From the Files of the Chief Secretary
Treasures from the Rebellion Papers

This letter by Theobald Wolfe Tone was written at a significant moment in the young reformer’s life. He had just spent the previous several months in Belfast, where he had been impressed by the favourable reception he found among a circle of like-minded reformers in the town. This included a good deal of conviviality: ‘we journalize everything here, but nothing more than eating and drinking has yet gone forward’. At the moment Tone was writing this letter, he was preparing for the first meeting of the Society of United Irishmen in Belfast.Tone was writing to his friend John Chambers, a printer in Dublin’s Abbey Street. In the letter, Tone refers to a pamphlet he wants copies of from Chambers. The pamphlet in question is Tone’s own influential work An Argument on Behalf of the Catholics of Ireland. Chambers was in fact the printer of this pamphlet, although no publisher was given in the work itself, and Tone signed his pamphlet as ‘A Northern Whig’. By the following summer, however, the pamphlet had sold tens of thousands of copies, setting the agenda for the revived campaigns for Catholic relief and parliamentary reform. The presence of this letter by Tone in the Rebellion Papers is explained by the subsequent story of John Chambers. In March 1798, Chambers’ home and offices were raided by the government, and his papers confiscated. This letter, linking Chambers to the very origins of the United Irishmen, would have been of great interest to the authorities.

The Society of United Irishmen was the first major democratic movement in Irish history, dedicated to achieving political reform through a unity of Protestant and Catholic, and taking inspiration from the principles of the American and French revolutions. While they were initially a purely legal and constitutional movement, from the very beginning, the United Irishmen were under the surveillance of the government. Proof of this can be seen in this item: a copy of the ‘Declaration’ by the Dublin Society of United Irishmen, issued after their very first meeting. It is not surprising that this item found its way into the archives of the government, given its radical content. The declaration boldly states: ‘WE HAVE NO NATIONAL GOVERNMENT — we are ruled by Englishmen, and the servants of Englishmen, whose object is the interest of another country, whose instrument is corruption, and whose strength is the weakness of Ireland’. The declaration goes on to propose three key resolutions: 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 Representation of the People in Parliament”. 3. “That no reform is practicable, efficacious, or just, which does not include Irishmen of every Religious Persuasion.” While a copy of this declaration was retained in the Rebellion Papers, an accompanying note indicates another copy was sent by the Lord Lieutenant to Lord Grenville, the British Foreign Secretary. Although the United Irishmen published the declaration openly, it is significant that the accompanying note is dated 16 November, only a week after the Dublin Society’s first meeting.

One of the most significant publications of the 1790s was the Northern Star, a newspaper set up by the United Irishmen and published from Belfast from 1792 to 1797. The Northern Star was a consistent object of concern and suspicion by the authorities, who took a close interest in its circulation. The paper was ultimately closed down in May 1797 after an attack by a loyalist mob destroyed the paper’s printing press. In the wake of this attack, and the arrests of some of the Northern Star’s editors and publishers, a series of notebooks and business papers relating to the paper found their way into the government archives in the Rebellion Papers. The Northern Star notebooks provide insights into the newspaper's sales network and distribution routes from 1793 to 1795. The newspaper was particularly strong in southeast Antrim, close to Belfast, and along the route from Belfast to Armagh down the Lagan Valley. It also had a significant presence in the Presbyterian regions from Armagh to Dungannon and in the Presbyterian heartland of south Antrim and north Down. The notebooks highlight the fierce competition with rival newspapers and the challenges of collecting money from subscribers. In the present notebook, dating from March 1793, there is an amusing note from one former subscriber: ‘Mr Adam Percy, Moira. Discontinue his paper- his father in law won’t let him read it any longer’.

