The impact of the French Revolution upon the Dissenters of the North was more specific than to just produce a general sympathy for its proceedings. As well as nourishing and enhancing their revolutionary tendencies, one of the most powerful demonstrations it provided for them was the simple exhibition that Catholics could accept liberty. Up until the beginning of the revolution, it was a general belief among them, as it was among most Protestants, that Catholics could not accept, and could not be trusted with, any form of freedom; it was believed that they were wholly subservient to Vatican interests and would no doubt squander the first hint of liberty presented to them. The French Revolution, needless to say, transformed all of this. Not only had the French overthrown the most tyrannical monarchy in Europe, but they had also severed links with the Catholic Church in a country which had been widely viewed as the most Catholic on the continent.
No clearer sign that Catholics could fully appreciate freedom could be provided for the Dissenters than this. That the sign provided by the French regarding Catholicism and liberty was heeded by the Dissenters is well documented. On July 14th, 1791, at the Belfast celebrations of the anniversary of Bastille Day, the Belfast First Volunteer Company, which was predominantly Presbyterian, passed a resolution to admit Catholics
among its ranks; on the same day one year later in Belfast, at dinner celebrations for the said event, Tone noted that Dissenters and Catholics were “chequered at the head of the table”. It is inherent from such examples that many of the republican Dissenters of the North had fully absorbed the lesson offered by the French Revolution, and had begun to realise that it was not the people (Catholics) who needed to be reformed, but the system and the laws which affected these people.
Many Protestants (Anglicans), also, were greatly influenced by the French demonstration of Catholic liberty. Such influences can clearly be seen, for example, in Tone’s pamphlet, ‘An Argument on behalf of the Catholics of Ireland’, published in September of 1791. Others, like Thomas Addis Emmet of Dublin, were moved to ideas of universal male suffrage and complete Catholic emancipation.
Isolating the change in Presbyterian attitude towards Catholics as the principle and predominant effect of the French Revolution upon Irish revolutionary concepts would be to do the revolution an inherent injustice. This was just one of the tenets of thought and influence which made its way to Ireland, and on its own is considerably insignificant. What was to be achieved by Presbyterians showing solidarity to Catholics if both groups were to remain suppressed and restrained by the same peremptory government? The removal of traditional Presbyterian prejudices against Catholics, while radical in itself, was just one step, albeit a very important one, towards improving their joint situation; other French revolutionary influences also impacted upon potential Irish radicals and republicans which, combined, helped to give rise to a new revolutionary disposition in the country.
Of these other influences, one which deserves immediate and special attention is that of Tom Paine’s book, ‘Rights of Man’. Written in revolutionary Paris in 1791, it was intended as a defence of the French Revolution and its principles in the face of a vicious attack in the form of Edmund Burke’s book, ‘Reflections on the Revolution in France’, which Paine eloquently describes as “darkness attempting to illuminate the light”. In writing it, Paine achieved more than a simple rebuttal of Burke’s book, but set out the principles of the French Revolution in positive and emphatic explanations and arguments which were bound to impact intensely upon the reader. Through his book, the ideas of democracy, of civil and natural rights, and other principles championed by the French Revolution, were spread across Europe. The book made an immense impression upon Ireland, especially in Belfast, but was also widely read among middle class Catholics and certain Protestant groups. Its effect in spreading the doctrines of the French Revolution in Ireland cannot be underestimated; Tone termed it the “Koran of Blefescu” , and Lecky commented that Paine’s response to Burke “and the gigantic event which gave rise to it changed in an instant the politics of Ireland… In a little time the French Revolution became the text of every man’s political creed”. It was no coincidence that in March 1793, when insurrection and anarchy were spreading, when demonstrations in favour of France were growing in number, and when Presbyterian ministers in Belfast were offering up prayer for the victory of French armies, copies of Paine’s ‘Rights of Man’ were being widely distributed by the press. A further attestation to Paine’s influence upon Irish radicals and republicans is that, in 1793, he was elected as an honorary member of the United Irishmen.
