UNITED IRISHMEN, SOCIETY OF. An Irish revolutionary society founded in 1791. It was an outgrowth of the sentiments inspired in Ireland by the French Revolution, which found earliest acceptance among the Presbyterians of Ulster, especially Belfast. Its (1?ject was to obtain com plete political emancipation of both Catholics and Dissenters, and to reform the Irish Parlia ment. It soon• spread among the Catholics of the south, and even members of the Established Church joined the movement. The Government in 1783 passed the Relief Act in time Irish Parlia ment. This gave the suffrage to Catholics, but did not qualify them for office. An attempted measure of Parliamentary reform was, however, rejected in 1794, and the recall of Lo•d Fitz willitun removed the hopes of the society for re form through Parliamentary means. The society then became more revolutionary, collected arms and became to all intents and purposes a mili tary organization. It promised the confiscation of the land of hostile landlords to the peasants and sent emissaries to France for aid. Its nu merical strength was greatly increased in the south by the action of the Orangemen of Ulster (Peep o' Day Boys) in expelling the Catholic inhabitants, who were forced to find refuge in the south. In 1790 Wolf Tone, the chief agent in the organization of the society, was sent to France to procure military aid, and an expedi tion of 15,000 troops under the command of Roche (q.v.) was fitted out. A violent tempest, however, prevented the French from landing and the expedition accomplished nothing. The so
ciety, nevertheless, remained ready for an in vasion. Two directories were established, one in Belfast. and the other in Dublin. They were reputed to have 200,000 recruits, but the num ber was certainly an exaggeration. Meanwhile the Gm•erm3ent resolved to repress the move ment before an invasion by France could be attempted, and under the pretext of repressing disorder the leaders of the movement in Ulster were arrested, and the Protestant militia and yeomanry let loose on the population of the south. This irregular force committed the great est brutalities, it being evidently the intention of the Government to incite the peasantry to open rebellion before the preparations for a revolu tion could he completed. The rebellion broke out on J4ay 3. 179S. and was confined to parts of Leinster. As it necessarily assumed the aspect of a religions war, the Presbyterians of Ulster took no part in it. The rebellion was suppressed before the arrival of the French, and shortly afterwards Wolfe Tone himself was cap tured. The Constitution and Oath of the Society are printed in Plowden. History of Ireland, vol, iii. (Philadelphia, 1806). Consult also The Proceedings of the Dublin Society (Philadelphia, 1795). The most complete work on the subject is Madden, The United Irishmen (Dublin, 1858). For a brief account consult Hassencamp. History of Ireland (London, 1888).