Revolutions- the 1798 rebellion

Question 1

how was ireland governed in 1790

Answer 1

the irish parliament
at the time king george III ruled ireland there was an irish parliament that met in dublin.in 1782 weakened by the war in america the british gave into the demands that the irish parliament should get more power. they allowed the irish parliament to make its own laws without getting approval from the british government. it became known as Grattan’s parliament.

Question 2

what is Grattan’s parliament

Answer 2

it is the new parliament that allowed the irish to make their own laws without britain’s approval.

Question 3

who was the leading figure in Grattans parliament

Answer 3

Henry Grattan

Question 4

why was the system government unfair

Answer 4

the irish parliament was very unrepresentative. only wealthy members of the church of ireland could be elected members of parliament.parliament was dominated by wealthy landlord families called protestant ascendancy

catholics made up about 75 per cent of teh population. in 1793 catholics were allowed to ite but weren’t allowed to become members of parliament.this was one of the remaining penal laws.it had been passed to stop catholics from gaining to much power

in ulster there was a large number of presbyterians. they also suffered under the penal laws. fro example,they were barred from parliament

only wealthy people could vote during the elections. this was unfair because most of the population was poor

although the irish parliament was independent in theory, this was not the case in reality.the king and his government made sure that the parliament made sure they didn’t pass any laws they disliked

Question 5

what is a ‘MP’

Answer 5

a member of parliament

Question 6

name a place that multiple people wanted a reform

Answer 6

Belfast

Question 7

who were the middle-class

Answer 7

people such as businessmen, lawyers and doctors

Question 8

what pamphlet did theobald wolfe tone write and when

Answer 8

an argument on behalf of catholics of ireland

1791

Question 9

who was theobald wolfe tone

Answer 9

he was born in 1763 and attended trinity college. he was a strong critic of british control of ireland and called for a reform of the irish parliament. in 1791 wolfe tome wrote a pamphlet called’ an argument on the behalf of the catholics of ireland. this made tone well known among the people who wanted a change of how ireland was run

Question 10

what is the society of the united irishmen

Answer 10

all of its members were middle-class protestants who shared with tone an enthusiasm for the ideals of the french revolution.

Question 11

name the leading figures of the society of the united irishmen

Answer 11

william drennan
henry joy mcCracken
thomas russell
lord edward fitzgerald

Question 12

who founded the branch for the society of the united irishmen

Answer 12

james napper tandy

Question 13

what was the impact of war between france and britain

Answer 13

the british government became very suspicious of the society of teh united irishmen

they disliked the fact that it was pro-french and in 1794 it was banned

leading ,members of the organisation decided to continue the secret society whose members who took an oath

Question 14

how was lord edward fitzgerald

Answer 14

not all members of the protestant ascendancy opposed change. lord edward fitzgerald was from one of the most powerful families in ireland.his father was the duke of leinster and owned the leinster house which is now the dail. lord edward was a supporter of the french revolution. he visited france where he stayed with thoma pain. lord edward wanted a republic ireland free of english rule. he helped organise the military preparations for the revolt in 1798

Question 15

what was the defenders

Answer 15

they were a secret society formed to protect the irish farmers

Question 16

what was the orange order

Answer 16

it was set up to defend the protestants and british rule in ireland

Question 17

what did the orange order do

Answer 17

they attacked and drove hundreds of protestants from ulster

Question 18

what were tone’s aims after th society of the united irishmen were banned and how do we know this

Answer 18

he wanted ireland to have independence from britain and be a republic like france

he believed that violence would have to be used to achieve this aim

he hoped to unite all irishmen in supporting irish freedom regardless of religion

tone hoped to get help from the french to stage the revolution in ireland

we know this because he wrote it in his diary

Question 19

why did wolfe tone have to leave for america and what did he do after that

Answer 19

he had to leave for america because the british found out that he was meeting up with a french spy in 1795

after he left america and travelled to france to organise an invasion fleet to ireland.the french were willing to listen and they hoped that a irish rebellion would weaken the british army

Question 20

who led the expedition, how many soldiers/ships were sent and why was it a disaster and what happened after the disaster

Answer 20

lazare hoche

43 ships and 14,000 soldiers

hoches ship was separated from the main fleet
when the rest of the fleet arrived off bantry bay in co,cork a violent storm prevented the ships from landing

tone was forced to return to france.he urged the france to sent another fleet to ireland but they weren’t interested

Question 21

what measures were taken to crush the united irishmen

Answer 21

anyone caught giving the oath of the membership for the united irishmen could be executed. a person who took the oath would be transported to the the new penal colony of australia for life

a new army called the yeomanry was formed. its members were protestants and the government encouraged members of the new orange to join

led by general lake,the government started a reign of terror in ulster where the united irishmen were the strongest

Question 22

what were the punishments for people who were part of the united irishmen during the reign of terror