The Union Star was a broadside that appeared throughout the summer of 1797, often pasted upon walls and lampposts. Although the Star supported the United Irishmen, it did not have their approval; in fact, some of them despised it. It was nonetheless popular and the authorities expended significant effort to discover and capture its printer. The Union Star advocated the assassination of local loyalists and informers, going as far as to provide names, descriptions and addresses of those accused. Some of its advice is in retrospect amusing. The example here instructs United Irishmen to refrain from dealing with any publican who sold the drink of Arthur Guinness, brewer at James’ Gate! It was eventually discovered that the Union Star was produced by Walter ‘Watty’ Cox, a disgruntled printer and radical. While Cox published the broadside anonymously, the government expended significant effort to discover his identity. Cox approached Dublin Castle and was able to negotiate a safe passage abroad for himself, after he revealed himself as the culprit and agreed to give information on fellow radicals in Dublin.

The Rebellion Papers contain a number of items written by women during the 1790s, including this striking letter authored by Matilda Tone (1769-1849). Matilda was the wife of one of the founders of Irish republicanism, Theobald Wolfe Tone. In this letter dating from the autumn of 1796, Matilda writes to her husband’s close friend Thomas Russell. This letter was found among the papers of Thomas Russell, which were confiscated when he was arrested in late 1796. It eventually found its way to the files of Dublin Castle, and into the Rebellion Papers. In the letter, Matilda writes from New Jersey, having left Ireland the previous year with her husband. Yet by the time she was writing, Wolfe Tone had already left America for France, seeking to enlist French support for an insurrection in Ireland. The letter conveys Matilda’s affection for Russell, as well as her gratitude for the financial support provided by some of their friends in Belfast. Yet she also expresses her unhappiness and loneliness in the absence of her husband. The letter also contains some frank advice from Matilda to Russell concerning his infatuation with a young woman: ‘I cannot conceive of your being led away by passion (particularly at this time) to involve a lovely girl in inevitable ruin’. Matilda and her husband Theobald would be reunited in France during the summer of 1797, but the reunion was to be short lived. Wolfe Tone would later be captured aboard a French ship at Lough Swilly in October 1798, subsequently dying in prison in Dublin. Matilda survived her husband by more than 40 years, living in both France and the United States. In addition to raising their children, Matilda was crucial in the editing and publishing of Tone’s memoirs, ensuring his posthumous reputation and legacy.

While the United Irishmen were the best-known radical group during the 1790s, there were also smaller, more obscure groups. Particularly in Dublin, a series of small ‘reading clubs’ catering to the city’s workers and labourers who had been politicized by the debates inspired by the French Revolution. One good example of this was the Crispin Union, which had begun as a ‘combination’ of journeyman shoemakers, a form of early trade union. It was named after Saint Crispin, the patron saint of shoemakers. At some point in the middle of the decade the Crispin Union shifted its focus from labour activism to radical politics, with several of its members later joining the United Irishmen. The group’s activities were evidently enough of a concern to Dublin Castle that they collected several membership cards, as well as gathering reports about their activities.

Another crucial source of information to government was the post office. The secretary of the Irish post office, John Lees, was a frequent correspondent to Dublin Castle, and helped orchestrate the surveillance of suspected republicans, including the opening and copying of their letters. One of Lees’ most active employees was Thomas Whinnery, the post master in Belfast. Whinnery kept the government well informed about the movements and writings of the town’s United Irishmen, including reporting on the circulation of their newspaper, the Northern Star. In this letter, Whinnery reports on letters to one of the state prisoners in Dublin’s Newgate prison, Rowley Osborne, as well as reporting on a ‘Doctor Hull in this town, of very bad principles who corresponds under cover’.

The present letter provides an account of the internal debates and divisions within the United Irishmen, written by one of the government’s most infamous informants. Many of the government’s informers were from humble backgrounds, and often lured into informing by either threat or promises of reward from Dublin Castle. This letter, however, is from a special, very colourful informer: Leonard MacNally. MacNally (sometimes spelt McNally) was a successful barrister and playwright, and had long been a fixture in reform politics. In fact, he had been one of the earliest members of the Dublin Society of United Irishmen. However at some point in 1794 he began to provide information to Dublin Castle. MacNally was frequently called on by his fellow United Irishmen to defend them in trials, during which he would pass on his clients’ defence strategies to the government. MacNally would sign his letters to Dublin Castle as ‘J.W.’, and would frequently refer to himself in the third person within his reports, to throw off suspicion that he was the author if the letters were ever discovered. His treachery was not discovered until decades after his death in 1820.

