I

In historiographical terms, neither Jacobitism nor Scottophobia have featured heavily in the historiography of late eighteenth-century Ireland until relatively recently. In terms of the former, the native Irish did not rise in 1745 and the accepted historical narrative is one of a process of Catholic rehabilitation until the seismic shock of 1789. As for Scottophobia, or anti-Scottish sentiment, this has been addressed in the British context as a result of interest in John Wilkes and his skirmishes with Bute, but, with the notable exception of work on Jonathan Swift, there has not been any concerted attempt to explore the phenomenon in Ireland. Indeed, when thinking of the second half of the eighteenth century, with its influential work in the British context by Brewer and Colley, there has in the Irish case been more coverage in work with a literary slant on the ‘forger’ James Macpherson.

The avalanche of publications marking the bicentenary of the 1798 rebellion has gone some way towards shaping a new debate on Irish–Scottish connections in this period. Works have been published on interlinking Scottish and Irish radicalisms in the 1790s and, in more general terms, the reassessment of the role of Thomas Paine and the French Revolution in politicizing the United Irishmen, and even their Defender allies, must have a knock-on effect upon our judgement of older traditions of native Catholic discontent.