Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, Ireland.
Telephone : 053 9237596 / 7
Email :
info@1798centre.ie
Leaders
of 1798
Myles Byrne, Thomas Cloney of Moneyhore, John Henry Colclough, Edward Fitzgerald, Cornelius Grogan,
Bagenal Harvey, Fr. Mogue
Kearns, John Kelly "of Killann", General Gerard Lake, General Sir
John Moore,
Fr. John Murphy, Fr. Michael Murphy, Anthony Perry, Fr. Philip
Roche.
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Myles Byrne |
He was born in the townland of Ballylusk
near Monaseed
in 1780.
He joined the United Irishmen in 1797, apparently influenced by Anthony Perry of Inch.
The United Irishmen were strong in this part of the country prior to 1798.
Byrne participated in the ’98 Rising at Bunclody Tubberneering, Arklow and Vinegar Hill and he accompanied
Fr. John Murphy on the advance to and retreat from Castlecomer. He continued in the field until the end,
eventually escaping to Dublin where he remained undetected, employed as a builder from 1799
to 1803.
He met Robert Emmet in Dublin and became one of his faithful lieutenants.
After the failure of the Dublin rising he escaped to Paris.
He was commissioned as an infantry officer in the Irish Legion. He fought in the Napoleonic wars and had a very
distinguished career. He died in Paris in 1862.
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Myles Byrne |
His "Memoirs" were published by his widow in 1863. They include a
valuable account of the 1798 rising in Wexford.
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Thomas Cloney of Moneyhore |
Thomas
Cloney was the son of Denis Cloney, a well-to-do farmer.
He was twenty six years of age at the time of the
rebellion. He later claimed that he was not a United Irishman and
that he was an
unwilling insurgent.
He played a leading and distinguished part in the
action against General Fawcett’s advance guard below Three Rocks
and later at
New Ross. Cloney served under Father Philip Roche’s command at Lacken
Hill, marched with him to Wexford on the 19th June and
back to Goff’s Bridge (Foulke’s Mill) on the 20th June.
Both he and Father Kearns went into hiding at his father’s house for a
time. In June 1799 Cloney was arrested and jailed in Wexford,
court-martialled on a charge of accessory to murder, found guilty and
sentenced to death. Lord Cornwallis reduced the sentence to
two years in exile. He went to England for the duration of his exile and
returned to Ireland in February 1803 taking up residence in
Graiguenamanagh.
He died there on 20th February 1850 at the age of seventy six.
He was the author of a book on the Rising, "A Personal
Narrative …. 1798", published in 1832.
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John Henry Colclough |
John Henry Colclough lived in Ballyteigue,
Kilmore, in the South of the barony of Bargy, Co. Wexford.
He was a landowner, a man of liberal principles and qualified as a doctor.
Colclough is considered to have been an unwilling rebel.
In 1798, he was arrested on 27th May and brought to
Wexford gaol.
The Government sent him and Edward Fitzgerald to speak with the rebels at Vinegar
Hill on 29th May.
He was allowed to return to report that the negotiations had failed. Colclough was
in the area of New Ross on 5th June, and
of Goff’s Bridge (Foulksmills) on 20th June, but he did not
fight. Sources suggest that this was not because he lacked courage but
because he did not wish to become too
involved.
When negotiations were taking place on 21st June, Colclough returned home to
Ballyteigue.
Later he, his wife and Bagenal Harvey were arrested on the Greater Saltee Island
and court-martialled.
Colclough was hanged on 28th June, 1798.
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Edward
Fitzgerald |
Edward Fitzgerald was born in or around 1770
and lived at Newpark, Curclough near Blackwater.
He was popular with the local people. On 26th May, the local magistrate, Edward
Turner, agreed to protect local people who gave up
their weapons.
Many people met at Fitzgerald’s house to hand over their arms. The next day,
the High Sheriff arrested Fitzgerald and jailed him in
Wexford. On the 29th May, Fitzgerald agreed to act as
"go-between" for the government troops in Wexford and the rebels on
Vinegar Hill.
