The 1798 Rebellion was a decisive moment in Irish history. It shaped Loyalist and Republican attitudes for generations afterwards. Although the enormity of the rebellion and its legacy cannot be overstated, the event itself was short-lived. The savagery of the fighting lasted through one fateful summer. By its end the insurrection was totally subdued. Yet there was one area in the west of County Wicklow where the rebellion was not subdued. The violence here lasted five and a half years and only ended when the rebels freely laid down their arms in December 1803. It was centred on Dunlavin parish, which stretches from the County Kildare border to the summit of Lugnaquilla, Leinster's highest mountain.The picturesque village of Dunlavin was the scene of a horrific massacre on the very first day of the 1798 Rebellion. Thirty six unarmed and defenceless prisoners, arrested before the rebellion broke out, who had played no part in the hostilities were shot on the village green. Other prisoners were hanged from the pillars of the village market house. Chris has written a book that explores the tensions that existed in the area before the massacre. It provides an account of the causes of the massacre and a study of the key personalities involved. The events of the fateful day are examined and the consequences of the event are analysed. One of the principal consequences was the guerrilla campaign waged by Michael Dwyer and his rebel band in the Wicklow Mountains.

Dwyer was born in the Glen of Imaal and fought in Wexford during the 1798 Rebellion. Following the defeat of the rebel armies, Dwyer retreated into the wilderness of the Wicklow Mountains. From here he waged a relentless guerrilla campaign for more than five years. Eventually, with no hope of help from Napoleonic France, Dwyer arranged terms with the authorities and ended his resistance in December 1803. The rebel leader expected to be given safe passage to America, but he was held in Kilmainham Jail and transported to Australia in 1805, where further adventures awaited him.

Chris' book makes extensive use of many primary sources including archival material and folk ballads. Numerous contemporary documents and poems are reproduced in the text. It is an excellent work of reference and a welcome addition to the literature covering the 1798 Rebellion and its aftermath, as well as a treasured memento for future generations.

If you would like to purchase a copy please follow this link. http://www.readireland.ie

Dunlavin Green Ballad Lyrics

In the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety eight

A sorrowful tale the truth unto you I'll relate

Of thirty-six heroes to the world were left to be seen

By a false information were shot on Dunlavin Green

Bad luck to you Saunders, for you did their lives betray

You said a parade would be held on that very day

Our drums they did rattle - our fifes they did sweetly play

Surrounded we were and privately marched away

Quite easy they led us like prisoners through the town

To be shot on the plain, we first were forced to kneel down

Such grief and such sorrow were never before there seen

When the blood ran in streams down the dykes of Dunlavin Green

There is young Matty Farrell who has plenty of cause to complain

Likewise the two Duffys who were also shot down upon the plain

And young Andy Ryan, his mother distracted will run

For the loss of her darling, her only beloved son

Bad luck to you, Saunders, may bad luck never you shun!

That the widow's curse may melt you like the snow in the sun

The cries of the orphans their murmurs you cannot screen

For the murder of their fathers on Dunlavin Green

Some of our boys to the hills they are going away

Some of them are shot and some of them going to sea

Mickey Dwyer in the mountains to Saunders he owes a spleen

For loss of his brothers who were shot on Dunlavin Green

In the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety eight

A sorrowful tale the truth unto you I'll relate

Of thirty-six heroes to the world were left to be seen

By a false information were shot on Dunlavin Green

 1798 rising by st kevin's ty class

For the most part, Georgian Ireland was a peaceful and relatively prosperous land, an age in which buildings, both public and private, rose up across the landscape with renewed confidence. However, with the evolution of political thought, it was inevitable that Ireland would once again be drawn into a European conflict. In this case, the catalyst was the American War of Independence (in which so many first and second generation Irishmen fought) and the French Revolution. Both events were founded on a desire to bring liberty, fraternity and equality to all mankind. Such noble aims were enticing to Irish ears. In 1792 a union was formed between certain Protestants, Presbyterians and Catholics eager to bring an end to the Ascendancy's monopoly on Irelands' economic and political affairs. The revolt of the United Irishmen - better known as the 1798 Rebellion - was ultimately a disaster and a tragedy. The lines of communication between like-minded people were too fragile for any concise strategy to develop. The French fleet arrived several months too late. The British Redcoats (numbering several thousand Irishmen in their ranks) managed to douse the rebellion but only after a bitter and indiscriminate four-month war that left perhaps as many as 30,000 people dead, loyalist, rebel, Catholic, Protestant and Presbyterian; the majority, civilians.

The small towns and villages around Rathsallagh did not escape the violence. Brutal battles and murders took place at Kildare, Ballitore, Narraghmore, Dunlavin, Ballymore Eustace, Stratford and Baltinglass. Thirty cartloads of rebel dead were carried away from the latter skirmish. Mr. Yates of Moone Abbey, one of Lord Aldborough's yeomen, was piked to death at Ballitore early in the conflict. Captain La Touche of Harristown was one of the lucky survivors of an ill-advised cavalry charge on rebel forces at Old Kilcullen, a battle that left more than 150 dead, mainly loyalists. On another drastic occasion, 350 unarmed Catholics were massacred at the ancient Gibbet Rath outside Kildare town. In Ballitore, the Quaker diarist Mary Leadbetter managed to write down her own unhappy experience when a British troop took the village.

