The Battle of Carlow and the 1798 Irish Rebellion

Fascinating People Fascinating Places

Daniel Mainwaring

Documentary, Society & Culture:documentary, History, Society & Culture

5 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 8 April 2022

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On the 24 May 1798, simultaneous revolts across cities and towns in Ireland signified the start of the long anticipated Irish rebellion. The insurectionists — many of whom were members of The Society of United Irishmen — were both protestant and catholic, rich and poor. But they shared a vision of an Irish republic — free from British rule. In this episode, I investigate the events surrounding the rebellion, recall its progress and aftermath with a focus on events in the small South Eastern town of Carlow. Professor Thomas Bartlett, Emeritus Professor at the University of Aberdeen, is one of the leading experts on Irish history in this era. He provides his insights on the background to the rebellion and the events that unfolded. Additionally, historian John Kelly, Editor of The Carloviana, and member of The Carlow Histrocial and Archeaological Society shares his expertise on the tragic events in Carlow. Credits: Guest interviewees: Prof. Thomas Bartlett John Kelly Audio: Boolavogue performed by Sarak Kinsella Sound Effects from Pixabay Additional Resources: Carlow Historical and Archeaological Society Carloviana

Transcript

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0:00.0	people, fascinating places.
0:02.0	G'd a and welcome to the Dan Mainwearing podcast.
0:06.0	This is where we talk to and about the famous and the infamous,
0:10.0	the celebrated and the obscure, the well-known and the Undiscovered.
0:15.0	Interviews, Articles and Discussion from Around the Globe.
0:18.0	On the 25th of May, 1798, a man named Mick Hayden had hundreds of civilians armed with
0:30.2	rudimentary weapons such as hastily made pikes into the center of Carlo, the small town in the southeast of Ireland. The scene must have been reminiscent of the peasant's revoltts some 400 years earlier.
0:43.0	But unlike what Tyler's motley crew of pitchfork-wielding labourers,
0:48.0	these rebels were confronting a powerful opponent
0:51.0	armed with modern weaponry, guns and cannons. In hindsight, it looks a lot like a suicide mission, and for many of them it was, because unbeked to them, the British had been tipped off
1:04.0	and laid on in the ambush.
1:06.0	What followed was a massacre,
1:08.0	but just a generation earlier,
1:10.0	Carlo would have seemed like the last place
1:12.0	you'd expect to see an insurrection.
1:15.0	As John Kelly of the Carlo Historical and Archaeological Society explains,
1:21.0	If you look at Carlo in 1777, Thomas Campbell wrote an account of Ireland that at that stage she says when you approach
1:27.4	Caro to see an altar, the country is seemingly to be entirely occupied by gentlemen's parks
1:31.7	malled in, recently planted, and delightful
1:34.1	when the trees are grown. The town is presently situated on the river Barrow. Very cheerful
1:37.9	appearance, large number of white houses scattered up and down, a good flesh market and all the appearance of a good English village.
1:45.0	Linen industry, a very big boat trade.
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