Ireland in the Age of Revolution, 1760–1805, Part II, Volume 4

Harry T Dickinson

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9781138754096
• eBook ISBN:
  9781000748192
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

The latter half of the eighteenth-century saw Irish opposition movements being greatly influenced by the American and French revolutions. This two-part, six-volume edition illustrates the depth and reach of this influence by publishing pamphlets dealing with the major political issues of these decades.

EDITORIAL NOTES

Declaration of the Catholic Society of Dublin

1 PETER HOEY: Peter Hoey (d. 1813) was a Catholic printer and bookseller and a member of the Dublin Society of United Irishmen from 1791.

2 to the subjects of an arbitrary Monarch: This is a reference to the French subjects of Louis XVI (1754–93).

3 The octennial period: The Octennial Act of 1768 restricted the maximum duration of the Irish Parliament to eight years.

4 the British Senate did not refuse its attention to the unfortunate exiles of Africa: The Westminster Parliament at this time was debating whether to abolish the slave trade.

5 Theobald M’Kenna, Secretary: Theobald McKenna (d. 1808) was a Catholic barrister, who served for some years as the Secretary of the Catholic Committee, but resigned in December 1791 and was replaced by the more radical Theobald Wolfe Tone. He supported Catholic emancipation and moderate parliamentary reform for many years and is the author of several pamphlets in these volumes. There is a short entry on him in the ODNB, where he is referred to as Mackenna.

Strictures on the Declaration of the Society Instituted for the Purpose of Promoting Unanimity amongst Irishmen, and Removing Religious Prejudices

1 Mr. Troy: James Troy (d. 1791 was a rich Dublin merchant and the father of John Thomas Troy, later Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin.

2 Comerford: John Comerford (d. 1795) was a rich merchant in Cork and Dublin. He was the father of John Comerford, a well-known miniature painter.

3 O’Brien: Denis Thomas O’Brien (1736–1814) was a rich Dublin merchant, involved in various trades, including textiles. He was in partnership with John Comerford senior, who was also his brother-in-law. He was a member of the Catholic Committee from 1791, but he seceded with Lord Kenmare’s more moderate faction in December 1791. He nevertheless attended the Catholic Convention in 1792.

4 Mr. Byrne: Edward Byrne (d. 1804) was a very rich Dublin Merchant and an active member of the Catholic Committee.

5 Mr. Roche: Stephen Roche (1724–1804) was a rich wine merchant in Cork.

6 his Majesty being somewhat bound by the ties of his coronation oath: George III’s coronation oath had required him to swear to defend the Protestant religion and the Protestant church establishment. This was to persuade him to oppose Roman Catholic emancipation in 1800–1, when the Prime Minister, William Pitt, had hoped to persuade him to agree to this concession to the Irish Catholics.

7 His English subjects have recently displayed a fiery zeal in support of the present system: A reference to the alarming Gordon riots of 1780 in London, sparked off by anti-Catholic prejudice against a recent effort by the Westminster Parliament to promote a Catholic relief measure.

8 Simon Butler: Simon Butler (1757–97) was the third son of the tenth Viscount Mountgarret. He was the first chairman or president of the Dublin Society of United Irishmen, founded in 1791. A landowner and barrister, he was fiercely attacked in the House of Lords in 1793 for his support for radical political publications and he was imprisoned for six months. He fled to Scotland for a time after his release. There is an entry on him in the ODNB.

9 Napper Tandy: James Napper Tandy (1740–1803) was a Protestant tradesman in Dublin. He served for a time on the Dublin corporation. He was a radical agitator for parliamentary reform. He had been active in opposing Prime Minister Pitt’s commercial propositions of 1785. He helped found the Dublin Society of United Irishmen in 1791 and he served as its first secretary. He also joined the Defenders. He fled to the United States 1795–8, but arrived in France in February 1798 and helped plan the French invasion of Ireland that year. He landed in Ireland, but soon retreated. He was later arrested in Hamburg, put on trial in Dublin, but was reprieved and exiled to France in 1802. There is an entry on him in the ODNB and a biography, R. T. Coughlan, Napper Tandy (Abergele, Conwy: Anvil Books, 1976).

10 his Majesty s Attorney General: Arthur Wolfe (1739–1803), later first Baron and then first Viscount Kilwardin, was MP for Coleraine 1783–90, Jamestown 1790–7 and Dublin 1797–8. He was Solicitor General 1787–9, Attorney General 1789–98, then Chief Justice of the King’s Bench from 1798. He was murdered by a mob of rebels on the streets of Dublin during Robert Emmet’s rising in 1803. There are entries on him in the HoIP 1692–1800 and the ODNB.

11 in 1779 and 1781: This is a misdated reference to the Catholic Relief acts of 1778 and 1782, printed above in Volumes 1 and 2 respectively.

General Committee of Roman Catholics

1 a Nobleman: Thomas Browne (1726–95), fourth Viscount Kenmare, a leading Roman Catholic landowner and nobleman, who played a leading role in the Catholic Committee before seceding from it in 1791 because his moderate views clashed with those of the radicals on the Committee who wished to be more aggressive in promoting Catholic relief. There is an entry on him in the ODNB.

2 Mr. Byrne: Edward Byrne, a rich Catholic merchant who sent out a circular letter seeking support for the campaign to petition the king for further Roman Catholic relief measures, including the right to vote in parliamentary elections.

3 that Sub-Committee: This body, which became known as the Backlane Parliament from the place in Dublin where it held its meetings from December 1791, helped draft the Catholic petition to the king in late 1792.