Not every report that Dublin Castle received was from a known informer. Many letters were from cranks and busybodies, many written anonymously or under a pseudonym. Yet even among the anonymous letters, important information could be found. One such example is this letter. Written in a distinctive style to mask the author’s identity, it is appropriately signed as ‘Left Hand’. This particular informant advises against allowing any visitors to see the prisoners in Kilmainham, particularly singling out Mrs. Bond, wife of Oliver Bond, who they accuse of ‘swearing’ men and women into the United Irish movement. Her husband is accused of aiding Belfast radicals and distributing seditious handbills. ‘Left Hand’ urges close surveillance of Bond, including intercepting his letters. They also suggest keeping an eye on Bond’s father-in-law Henry Jackson, an ironmonger suspected of creating pike heads and metal "cats" designed to harm cavalry. The letter concludes by describing a regular series of meetings of United Irishmen which take place in the home of John Chambers, a printer in Abbey Street.

Many of those who wrote to Dublin Castle anonymously were afraid of being discovered and labeled as an informer among their community. As the writer of this letter, who signs himself ‘A Friend to Order’, describes: ‘the character of an informer is now so very odious, that circumstances alone prevents many loyal people from giving information to government’. The author proceeds to give a description of a man named Fox, who is described as highly disaffected and actively promoting sedition from within the Castle itself. Fox holds a position of significant trust and is accused of constantly criticizing and undermining government actions. The letter also implicates Loyd, an apothecary in Nassau Street, as being similarly dangerous. The anonymous correspondent concludes by urging the close surveillance of both individuals. How Dublin Castle would have processed a letter like this, and how diligently they would have investigated these claims, is unclear. The Castle was receiving dozens of such letters every month, making it difficult to ascertain what claims were true and what were merely baseless accusations.

In the early months of 1798, Dublin Castle was receiving a deluge of letters from local officials and private citizens. This letter, written by J.H. Goulsbury, a magistrate in County Roscommon, provides some copies of United Irish propaganda that was circulating at that time. The letter reports the discovery of these incriminating papers hidden among the possessions of a son of a prominent Roman Catholic merchant in Sligo. The papers included a broadside condemning government repression and hinting at United Irishmen's increasing influence, along with an address advising caution against informers and recommending recruits to abstain from risky behaviors such as drinking and gambling.

The Rebellion Papers contain much of what can be described as ‘raw’ intelligence i.e. isolated items of unverified information. However, there are a handful of items which are compilations of intelligence from various sources, which have been assessed by Dublin Castle officials. This item, a list of evidence compiled against Lord Edward Fitzgerald, provides a digest of information concerning the activities of one of the most important republican conspirators of the 1790s. Lord Edward FitzGerald (1763 – 1798) was the son of the 1st Duke of Leinster, one of Ireland’s premier aristocrats. Yet despite his upbringing, and a stint in the British army fighting in America, Lord Edward was an enthusiastic convert to the French Revolution. Having briefly been active as an Irish MP, in the second half of the 1790s, Fitzgerald threw himself into the secret revolutionary planning of the United Irishmen. Fitzgerald, along with his friend Arthur O’Connor, were prominent in soliciting French support for an Irish uprising. In the early months of 1798, Lord Edward was also the leading figure in organizing the counties surrounding Dublin, preparing for a domestic insurrection, with or without French help. This compilation of the evidence that the government had gathered, attests to how serious Dublin Castle viewed the threat that Lord Edward posed.

