1798

This text traces the origins of Irish republicanism in the American and French revolutions. It then deals with the development of the United Irish and Defender movements in the 1790s, the foundation of the Orange Order in 1795, the abortive French landing of 1796 and the government repression that followed. The events of 1798 are central to the book. There were risings in Leinster and east Ulster and a small French landing in Connacht which was quickly defeated. In all, as many as 30,000 people may have died. The rising was a seminal event in the development of Irish nationalism. This book is published to coincide with the bicentennary anniversary of the 1798 rising.