On this day in 1848, the Young Ireland rebellion took place at the Widow McCormack’s house in Ballingarry.
Writing in History Ireland, Brendan O Cathaoir claimed “as revolution, the rising was a pathetic farce; as revolutionary theatre however,….its political effects were profound and far reaching.”
The Paris revolution of February 1848 raised unrealistic expectations in famine-ravaged Ireland. The sudden collapse of established regimes across Europe gave new hope to Irish nationalists, who were led to believe that the 1801 Act of Union could be repealed with similar ease. Sensing the rebellious atmosphere, the British government suspended the Habeas Corpus Act (which prevented unlawful confinement) on 22 July 1848 and began to arrest Young Ireland leaders. This was in the aftermath of reports of a demonstration on Slievenamon on 16 July 1848 attended by 50,000 people.
Young Ireland leaders now had nothing to lose and on 29 July 1848, Thomas Francis Meagher, William Smith O’ Brien and John Blake Dillon found themselves in Ballingarry at the head of a small force. A detachment of the Irish Constabulary (it didn’t become the Royal Irish Constabulary until 1867) was sent to arrest the leaders of this attempted coup. However, finding itself outnumbered, the 46-strong force occupied Margaret McCormack’s house and took her five children hostage.
O’ Brien attempted to negotiate the release of the children but instead was fired upon from inside the building. The shooting went on for a number of hours before the arrival of police reinforcements caused the withdrawal of the Young Irelanders and the collapse of the rebellion.
Similar to O Cathaoir above, Myles Dungan says that it can only be described as a rebellion ‘by stretching credibility well beyond snapping point.’ But, he continues, ‘the aftermath is far more interesting than the fracas itself.’ The rebellion re-established republican links to the United Irishmen; it helped to bring the issue of landownership into the political arena; after his acquittal, Charles Gavan Duffy revived The Nation newspaper and laid the basis for tenant right agitation. Furthermore, despite being forced into exile or transported to Australia, numerous Young Irelanders would still have a huge influence on Irish republicanism for a long time to come. James Stephens, John O’ Mahony and Michael Doheny, all involved in the 1848 rebellion, escaped to Paris afterwards where they became the inspiration or the organisational muscle of the Irish Republican Brotherhood- ultimately responsible for the 1916 Rising.
Sources:
https://www.historyireland.com/the-rising-of-1848/
Myles Dungan, On This Day- Volume 2, (2017) pp179-181.