A considerable number of documents in the Rebellion Papers are derived from the imprisonment of United Irishmen and those suspected of disaffection. These included lists of prisoners, appeals for release, and documents confiscated at the time of arrests. This example is a letter written by Lord Edward Fitzgerald, asking permission to visit his friend Arthur O’Connor, an Irish MP who was imprisoned in Dublin. O’Connor was being charged with treason, largely on the basis of a radical pamphlet he had authored. O’Connor was ultimately released in July 1797, after strenuous lobbying by his allies, including Lord Edward. Neither O’Connor nor Fitzgerald were dissuaded from political activism. O’Connor was subsequently arrested in March 1798, attempting to travel to France. While he was acquitted of high treason, he was nonetheless detained as a ‘state prisoner’ during the rebellion, eventually going into exile in France after 1802. Lord Edward would play an integral role in planning the uprising in 1798, but was arrested before the date set for the Rebellion to commence. He died of a gunshot wound sustained during his arrest.

Following a series of raids in March 1798, and the subsequent arrest of Lord Edward Fitzgerald, the Sheares brothers took control of the United Irish planning for a rebellion, appointing the 23rd of May as the date for the rising. Unfortunately for Sheares, they were too trusting in who they took into their confidences. In the weeks preceding the chosen date, the brothers befriended a Captain Armstrong, who they met in a bookstore looking through radical publications. Armstrong presented himself as a fellow United Irishman, a fact that the Sheares did not double check. John and Henry still hoped to subvert the military stationed in Dublin, allowing them to stage a swift coup in the city. However, thanks to the information provided by Captain Armstrong, the Sheares were arrested on 21 May, only days before the rising was set to take place. They were subsequently tried, found guilty of treason and executed on 14 July. During their imprisonment, there were multiple attempts to secure their release or a stay of execution. Perhaps the most heartbreaking was this letter from the mother of the Sheares, Jane. Her appeal was not successful, and it is telling that within the Rebellion Papers her letter is attached to another item: an anonymous threatening letter to Captain Armstrong, promising retribution for his informing on the Sheares.

This document marks an attempt of Bagenal Harvey, leader of the Wexford rebels in the summer of 1798, to impose order among the disparate forces under his command. Harvey, a Protestant landlord and member of the Wexford United Irishmen, had been imprisoned at the outset of the rebellion and later released by the occupying rebels of Wexford town. Despite being appointed commander-in-chief, his efforts were futile; the influx of inexperienced recruits into the United Irish army made military discipline extremely difficult to maintain. The date of the document is significant - 6 June 1798. This was the day after the Battle of New Ross, during which the rebel forces under Harvey had been badly defeated by government troops. In the immediate wake of the battle, a notorious incident had occurred nearby, at a farm house in Scullabogue. There, a group of rebels had massacred more than one hundred loyalist prisoners. The killings at Scullabogue underlined some of the problems with rebel discipline, as well as the disordered character of the rebel army in the wake of New Ross. Shortly after issuing this proclamation, Harvey was deposed by more radical elements among the rebels. He would later be executed by government for his involvement in the rebellion, despite his assertion that he had acted under duress.

Martial law had been declared for all of Ireland on 30 March 1798, which authorized commanding officers to convene courts martial in their districts. These court martials appealed to military officials: they offered speedy trials without the formalities of civilian justice. Indeed, during the summer of 1798, these military tribunals were little more than ‘drumhead’ courts, where the accused received only the most perfunctory of hearings. However, following the arrival of General Charles Cornwallis as both Lord Lieutenant and Commander-in-Chief in June, these court martials were reigned in. Cornwallis insisted on reviewing the sentences passed down by all future court martials, in an attempt to curb what was, in effect, a military-backed ‘White Terror’. As Cornwallis was to write that summer: ‘There is no law either in town or country but martial law and you know enough of that to see all the horror of it’. The Rebellion Papers contain copies of many courts martial proceedings, dating from 1798 to 1806 and covering most of the country. Each of the court martial papers follows a standard form. At the head of the document is the date and location of the trial. This is followed by a list of the members of the military tribunal and the charge. Most charges are concerned with United Irish activities but some are concerned with crimes against property, such as cattle houghing. Witnesses were called to give evidence for the prosecution which the accused were permitted to cross-examine, the accused could also call witnesses in their defence. Finally, the verdict, sentence and confirmation are given. The present example records a court martial held by General Needham at the camp in Gorey, Co. Wexford, on the 27th of June 1798. In it, several people are tried ‘on suspicion of being a rebel’, sometimes on tenuous evidence such as having a green ribbon in their possession, or hearsay evidence from a neighbour. In some of these cases, the prisoner is acquitted, while in others those found guilty are sentenced to death.

