The Society of the United Irishmen was a political organisation in eighteenth century Ireland that sought independence from Great Britain. They held their first meeting on October 18, 1791 and passed the following three resolutions: (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... October 18 is the 291st day of the year (292nd in Leap years). ... 1791 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

1. That the weight of English influence in the Government of this country is so great as to require a cordial union among all the people of Ireland, to maintain that balance which is essential to the preservation of our liberties and the extension of our commerce
2. That the sole constitutional mode by which this influence can be opposed is by a complete and radical reform of the people in Parliament
3. That no reform is just which does not include Irishmen of every religious persuasion.

Although the 20th century campaign to remove Ireland from the United Kingdom was led mainly by Roman Catholics, the society was formed largely by Belfast Protestants. Leading figures in the society were Theobald Wolfe Tone, James Napper Tandy, Henry Joy McCracken and Robert Emmet. The Orange Order was founded in 1795 with the aim of promoting Protestant pro-British loyalism, in part as a reaction against the anti-sectarianism of the United Irishmen. Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831 377/km² Ethnicity... Fishers of men; Oil on panel by Adriaen van de Venne (1614) Religion—sometimes used interchangeably with faith or belief system—is commonly defined as belief concerning the supernatural, sacred, or divine, and the moral codes, practices, values, and institutions associated with such belief. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Belfast (Béal Feirste in Irish) is the largest city in and capital of both Northern Ireland and Ulster, and the second largest city on the island of Ireland. ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... Theobald Wolfe Tone Theobald Wolfe Tone, commonly known as Wolfe Tone (20 June 1763 - 19 November 1798) was a leading figure in the Irish independence movement. ... James Napper Tandy (1740 - August 24, 1803), was an Irish rebel leader, during the struggle for home rule. ... Henry Joy McCracken (b. ... Robert Emmet Statue of Robert Emmet; photo courtesy Paul Huang. ... The Orange Order is a Protestant fraternal organisation largely based in the Ulster region of Ireland and in western Scotland but which has a worldwide membership. ... 1795 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... In general, a loyalist is an individual who is loyal to the powers that be. ... Sectarianism is an adherence to a particular sect or party or denomination. ...

The movement went underground from the mid-1790s as they became more determined to force a revolt against British rule. They forged links with the revolutionary French government and a French fleet set sail for Ireland in 1796, under General Hoche. It spent days in sight of the Cork coast, but weather conditions meant it could not land. The British government hanged and transported many of the society's leaders in response. With promises of French aid the United Irishmen instigated a rising against British rule in 1798, the rebellion of 1798. However the campaign did not go well and by in large the insurgents were defeated. Wolfe Tone was exiled in France when the insurrection began but as events turned against the United Irishmen he chose to return to Ireland with a French fleet with 3,000 men. A revolutionary is a person who either advocates or actively engages in some kind of revolution. ... 1796 was a leap year starting on Friday. ... Louis Lazare Hoche (June 24, 1768 - September 19, 1797) was a French general. ... County Cork (Contae Chorcaí in Irish) is the most southwesterly and the largest of the modern counties of Ireland. ... The United Kingdom is a unitary state and a democratic constitutional monarchy. ... 1798 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... The Irish Rebellion of 1798 or 1798 rebellion as it is known locally, was an uprising in 1798, lasting several months, against the British establishment in Ireland. ...

The fleet was intercepted by the British Navy and Wolfe Tone was captured in Donegal Bay. Upon his capture he famously said, "From my earliest youth I have regarded the connection between Ireland and Great Britain as the curse of the Irish nation, and felt convinced, that while it lasted, this country would never be free or happy. In consequence, I determined to apply all the powers which my individual efforts could move, in order to separate the two countries." Wolfe Tone committed suicide in prison shortly afterwards, to cheat the noose. The Royal Navy is the navy of the United Kingdom. ... Donegal (Dún na nGall in Irish) is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. ...

The revolt was suppressed and the decision was made to close the Irish Parliament resulting in the Act of Union 1800 that created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. This was largely due to British worries that the French would continue to use Ireland as a staging-post from which to attack Britain, and a recognition that the Anglican Parliament in Dublin had only contributed to sedition in Ireland. This article is about the legislature abolished in 1801. ... The 1800 Act of Union merged the Kingdom of Ireland and the Kingdom of Great Britain (itself a merger of England and Scotland under the Act of Union 1707) to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on 1 January 1801. ... The Union Flag, in its modern form, was first adopted in 1801. ... The term Anglican describes those people and churches following the religious traditions of the Church of England, especially following the Reformation. ... Dublin (Irish: Baile Átha Cliath),is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Ireland, located near the midpoint of Irelands east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the centre of the Dublin region. ...

The United Irishmen forms the beginning of organised Irish republicanism against British rule and the campaign for Irish independence. Irish Republicanism is the nationalist belief that all of Ireland should be a united independent republic. ...