Answer 22

suspects were flogged

half-hanging

another cruel method of torture was the pitch cap-

Question 23

what is a pitch cap

Answer 23

a cloth cap filled with tar was placed on a suspect’s head and then set alight

Question 24

what is half-hanging

Answer 24

it is when you are hung until lost consciousness

Question 25

was the reign of terror successful

Answer 25

YYAAAAAAAASSSS

Question 26

what were the main events of the rebellion

Answer 26

then united irishmen planned a rebellion

betrayal by spies(leonard McNally and Thomas reynolds)

the rebellion in wexford

the rebellion of ulster

vinegar hill

the year of the french

the death of wolfe tone

Question 27

what were the causes of the 1798 rebellion

Answer 27

support for the ideals of the french revolution

activities of tone and the united irishmen

the unfair of the political system and the protestant ascendancy

war between britain and france

government’s use of terror to crush the united irishmen

Question 28

describe when the united irishmen plan a rebellion

Answer 28

the government’s methods caused the leaders to set a date for the rebellion

the day of the rebellion was 23 may 1798

membership grew and lord edward fitzgerald thought he could count on 100,000 men in the event of the revolt

Question 29

describe the event when the united irishmen were betrayed by spies

Answer 29

two of the leaders leonard mcnally and thomas reynolds were passing info to the british

in march 1798 the government, acting in information arrested the leaders of the united irishmen. the government then started a terror in leinster in hope to find the united irishmen especially in co.kildare.

lord edward fitzgerald had managed to escape arrest but he was captured two months later due to another betrayal by a spy.he was shot and died of his wounds in prison

Question 30

why did rebellion break in wexford

Answer 30

people in wexford were terrified by the reports of massacres of rebels in neighbouring wicklow

there was anger at the government’s use of terror to crush united irishmen in the country

Question 31

describe the rebellion in ulster

Answer 31

while fighting rages in wexford the remaining united irishmen in ulster staged a rebellion. henry joy mccracken led a force of 6,000 men that attacked the town of antrim.they were defeated and later McCracken was executed.

in county down rebels led by henry munro had some early victories but the british remained control at the battle of ballynahinch. munro later suffered the same fate as McCracken.this defeat marked the end of the rebellion in ulster

Question 32

describe the terror

Answer 32

soon the tide turned against the rebels in wexford. on the 5 june a rebel army was defeated at new ross. after the battle the british executed rebel prisoners and in revenge the rebels did a terrible thing.they set fire to a barn at scullabogue containing loyalist prisoners including women and children. a further massacre of loyalist prisoners occurred on wexford bridge a few days later. most of those killed were protestants. these killings shocked many people and harvey resigned as leader of the rebels. father philip roche replaced him

Question 33

describe the battle at vinegar hill

Answer 33

a rebel army was defeated at arklow and british troops pushed into wexford.on 21 of june they attacked and captured the rebel headquarters at vinegar hell.
groups of rebels continued fighting but the british were now in control. the leaders including bagenal harvey,father roche and father murphy were captures and hanged.british executed many rebels and shipped some of them to australia.

general cornwallis was sent to ireland to restore order. he offered pardon to any rebel who surrendered. this helped end the fighting.it seemed like the rebellion was over but there was one surprise for the british

Question 34

describe the year of the french

Answer 34

a small french army of 1000 men under the command of general humbert landed at killala in county in county mayo august. at castlebar they defeated a british force led by general lake

many irishmen now joined the french army.humbert marched to longford.however at ballinamuck he met a much greater british force under general cornwallis. he had no choice but to surrender.the french troops were treated well but their irish allies were executed. among those captured was wolfe tones brother. he was taken to dublin and hanged.

Question 35

describe the death of wolfe tone

Answer 35

on october a french fleet containing 3,000 soldiers and including wolfe tone set sail for ireland. it was attacked and captured by a british fleet of the donegal coast. when the prisoners landed tone was recognised and taken to dublin to be tried and hanged

Question 36

what is republicanism

Answer 36

it involved using violence to end britain’s rule in ireland

Question 37

what nickname was set for wolfe tone

Answer 37

the father of irish republicanism

Question 38

describe the rebellion of robert emmet

Answer 38

a few years later a united irishman organised another revolt in dublin. he was the brother of one of the leaders in the 1798 rebellion, thomas addis emmet. the rebellion in july 1803 was defeated easily.emmet was tried and executed

Question 39

what were the consequences of the 1798 rebellion

Answer 39

it brought death and destruction to ireland.it is estimated that 30,000

the aim of uniting catholics and protestants did not succeed.due to the massacres people became fearful of what will happen if ireland gained independence and supported the british.

to make sure the rebellion did not happen again and so the french couldn’t use ireland as a base to attack britain the prime minister william pitt decided to separate the irish parliament. in 1801 the act of union was passed and this closed the irish parliament. mp now had to go to london

many irish people hated using violence to achieve political change. they decided that the best way to do so was through persuasion. the two new political leaders of teh century was daniel o’connell and charles stewart parnell

Question 40

what is the act of union and who and when was it passed

Answer 40

itt ended the irish parliament meaning that mps had to go to london

prime minister william pitt

1801

Question 41

name the two newest political leaders

Answer 41

daniel o’connell

charles stewart parnell