You may well be right Dave - altho I think it was Christmas 1796 that the French arrived in Bantry and had appaling weather conditions .If General Hoche had not got lost evading British Fleet and thus was late arriving at Bantry the French could have landed in good weather - by what narrow margins are our destinies decided . It hopefully would have been a different Irish history as you say .
dave tassinari
26-Oct-2008 20:42
Jim, I don't think the United Irishmen, like the Americans, were capable of resisting the British Army for any length of time without help from the French and that the failure of the French fleet led by Hoche and Wolfe Tone to land 14000 French troops and military supplies a year earlier in 1797 was the decisive event of the uprising. Wolfe Tone was disgusted by the poor seamanship of the French and said it was the greatest escape for the English since the Armada. An independent democratic, non-sectarian republic of Ireland based on the ideas of the French and American revolutions would certainly have changed the course of history.
Jim Flavin
25-Oct-2008 15:10
The Rebel Army nationwide actually numbered in excess of 100,000 . The capture of Dublin would sure have happened - and Irish History been quite different from that time on .NOrtheren Ireland and all the problems would not have occured - hopefully - as the Rebellion was planned by The United Irishmen - a group of liberal Protestants in Belfast .To my amateur eye - it seedm the lack of good military leadership on the field of battle - especially at the Battle of New Ross where 10,000 Rebels took the town - then lost it - which cost the Rebellion its sucess also as mentioned the choice of Vinegar Hill as the Wexford HQ was in hindsight a poor one . Some Wexford Rebels fought on in other Counties eg Meaath and Dublin for a couple of months .It is a Rebellion that will not be forgootten in Wexford anyway - due in no small part to the atrocities committed after the various Rebel defeats .
Jim Flavin
19-Oct-2008 17:23
As a point that may be of interest - The RC church was against the Rebellion - as per usual. Any priest who had anything to do with or the United Irishmen were relieved of priestly duties . Re the Rebellion - they had many victories - - took Enniscorthy - then Bunclody - then went onto Arklow in County Wicklow . They were winning the battle in some places at Arklow - not doing well in others - when the order to retreat was given - by whom - no-one knows .So there was a problem with the Field Command . If they had taken Arklow - they could have joined up with the Insurgetns from Couny Kildare - and marched onto Dublin - with hopefully more help coming from Northern Counties . The Rebel Army would then have nimbered nearly 100,000 and they would have had every chance of taking Dublin - instead it was retreat - all the way back to Enniscorthy and the disaster of Vinegar Hill- a HQ that Murphy and others disagreed with as they thought it indefencible - as proved to be the case - and only for the negligence of one of British generals - a General Needham - perhaps none would have escaped on that day .
Jim Flavin
19-Oct-2008 14:38
The Father Murphy Centre at Boolavogue, Co.Wexford is to commemorate one of the main leaders of the 1798 Rebellion in Wexford. Its main feature is the Father Murphys old house - now re-construced . He was Parish priest of Boolavogue in 1798 and became one of the main leaders of the Rebellion- which was most sucessful in Wexford - mainly because the British were not expecting problems in Wexford . Eleven counties rose against British Rule - and ironically many of these were in waht is now Northern Ireland . Many Protestants fought on the Rebel side - and many Irish Catholics who were in the British Army - fought against the Rebellion [ about one third of British Army were Irish Catholics ]. The Rebellion began in May 1798 with a battle at the Harrow , Co. Wexford and a few days later the Battle of Oulart Hill took place .It ended for all practical purposes[ as far as Wexford was concerned ] with the Battle of Vinegar Hill near Enniscorthy, Co.Wexford on 21 st June 1798- altho fighting took place in other counties until August . Many of the Rebels used Pikes as shown . They were better at close quarters than a sword or rifle butt . The Hook was used eg to cut riders reins .
Fr. Murphy was taken prisioner soon after the Battle of Vinegar Hill by British Yeomen from Tullow , Co. Carlow - was hung the same day , his head cut off - and the rest of his body burned in a tar barrell . The local people were then ordered to open their windows so as to be able to have the holy smoke in their houses .Those who captured him did not realise who they had captured - they just killed him as he was a popish priest obviosly on the run - along with the man who had been with him . There was of course no trial.