"Ah, they came breathing vengeance … cannon accompanied them! To see cannon in Ballitore! I ran upstairs to my children whom I had seen in the room over the dairy. The Currough was now on fire, the crash of breaking windows could be heard and the trumpet sounded. Just then it was said the doctor was shot. I ran out into the room, and beheld him lying on his back, his arms extended and his life flown: then terror and distress seized me … the tumult now ceased, the trumpet sounded again. I suppose a retreat. We awoke as from a terrible dream".

At this time, Rathsallagh was in the possession of Captain William Ryves, grandson of the William Ryves who served as High Sheriff in 1734. A contemporary, the Rev. Christopher Robinson described him as "sensible, cool, loyal, persevering but in examining a man to get information, he sticks too much to the quibbles of a Court of Law and forgets the now necessity of the soldier". Ryves certainly gave little heed to the "quibbles" of law when he ordered the execution of over 30 prisoners at the Green in Dunlavin in June 1798. Being a Magistrate and supporter of Anglo-Irish interests, Captain Ryves had mustered his own cavalry corps to rout insurgents early in the days of the rebellion. His neighbour, Captain Saunders, had likewise formed a corps with which he had rounded up some 36 suspected rebels, subsequently imprisoned in the Market House in Dunlavin. The following is an extract from the memoirs of the Rev. John Shearman, Rector of Dunlavin at this time.

"Next day Captain Ryves of the Rathsallagh yeomen, being on the look-out for insurgents on the hill of Uske, his horse was killed by a ball aimed at its rider. Ryves got home safely; rode to Dunlavin, and then it was determined to shoot the prisoners of Saunder's yeomen, and those of the Narraghmore corps, numbering in all 36 men. Next day, the 26th May, being the market-day of Dunlavin, these unfortunates were marched from the market-house to the Fair Green, on the rising ground above the little town. In a hollow or pit on the north side, near the gate of the Roman Catholic chapel on the Sparrowhouse Road, the victims were ranged, while a platoon of the Ancient Britons (a loyalist brigade) stood on the higher ground on the south side of the Green on the Boherbuoy Road. They fired with murderous effect on the 36 victims. All fell - dead and dying - amid the shrieks and groans of the bystanders among whom were those widows and relatives".

The event is commemorated in the Irish ballad "Dunlavin Green" although, remarkably, it is Saunders and not Ryves who takes the brunt of responsibility:

Bad luck to you, Saunders, may bad luck never you shun!
That the widow's curse may melt you like the snow in the sun
The cries of the orphans whose murmurs you cannot screen
For the murder of their dear fathers on Dunlavin Green

Some of our boys to the hills they are going away
Some of them are shot and some of them going to sea
Micky Dwyer in the mountains to Saunders he owes a spleen
For his loyal brothers who were shot on Dunlavin Green

After the rebellion had ended, Mary Shackleton and a friend went to Rathsallagh in order to retrieve "some of our plundered property" which "Squire Ryves", as a magistrate, was safe-guarding. She wrote:

"The way seemed long, lonely and dreary. The large old mansion of Rathsallagh exhibited a melancholy air. Its neglected appearance, barricaded windows, the absence of the female part of the family and the presence of a military guard made us think our own situation preferable, as we were permitted to enjoy domestic comfort. Some of our things were here and while the squire restored them to us, he smiled, and warned us of our danger of being robbed again. He foretold but too truly…"

The jury is still out as to whether the fire that subsequently destroyed the manor house at Rathsallagh in 1802 was accidental or not. It is perhaps a surprise that the house survived the rebellion at all. Protestant parishes to the north and south suffered badly and put in claims for substantial compensation. Donard Parish was the worst hit in the county, with one claim for every three houses. Captain Ryves died in February 1803 and was succeeded by his son, William, a solicitor, who took over as captain of his fathers' corps. He also converted the Queen Anne stables into a fine country house that we know today as Rathsallagh House.

The rebellion continued in the Wicklow Mountains long after its suppression elsewhere. At Derrynamuck, on the south side of the Glen of Imaal, the Dwyer-McAllister Cottage stands testament to this prolonged resistance. In a showdown reminiscent of the Wild West, Michael Dwyer, leader of the Wicklow rebels, made a daring getaway from this cottage when surprise attacked by a brigade of Scottish Redcoats from Humewood, Kiltegan, in February 1799. His friend Sam McAllister, already wounded, deliberately drew the enemy musket-fire so that Dwyer could escape out the back. A monument to McAllister now dominates the main street in Baltinglass. Dwyer was later captured and exiled to Australia, one of 60,000 Irish felons transported Down Under between 1785 and 1845. He became a Constable in Sydney but died of the drink.