He was detained by the rebels and became one of their leaders. Although he was
popular, some questioned his loyalty - once in the
camp at Three Rocks when he went with the envoys back to
Wexford, and again when he left Wexford to visit his home at Newpark.
When the Wexford rebels were scattered in County Meath, he surrendered to General
Dundas on 12th July on condition that he left
Ireland. He was held in Dublin Castle for nearly six
months. Finally Fitzgerald went to Hambury, Germany where he died in 1807.
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Cornelius Grogan |
Cornelius Grogan was a wealthy landowner who
lived at Johnstown Castle.
He was High Sheriff of the County and he represented Enniscorthy in the Irish
parliament from 1783 to 1790.
He was a Protestant landowner who held liberal principles and was an advocate of
reform and emancipation.
When the rebel garrison retreated from Wexford town he tried to escape to Duncannon
but was prevailed upon by some of the rebels
to return to Wexford town.
He was captured and was charged at his trial with having been present at the battle
of New Ross.
His house was seized by troops and his property taken.
At his court martial he protested his loyalty and claimed he was forced to take
part in the Rising.
He was executed on 28th June 1798.
His younger brother Thomas Grogan Knox was killed at Arklow serving with Castletown
Yeoman Cavalry, and another brother,
John Grogan, was wounded with the Healthfield Yeomanry.
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Bagenal Harvey |
Beanchamp Bagenal Harvey of Bargy Castle was
a lawyer and a member of the United Irishmen.
He was a man of liberal principles who supported the ideal of government reform and
emancipation.
He was arrested at his own house at 11.00 p.m., on the 26th May, on the information
given by a rebel colonel under torture,
Anthony Perry, and lodged in Wexford gaol.
He remained in Wexford until its occupation by the insurgents, where he was
appointed Commander-in-Chief, probably against his
will.
Harvey, aged 36, was in command at the battle of New Ross on June 5th 1798, which
ended in defeat for the rebels.
He was overwhelmed by this disaster and by the massacre of over a hundred suspected
loyalists at Scullabogue the same day.
On the 7th June he was replaced as Commander-in-Chief by
Fr. Philip Roche and returned to Wexford where he was appointed
President of the town committee. He
lived on the west side of Selskar near the junction with George’s Street.
Apparently confident that a treaty would be negotiated by Lord Kingsborough, he
retired to Bargy Castle.
However shortly afterwards, accompanied by John Henry Colclough, he made his way to
a cave on the Greater Saltee Island where
they planned to escape to France by sea.
They were betrayed and arrested, brought back to Wexford and hanged on the bridge
on 28th June 1798.
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Fr. Mogue Kearns |
Mogue Kearns was born at Kiltealy, on the
slopes of the Blackstairs mountains, into a farming family.
According to a story current in 1798, Kearns was a student in Paris at the height
of the French Revolution and was hanged from a
lamp-post by the mob. However, the weight of his body bent
the lamp-post and his toes touched the ground. He was then rescued
by a doctor who brought him back to
consciousness.
After his ordination, was appointed curate at Balyna, on the Kildare-Meath border.
He was not long in the parish when he was found to be politically active and was
dismissed by Bishop Delaney.
On his return from Kildare, he took up residence in Enniscorthy. Kearns joined the
Insurgents from the outset and was prominent in
the first battle of Enniscorthy on 28th May. From the camp at
Vinegar Hill, Kearns led a detachment of 2,000 poorly-armed insurgents
northwards to attack the garrison at
Bunclody.
On the morning of 1st June, they halted outside the town. Kearns ignored the advice
of Miles Byrne to send a detachment to the
Carlow road to cut off the garrison's retreat and ordered the
attack to begin.
The garrison retreated, but, meeting reinforcements, returned and counter-attacked.
The insurgent forces suffered heavy losses and had to retreat to Enniscorthy.
