Ruan O'donnell

The Rebellion in Wicklow 1798 (New Directions in Irish History) Ruan O'donnell

The book draws heavily on hitherto unused or under utilized primary sources in Ireland, Britain and Australia and takes account of several privately owned collections. Several important documents are printed in full for the first time in order to shed light on the modus operandi of the Wicklow United Irishmen in their home county as well as their deep engagement in the plot formented by Robert Emmet in July 1803. It provides a detailed examination for every part of Wicklow in the advent of Rebellion with discussion of issues such as the operation of the governmentís counter-insurgency strategy and the growth of native ultra-loyalism in the county. The course of the rising in Wicklow is charted day by day from May 1798 to the underrated guerilla campaign waged by General Joseph Holtís rump forces until the winter of 1798. The book fully explores the interaction of that countyís United Irishmen with their comrades in Wexford, Dublin, Carlow, Kildare and Meath, and one of its appendices contains a list of almost 1,000 identified Wicklow United Irishmen