4 Mr. Secretary Hobart: Robert Hobart (1760–1816), later fourth Earl of Buckinghamshire, was an Irish MP for Portarlington 1784–90 and Armagh City 1790–7 and Chief Secretary 1789–93. He defended the Protestant ascendancy and was reluctant to accept the petition seeking the enfranchisement of Catholics. He was later compelled by the British government to promote the bills in 1793 to enfranchise the Catholics and to establish an Irish militia. There are entries on him in HoIP 1692–1800 and the ODNB.

5 Mr. Keogh: John Keogh (1740–1817), a Dublin merchant very active in the Catholic Committee, helped appoint Theobald Wolfe Tone as its secretary. He was a friend of Edmund Burke (the famous politician and political writer) and a member of the Dublin Society of United Irishmen. He was active in submitting the Catholic petition to George III and he helped secure the Catholic Relief Act of 1793, which enfranchised Roman Catholics in Ireland on the same terms as Protestants. There is an entry on him in the ODNB.

6 Mr. Richard Burke: Richard Burke (1758–94) was the son of the celebrated Edmund Burke. He acted as the London agent of the Catholic Sub-Committee. He was MP for Malton in the Westminster Parliament from 1794.

7 Mr. H: Hobart.

8 Mr. William Bellew: William Bellew (c. 1762–1835) was the brother of Sir Edward Bellew, sixth baronet, of Barmeath, County Louth and a relation of the Bellews of Mount Bellew, County Galway. See K. Harvey, The Bellews of Mount Bellew (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1998).

9 Randal M^cDonnell, Esq: Randal McDonnell (d. 1821) was a business partner of Edward Byrne and was later a leading Catholic merchant in Dublin. He was a member of the Dublin Society of Irishmen.

A Report of the Debate … for the Purpose of Considering the Propriety of Adopting the Declaration of the General Committee of the Roman Catholics of Ireland

1 P. BYRNE: Patrick Byrne was a Catholic printer and bookseller. He was a member of the Catholic Convention, a member of the Dublin Society of United Irishmen, and was arrested in May 1798 for his involvement in the Irish rebellion. He was banished by an act of parliament, 38 George III, c. 38. He emigrated to Philadelphia, United States.

2 Bernard O’Neil, Esq: Bernard O’Neill (c. 1715–98) represented County Antrim at the Catholic Convention of 1792. He took the chair at the meeting on 30 October 1792 which prepared the Catholic address to the king and signed the Catholic petition of 1793 as the representative for...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• CONTENTS
• Preface
• Introduction to Part II
• Declaration of the Catholic Society of Dublin ([1791])
• Strictures on the Declaration of the Society Instituted for the Purpose of Promoting Unanimity amongst Irishmen, and Removing Religious Prejudices (1791)
• General Committee of Roman Catholics (1792)
• A Report of the Debate … for the Purpose of Considering the Propriety of Adopting the Declaration of the General Committee of the Roman Catholics of Ireland (1792)
• A Candid Enquiry, Whether the Roman Catholics of Ireland, Ought or Ought Not to be Admitted to the Rights of Subjects (1792)
• The Address of the Association of the Friends of the Constitution, Liberty and Peace, in Ireland ([1793])
• The Petition of the Catholics of Ireland, to the King’s Most Excellent Majesty (1793)
• Defence of the Sub-Committee of the Catholics of Ireland (1793)
• An Irishman’s Letter to the People called Defenders ([c. 1793])
• Proceedings of the Society of United Irishmen of Dublin ([1793])
• An Act for the Relief of His Majesty’s Popish, or Roman Catholic Subjects of Ireland (1793), in The Statutes at Large [Ireland]
• An Act to Prevent the Election or Appointment of Unlawful Assemblies (1793), in The Statutes at Large [Ireland]
• The Address of the Poor People of Munster, to their Fellows in Ireland, with their Bill of Grievances Annexed ([c. 1794])
• Address from the Society of United Irishmen of Dublin, to the People of Ireland (1794)
• Society of United Irishmen of Dublin (1794), excerpts
• [William Bruce and Henry Joy (eds)], Belfast Politics (1794), excerpts
• Henry Grattan’s Proposal for a Bill for the Relief of His Majesty’s Roman Catholic Subjects (4 May 1795), in The Speeches of the Right Honourable Henry Grattan (1822), excerpt
• Speech of Arthur O’Connor Esq. in the House of Commons of Ireland, Monday, May 4th, 1795, on the Catholic Bill (1795)
• A Fair Statement, of the Administration of Earl Fitzwilliam (1795)
• An Irishman’s Second Letter to the People called Defenders ([1795])
• An Act More Effectually to Suppress Insurrections (1796), in The Statutes at Large [Ireland]
• An Act to Prevent and Punish Tumultuous Risings (1976), in The Statutes at Large [Ireland]
• Thomas Russell, A Letter to the People of Ireland, on the Present Situation of the Country (1796)
• Arthur O′Connor, A Letter to the Electors of Antrim (1797)
• G. Lake, Proclamation to the People of the Province of Ulster (1797)
• The Appeal of the People of Ulster to their Countrymen, and to the Empire at Large (1797)
• Address of the Inhabitants of the County of Armagh, to such of their Roman Catholic Brethren as have been Driven from their Country by the Late Persecution ([c. 1797])
• An Act to Explain an Act More Effectually to Suppress Insurrections, and Prevent the Disturbance of the Public Peace (1797), in The Statutes at Large [Ireland]
• ‘The Declarations, Resolutions and Constitution of the United Irishmen’, Journals of the House of Commons of the Kingdom of Ireland (1797)
• Editorial Notes