In the battle of Enniscorthy and Vinegar Hill, Kearns again played a prominent part
but was wounded and had to be carried by the
retreating insurgents towards Wexford.
Kearns took refuge until his wound had healed and then joined a large number of
insurgents who were hiding in Killoughram Woods.
The Protestant gentleman, Anthony Perry of Inch, and the
Catholic priest, Mogue Kearns were executed in Edenderry, County Offaly,
on 12th July and buried together
in the cemetery of Monasteroris. A large Celtic cross now marks their grave.
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John Kelly
"of Killanne" |
John Kelly is remembered in the ballad by
P. J. McCall. Kelly is one of the mystery men of 1798.
Both friends and foes admired him as brave and good, but there are few facts about
Kelly recorded in history.
He served in the rebel army for no more than a week and fought twice. He and the
men of Killanne marched through The Leap to the
camp at Vinegar Hill on 29th May after the battle at
Enniscorthy. He was one of the leaders who led the rebels from Three Rocks
and beat the government troops on 30th
May.
He fought and was badly wounded at the Battle of New Ross at the Three Bullet Gate
and then was brought to Wexford.
There he remained until General Lake entered the town, when he was tried by court
martial and hanged.
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General Gerard
Lake |
Gerard Lake was born at Harrow, Middlesex on
27th July 1744. He served in the British army in the Seven Years' War, in the American
Revolutionary War, and in the wars of the French
Revolution.
In 1794 he was appointed Governor of Limerick and became Commander of the Forces in
Ulster in 1796.
Early in 1797 he set about disarming Ulster and destroying the United Irishmen
organisation there. Lake was unhappy with this
appointment, fearing, he said, "the wrath of an
embittered and exasperated people". However, this did not prevent him carrying out
his task with brutal efficiency. |
In April 1798, Lake was appointed
Commander-in-Chief of the Crown forces in Ireland, replacing Sir Ralph
Abercromby who had criticised the army in Ireland, describing
it as "in a state of licentiousness which must render
it formidable to everyone but
the enemy".
Lake moved quickly to put down the rebellion as soon as it broke out in the
midlands.
He then concentrated his campaign in Wexford and was active in the defeat of the insurgents at the battle of
Vinegar Hill on 21st June. He was also present when the French forces under General Humbert surrendered at
Ballinamuck on 8th September.
After the rebellion, Lake was installed as M.P. for Armagh but resigned in 1799. In 1800 he was made
Commander-in-Chief in India and set
about modernising the Indian Army.
He became a full general the following year and, after a successful campaign
against Indian dissidents, he was
created a Baron in
1804. |
Gen. Gerard Lake |
In 1805 he was removed from his command. He returned to England and was made a
Viscount in 1807.
Lake died in London on 20th February, 1808 at the age of 64 years.
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General Sir John
Moore |
General John Moore was born in Glasgow on
13th November 1761. He was the son of a physician.
Moore became an M.P. in 1784 and obtained a command in the British army when war
broke out between France and Britain in 1793.
General Moore was Commander-in-Chief of Government forces at Lacken Hill,
Goff’s Bridge and Wexford town.
He defeated 5,000 insurgents lead by Fr. Philip Roche at Goff’s Bridge and
Foulkesmills on 20th June 1798.
This victory was later attributed to the fact that the military had artillery and
because of General Moore’s commanding ability.
General Moore was considered very humane by the Wexford insurgents. As a soldier he
carried out his duties but without malice.
However, he failed to control his Yeomanry and Hessian units
and they committed many atrocities.
Moore was killed at La Coruna, Spain fighting against Napoleon’s
army in the Peninsular War in 1808.
A poem entitled "The Burial of Sir John Moore" was written by Charles
Wolfe to commemorate his death.
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Fr.
John Murphy |
Fr. John Murphy was born at Tincurry in the
Parish of Ferns, County Wexford.