Report from Major General George Nugent to General Gerald Lake, dated 10 June 1798. This report provides a vivid first-hand account of the fighting in east Ulster, one of the major theaters of the 1798 Rebellion. Nugent was writing on what became known as ‘Pike Sunday’, when United Irish forces descended on towns around Strangford Lough, such as Portaferry and Newtownards. The day before, 9 June, had seen a major rebel victory at Saintfield, in which Nugent had been forced to withdraw his forces, leaving much of the east of County Down in the hands of the rebels. The letter also comments on the larger strategy of confining the rebels within east Ulster ‘if possible to the counties of Down and Antrim in which they have no ports, than to risk the loss of any place which might serve the French’ Only days after this letter was written, Nugent would successfully lead a force against the rebels at the Battle of Ballynahinch (12-13 June), effectively ending the Rebellion in Ulster. This letter by Nugent is addressed to General Lake, who at that moment was the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces in Ireland. Lake was in the midst of gathering a force in Wexford sufficient to smother the remaining rebel army in Wexford. Indeed, Nugent concludes his letter by wishing Lake ‘success in the south’, but warned that ‘it will still be a tough business, and an expensive one before we crush the rebels’.

This letter, including a translation of an Irish-language prophecy, is undated and unsigned, although the calendars imply that it was received by Dublin Castle in 1795. We know nothing about the motivation of the person sending this prophecy to the government, although it was presumably out of a concern that the prophecies were seditious. It is one of the few Irish-language documents within the Rebellion Papers, the vast majority of the content having been written in English. The propaganda efforts of Ireland’s radicals were largely in English, although some leading United Irishmen took an interest in the Gaelic language, such as Thomas Russell. It was Russell and the Gaelic scholar Patrick Lynch who created an Irish language newspaper, Bolg an tSolair, in 1795 although it only ran for a single issue. Beyond the world of print, however, gaelic speakers sustained a vibrant popular and oral culture. In parts of the country, such as South Munster, there was a well-established gaelic poetic tradition, one that often expressed support for the Jacobite cause, but which also adapted itself to the new French revolutionary doctrines of the 1790s. In Cork city, the scholar Mícheál Óg Ó Longáin represented a direct link between Gaelic poetry and United Irish activism. By the end of the eighteenth century, it is estimated that as many as 50% of the population in Ireland spoke Irish, with the majority of those being bilingual to some extent or another. While there are few Irish language documents in the Rebellion Papers, many of the letters were written from correspondents living on a linguistic frontier. Some members of the gentry were able to speak (or at least understand) Irish, in some cases having learned the language from maids or servants as children. For example, Thomas Judkin Fitzgerald, the sheriff of County Tipperary in 1798, was fluent in Irish while also being unrelenting in his suppression of the United Irishmen. However, those like Fitzgerald who knew Irish also knew that if they were writing to Dublin Castle they were writing to officials who were incapable of reading Irish. This letter provides the text, in Irish and English, of a prophecy of ‘eight remarkable eras of Ireland’, which predicted that the last era would end when ‘the erins win the day’. This is then followed by another ‘prophecy’ of a very different type, being fragments from Mother Shipton, a well-known English prophetess, who had lived in the sixteenth century. Shipton’s prophecies had circulated in printed form since at least the mid-seventeenth century, with subsequent authors adding lines that would seem to make them more directly relevant to a particular period. The 1790s saw the circulation of many similar apocalyptic and millenarian prophecies. These prophecies had obvious revolutionary potential, frequently predicting a future which could be brought about by revolution: the high and mighty would be humbled, the powers that be would be overthrown, and all made level.