Not to dwell too long on the connections between Presbyterians and French revolutionary influences, the Catholics, too, were open to persuasion, although in slightly different contexts. The Defenders, a violent, agrarian and sectarian movement which developed and spread from Armagh in the 1780’s, derived much inspiration from the French Revolution. Unlike the Dissenters, however, they interpreted French ideology as Catholic and anti-English, rather than republican, and looked to the French to restore the Catholic faith and Gaelic land ownership in Ireland. Contemporary oaths and catechisms pertaining to the organisation clearly display their belief in, and admiration of, the French revolutionaries, and the hope they derived from them. Middle class Catholics, for their part, remained, by and large, wary of events in France, due to the anti-Catholic direction the revolution was taking, but a significant number were influenced in the same manner as the Northern Dissenters, i.e. indoctrinated with ideas of emancipation, equal representation and the establishment of a republic.
French revolutionary concepts impacted upon Ireland not just in the form of intellectual ideology, but in the form of military influence also. In Dublin, for example, a new military, and openly republican, group was formed, modelled upon the French National Guards. It adopted as its emblem a harp, without the usual crown, surmounted with the cap of liberty. Associated with this group were individuals such as James Napper Tandy, Archibald Hamilton Rowan, Oliver Bond and Henry Jackson. In Belfast, admiration for the French army and French military achievements was unconcealed and well known. The prospect of actual French military aid was also to have a profound effect on the revolutionary process in Ireland. For some, such as the Defenders, it was believed that a French invasion would bring about changes in land ownership, and for others, such as the Dissenters and the future United Irish revolutionaries, it was hoped that it would establish a democratic and independent republic in Ireland; for all, it was a possible means to an end. One of the most obvious effects of the hope derived from the prospect of military help was that people flocked in great numbers to join the Defenders and the United Irishmen, in order that they should be able to facilitate a French invasion should it occur; no doubt the numbers of the Defenders and United Irishmen would have been significantly less if the people had believed from the outset that they would have to fight alone against the mighty British Empire. The possibility of French help signified hope and possibility for the disaffected masses of Catholic and Presbyterian Ireland, and it was a hope that almost came to light in December of 1796.
In conclusion, it seems only reasonable to say that the rise of republicanism and of the United Irishmen in Ireland cannot be easily separated from the Irish reaction to the revolution in France. The revolution, and its associated ideology, provided the intellectual stimulus and direction for the Dissenters, and like minded middle class Catholics and liberal Protestants, to develop their general radicalism into outright republicanism; it gave hope to all those who suffered from religious and social persecution; it demonstrated the possibility of establishing a new society based on equality and fraternity among all; and last, but not least, it promised the military where-with-all to rid such persecution, and establish such a society if the people so desired. It was an influence that the Irish people could not resist, and its effects are testified by the rapid growth of the United Irish Society from 1791 onwards, and the continued agitation for reform from that point, which eventually culminated in the outbreak of rebellion and insurrection in 1798.
Bibliography
1. Lecky, W. E. H., History of Ireland in the 18th Century, Vol III, London (1898).
2. Dickson, D., Keogh, D. & Whelan, K., (ed.), The United Irishmen, Republicanism and Rebellion, Dublin (1993).
3. Foster, R. F., Modern Ireland, 1600 – 1972, London (1989).
4. Paine, T., Rights of Man, Common Sense, and Other Political Writings,
Oxford (1995).
5. Mac an Bheatha, P., Dóchas Aduaidh, Bunú na nÉireannach Aontaithe, 1791, Dublin (1991).
6. Mitchell, J., The History of Ireland Vol. I, Dublin (1869).
7. Jacob, R., The Rise of the United Irishmen, 1791-94, London (1937).
8. Weber, P., On the Road to Rebellion, The United Irishmen and Hamburg, 1796-1803, Dublin (1997).
9. Bartlett, T., Dawson, K., Keogh, D., Rebellion: A Television History of 1798,
Dublin (1998).
1 Lecky, W. E. H., History of Ireland in the 18th Century, Vol III, London (1898), p. 8
2 Dickson, D., Keogh, D. & Whelan, K., (ed.), The United Irishmen, Republicanism and Rebellion,
Dublin (1993), p. 70
3 Foster, R. F., Modern Ireland, 1600 – 1972, London (1989), p. 270
4 Dickson, D., Keogh, D., & Whelan, K., (ed.), op. cit., p. 271
Paine, T., Rights of Man, Common Sense, and Other Political Writings, Oxford (1995),
p. 95
Mac an Bheatha, P., Dóchas Aduaidh, Bunú na nÉireannach Aontaithe, 1791, Dublin (1991),
p. 10
7 Lecky, W. E. H., op. cit., p 9