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He studied in Spain, and returned to Ireland in 1785 when he became curate at Boolavogue. In 1797, many
Catholic clergymen sworeallegiance (or loyalty) to the British Crown. They encouraged local people to give up
their weapons, and in return, receive "protections" from the government. However many people had to leave
their
homes to avoid persecution by the Yeomanry. This is said to have driven Fr. Murphy into the rebellion.
On 27th May, Fr. Murphy led a large group of pike-men and defeated a party of government troops
at Oulart,
the next day he took Camolin and Enniscorthy, and encamped on Vinegar Hill.
After defeats at Arklow and Vinegar Hill, Fr. Murphy joined a rebel group that
passed through Scollagh Gap.
They crossed the river Barrow and were defeated at Kilcumney.
Fr. Murphy went to Tullow where he was arrested. He was executed there with James
Gallagher on 2nd July,
1798.
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Fr. John Murphy
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Fr. Michael
Murphy |
Fr. Michael Murphy was born in either
Ballinoulart, Castleannesley or in Kilnew, County Wexford.
He was educated at a hedge school in Oulart, ordained at Wexford in 1785, and the
following autumn went to France.
When he returned from France he became parish priest of Ballycanew, and
according to Musgrave "behaved himself with very great
propriety till the rebellion broke out."
He is reputed to have joined the rebellion when his church was ransacked by the yeomen,
on 27th May. He travelled to Gorey and
then to Kilthomas Hill. He joined Fr. John Murphy (of Boolavogue) on Ballyorril Hill.
Fr. Michael Murphy was killed at the battle of Arklow on June 9th 1798 leading an
attack on a gun position which defended the
western approach to the town. He is buried at Castle Ellis.
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Anthony Perry |
Anthony Perry was the only son of a Dublin
cardmaker. He was a Protestant, a member of the United Irishmen
and their organiser for
North Wexford. He lived at Perrymount, near Inch.
He had been a Lieutenant in the Coolgreany Yeomen Cavalry Corps but resigned in protest at
the outrages
perpetrated on the
people. He was arrested about 23rd May and taken to Gorey.
For 48 hours he was tortured until he finally broke and made a confession .
Bagenal Harvey Commander-in-Chief of the Rebel forces, was arrested and later
executed due to information supplied by Perry under
torture.
As a result Perry was driven into the insurgent ranks where he held high command and
became influential.
He and Father Kearns were captured at Clonbollogue on the 12th July and hanged at
Edenderry, Co. Offaly.
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Fr. Philip Roche |
Philip Roche was born in Monagrena near
Boolavogue in the parish of Monageer about the year 1760 and was ordained in Wexford by
Bishop Caulfield on 17th May, 1785.
His first appointment as curate was in Ballyfad near Gorey. There he came into
contact with the United Irishmen organisation in the
early 1790s.
On the outbreak of the rebellion Roche immediately joined the insurgents and soon
held the rank of colonel among them.
After the capture of Enniscorthy on 28th May, Roche served on a
committee of twelve that controlled the affairs of the insurgent
camp on Vinegar Hill.
During the rebellion Roche gained a reputation for personal bravery. He liberally distributed written protections and was credited with
saving the lives
of many Protestants.
After the Insurgent defeat at Ross on 5th June, Roche was elected
commander-in-chief of the insurgent forces, replacing Bagenal
Harvey. On 19th June, as government forces approached,
Roche broke camp at Lacken Hill and retreated strategically to the Three
Rocks mountain outside Wexford
town.
From there, Roche’s forces engaged Sir John Moore’s troops at Goff’s
Bridge and then returned to their camp at the Three Rocks.
On hearing of the insurgent defeat at Vinegar Hill on 21st June, Roche - against
the advice of Miles Byrne and Fr. John Murphy -
decided to surrender himself in Wexford town and to try to
obtain terms of surrender for the insurgent forces. However, on his arrival
in the town, he was recognised,
pulled from his horse and dragged through the streets to jail.
He was court-martialled on 24th June, convicted and sentenced to be hanged.
The following morning at 11 o’clock Roche and eight others were
executed on Wexford bridge. |
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