TANDY, JAMES NAPPER United Irish man, born in Dublin in 1740, was a prominent reformer and supporter of Lucas and Grattan. He first won popularity by his attacks on municipal corruption and his proposal to boycott English goods in retaliation for the restrictions imposed on Irish commerce. In 1780 Tandy was expelled from the Dublin volun teers (see FLOOD, HENRY), but he continued his revolutionary agitation, and in 1791 co-operated with Wolfe Tone in founding the Society of United Irishmen, of which he became the first secretary. A challenge sent to the attorney-general resulted in his imprisonment (1792), but on his release Tandy assisted in raising two battalions of a "national guard," which were suppressed. He then fled to America, and in 1798 proceeded to France, where he joined a number of Irish refugees. Having gained the ear of the French Government, Tandy was given command of a cor vette, a small force of men, and a quantity of arms for distribu tion in Ireland. Arriving at Donegal, however, he learnt that Humbert's expedition had failed, and he thereupon fled to Ham burg. The refugees were surrendered on a peremptory demand from the British Government. Condemned to death, he was
finally reprieved owing it is said to Bonaparte's intercession.
Tandy's exploits completely captured the popular imagination, and he is still remembered as the hero of the "Wearing of the Green." In France, where his release was regarded as a French diplomatic victory, he was received in March 1802, as a person of distinction; and when he died, on Aug. 24, 1803, his funeral was attended by the military and an immense number of the civil population.
See R. R. Madden, The Lives of the United Irishmen, 7 vols. (Dublin, 1842-46) ; W. J. MacNeven, Pieces of Irish History (New York, 1807) ; T. Wolfe Tone, Autobiography, edit. by R. Barry O'Brien, 2 vols. (London, 1893) ; W. J. Fitzpatrick, Secret Service under Pitt (London, 1892) ; Sir Richard Musgrave, Memoirs of Rebel lions in Ireland, 2 vols. (Dublin, 1802) ; J. A. Froude, The English in Ireland in the Eighteenth Century, 3 vols. (London, 1872-74) ; Castle reagh Correspondence, ; Cornwallis Correspondence, ii.,