The United Irishmen was a staunchly non-sectarian body and sought to unite all Irishmen, regardless of religion or descent. Many among their ranks were former Defenders, a term applied to many loosely connected, exclusively Catholic, agrarian groups. Many of these men, as well as their Presbyterian counterparts in Ulster, had been shaped by the sectarianism that was prevalent in eighteenth century Ireland, and it was no mean feat to persuade Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter to put aside their differences and view each other simply as fellow Irishmen. This was achieved in most places, Ulster being the best example. The opposite of what the United Irishmen were about occurred at Scullabogue in County Wexford when scores of Loyalists and their wives and children were burnt alive in reprisal for atrocities by the Crown forces (see Scullabogue Barn Massacre), although many of the attackers and about 20 of the victims were Catholic. Sectarianism is an adherence to a particular sect or party or denomination. ... Ulster (Irish: Cúige Uladh) is one of the four provinces of Ireland. ... Sectarianism is an adherence to a particular sect or party or denomination. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... Wexford (Loch Garman in Irish) is a maritime county in the southeast of Ireland, in the province of Leinster. ... In general, a loyalist is an individual who is loyal to the powers that be. ... The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British military. ... The Scullabogue Massacre was an atrocity committed on June 5th 1798, during the Irish Rebellion of 1798. ...

A minority of the Defenders did not reject completely their previous anti-Protestant outlook. John Tuite, known as Captain Fearnought, of County Meath was one of these. Tuite was "sworn to both acts" in 1795, that is he took first the Defender and then the United Irish oaths, but his Defender oath had pledged him "to quell the nation of heresy" (i.e. the Protestant Ascendancy) as well as to "dethrone all kings, and plant the tree of liberty" (the aims of the United Irishmen). He confessed to lacking in true republicanism at his trial after the rising. Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... Meath (An Mhí in Irish) is a county in the Republic of Ireland, often informally called The Royal County. ... Protestant Ascendancy refers to the political, economic and social domination of Ireland by the class of Protestant landowners, Church of Ireland clergy and professionals during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. ... Irish Republicanism is the nationalist belief that all of Ireland should be a united independent republic. ...

The United Irishmen were severely persecuted in the years following the rebellion although a final attempt to revive their fortunes was made in 1803 by Robert Emmet. The British Government sought to avoid a repitition of the non-sectarian vision of Irish unity of the United Irishmen by savage repression of republicanism with tolerance of sectarianism and political activity in the first half of the 19th century was largely based on these religious divisions such as Daniel O'Connell's Repeal Movement, and the Tithe War. Catholics continued to be discriminated under the Union until Daniel O'Connell achieved a measure of Catholic Emancipation in 1829. 1803 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Robert Emmet Statue of Robert Emmet; photo courtesy Paul Huang. ... Daniel OConnell Daniel OConnell (August 6, 1776 – May 15, 1847), known as The Liberator or The Emancipator, was Irelands predominant politician in the first half of the nineteenth century. ... The Tithe War in Ireland (1831-36) refers to a series of periodic skirmishes and violent incidents connected to resistance to the obligation of Irish Catholics to pay tithes for the upkeep of the Protestant Anglican Clergy. ... Catholic Emancipation was a process in Great Britain and Ireland in the late 18th century and early 19th century which involved reducing and removing many of the restrictions on Roman Catholics which had been introduced by the Act of Uniformity and the Test Acts. ...

Samuel Neilson, a Scots-Irish contemporary of Thompson and a founding father of the United Irishmen, remarked just prior to the Act of Union, "I see a union is determined on between Great Britain and Ireland. I am glad of it." Some Presbyterian members of the Society of United Irishmen, later became reconciled to Unionism because they were offered inclusion into corridors of power and an end to the corrupt Ascendancy-based Dublin Government. As a result of the failure of the United Irishmen's vision to unite "Protestant, Catholic and Dissenter" in an independent Irish Republic, the course of Irish history has been a legacy of religious division which has largely endured to the present day. Ulster-Scots is a term mainly used in Ireland and Britain (Scotch-Irish or Scots-Irishis commonly used in North America) primarily to refer to Presbyterian Scots, or their descendents, who migrated from the Scottish Lowlands to Ulster (the northern province of Ireland), largely across the 17th century. ... In the Irish context, Unionists form a group of largely (though not exclusively) Protestant people in Ireland, of all social classes, who wish to see the continuation of the 1801 Act of Union, as amended by the Government of Ireland Act 1920, under which the Northern Ireland provincial state created...

See also

• Theobald Wolfe Tone
• Irish Rebellion of 1798
• United Scotsmen
• United Irish Uprising in Newfoundland
• Société des Fils de la Liberté (Quebec)
• Battle of Ballymore-Eustace

Theobald Wolfe Tone Theobald Wolfe Tone, commonly known as Wolfe Tone (20 June 1763 - 19 November 1798) was a leading figure in the Irish independence movement. ... The Irish Rebellion of 1798 or 1798 rebellion as it is known locally, was an uprising in 1798, lasting several months, against the British establishment in Ireland. ... The Society of the United Scotsmen was formed in the late eighteenth century and sought widespread political reform in Scotland. ... In April 1800, rumours flew through St. ... Newfoundland (French: Terre-Neuve; Irish: Talamh an Éisc; Latin: Terra Nova) is a large island off the north-east coast of North America, and the most populous part of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. ... The Société des Fils de la Liberté was a paramilitary organization founded in August of 1837 in Lower Canada (modern-day Quebec) by young supporters of the Parti patriote who became impatient with the pace of progress of the movement for constitutional and parliamentary reforms. ... The Battle of Ballymore-Eustace was one of the events in the United Irish rebellion of 1798. ...

External link

• Original Declaration of the United Irishmen