledgments.

I remain, sir, your very humble servant,

James Gordon.

Boro Lodge, July 18th, 1802.

While my work was at press, an edition of the
Rev. Mr. Gordon's history was published in London,
in which he certainly has noticed my communica-
tions, but not in the extent I think I shall be able to
point out, deserving his attention in the supplement
he has promised to the public.

From the pursuit I am at present engaged in, I
consider it my duty to seek and unravel truth, and
shall be happy to elucidate any circumstances that
may be considered more useful in promoting public
knowledge. In consequence of the progress I have
already made with the Rev. Mr. Gordon, and in con-
sideration of our communications being hitherto very
circumscribed, I have offered him my services, and
hope for his co-operation in the pursuit of my inten-
tion THE UNION AND HARMONY OF ALL DESCRIP-
TIONS OF OUR COUNTRYMEN. This objCct is cxtcn-
sive enough to engage the attention of many. The
public have already anticipated their favorable opin-
ion of gentlemen employed in researches, that are
so likely to increase the high opinion entertained
of their superior talents. If an humble individual

432 APPENDIX.

can recommend himself by the sincerity of his co-
operation, I shall hope to be included among those
who are willing to point out the means of general
happiness.

Dublin, December 14, 1802.
Sir — I return, with my thanks for your polite atten-
tion, the manuscripts you were so kind as to leave for
my perusal. I am exceedingly glad to find, through
the whole of your compilation, so strict an observance
of facts, which chiefly came under my cognizance as
brigade-major. It is with pleasure I observe, also,
your adherence to truth and impartiality, free from the
rancorous spirit of party fabrication ; which is the true
criterion that exalts the histoiian above the class of
party scribblers, who dissipate as rapidly as unerring
truth unveils itself — strongly exemplified in the past
and present times. I give you much credit in not n-
torting as you might for your unmerited sufferings, by
exposing the crimes of .some respectable persons ; for,
indeed, if they are not very forgetful and very insensi-
ble, the compunctions of their consciences must be suf-
ficiently tormenting. There is little doubt of your
labors meeting their due reward from an unprejudiced
public, which is the wish of

•Your most obedient humble servant,

B. E. Fitzgerald.
To Edward Hay, Esq.

THE END.

*i

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H4i4 insurrection of 1798

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