The Society of United Irishmen

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

Robert Clark (The Literary Encyclopedia); James Anthony Shanahan (Trinity College Dublin)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.06: English Writing and Culture of the Romantic Period, 1789-1837.
Vol. editors: Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Daniel Robinson (Widener University), Emily Rohrbach (University of Durham)

Domains

Organisations and institutions (arts& culture)

Dates

Date of occurrence 1790-10-1798

Places

Northern Ireland (Location)
Ireland, Republic of (Eire) (Involved)
United Kingdom (Involved)

Resources

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The Society of United Irishmen was a non-sectarian patriotic organisation founded with the aim of uniting “Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter in the common name of Irishmen.” Initially founded in Belfast in 1791 as an open and constitutional body, it was initially dedicated to the twin causes of Catholic Emancipation and parliamentary reform. Proscribed by government in 1794, it subsequently became a secret organisation dedicated to revolution and the establishment of an independent Irish republic on the French model. United Irish activities in the mid-1790s – when the government estimated its membership to be over 300,000 – reached a climax with the Irish rebellion of 1798, which resulted in as many as 30,000 deaths and the incorporation of Ireland into the United Kingdom of…

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1828 words

Citation: Clark, Robert, James Anthony Shanahan. "The Society of United Irishmen". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 19 May 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=4241, accessed 23 November 2024.]

The Society of United Irishmen

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