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Select documents XXXVIII: Defenders and Defenderism in 1795

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2016

Thomas Bartlett
Thomas Bartlett*
Affiliation:
University College, Galway
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Extract

Secret societies in Ireland in the period 1760 to 1845 have recently been the subject of an extraordinary amount (by Irish standards) of scholarly interest. The Whiteboys, Hearts of Oak, Steelboys, Rightboys, United Irishmen, Caravats, Rockites and Ribbonmen have all had their historians and various interpretations have been put forward to explain the rise of these societies and the nature of the violence they perpetrated. However, the Defenders, the secret society that dominated the 1790s and the immediate post-union period, have been relatively neglected. Admittedly some important contributions have been made recently to their history: Mr J.G.O. Kerrane has made a study of the Defenders in County Meath; Professor David Miller has investigated the origins of the society in County Armagh; Dr Marianne Elliott has explored the implications for future Irish republicanism of the 1796 alliance between the non-sectarian United Irishmen and the avowedly catholic Defenders; and Dr Tom Garvin has traced the lines of continuity between Defenderism and the later Ribbonism. Nonetheless, it remains true that there is as yet no comprehensive account of the movement and much about it remains obscure. The documents published below shed light on the organisation, aims and activities of the Defenders on the eve of their alliance with the United Irishmen. They also illustrate the complex web of archaic and modern forces that comprised ‘Defenderism’

Type
Research Article
Information
Irish Historical Studies , Volume 24 , Issue 95 , May 1985 , pp. 373 - 394
Copyright
Copyright © Irish Historical Studies Publications Ltd 1985

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References

1 Wall, Maureen, ‘The Whiteboys’ in Desmond Williams, T. (ed.), Secret societies in Ireland (Dublin, 1973), pp 13–25 Google Scholar; Donnelly, James S. Jr, ‘The Whiteboy movement, 1761–5’ in I.H.S., xxi, no. 81 (Mar. 1978), pp 20–54 Google Scholar; Maguire, W. A. ‘Lord Donegall and the Hearts of Steel’ in I.H.S., xxi, no. 84 (Sept. 1979), pp 351–76Google Scholar; Donnelly, James S. Jr, ‘Hearts of Oak, Hearts of Steel’ in Studia Hibernica, xxi (1981), pp 7–74 Google Scholar; idem., ‘The Rightboy movement’ in ibid, xvii–xviii (1977–8), pp 120–202 Google Scholar; Bric, Maurice J., ‘Priests, parsons and politics: the Rightboy protest in County Cork, 1785–1788’ in Past and Present, no. 100 (1983), pp 100–23CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Elliott, Marianne, Partners in revolution: the United Irishmen and France (New Haven and London, 1982), ch. 1Google Scholar; Miller, David W, ‘The Armagh troubles, 1784–95’ in Clark, Samuel and Donnelly, James S. Jr (eds), Irish peasants: violence and political unrest, 1780–1914 (Manchester, 1983), pp 155–91Google Scholar; Donnelly, James S. Jr, ‘Pastorini and Captain Rock: millenarianism and sectarianism in the Rockite movement of 1821–4’ in ibid., pp 102–39Google Scholar; Beames, M. R., ‘The Ribbon societies: lower-class nationalism in pre-Famine Ireland’ in Past and Present, no. 97 (1982), pp 128–43CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Clark and Donnelly (eds), Irish peasants, contains several essays on Irish rural disturbances. Beames, M. R., Peasants and power: the Whiteboy movements and their control in pre-Famine Ireland (Brighton, 1983)Google Scholar, is a general history of pre-Famine rural disturbances. Clark, Samuel, Social origins of the Irish land war (Princeton, 1979)Google Scholar, is wider than its title suggests. For a provocative interpretation of Irish rural disturbances, see Fitzpatrick, David, ‘Class, family and rural unrest in nineteenth-century Ireland’ in Drudy, P J. (ed.), Ireland: land, politics and people (Cambridge, 1982), pp 37–75 Google Scholar.

2 Kerrane, J. G. O., ‘The background to the 1798 rebellion in County Meath’ (unpublished M.A. thesis. University College, Dublin, 1971)Google Scholar.

3 Miller, David ‘The Armagh troubles, 1784–95’ in Clark, & Donnelly, (eds), Irish peasants, pp 155–91Google Scholar

4 Elliott, Marianne, ‘The origins and transformation of early Irish republicanism’ in International Review of Social History, xxiii (1978), pp 305–28Google Scholar.

5 Garvin, Tom, ‘Defenders, Ribbonmen and others: underground political networks in pre-Famine Ireland’ in Past and Present, no. 96 (1982), pp 133–55CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

6 Miller, , ‘Armagh troubles’ pp 155–91Google Scholar; Cullen, L. M., The emergence of modern Ireland. 1600–1900 (Dublin, 1981), pp 56–7Google Scholar; ‘Extracts from “An impartial account of the late disturbances in the countv of Armagh, etc.” by J. Byrne’ in W H. Crawford and Brian Trainor (eds). Aspects of Irish social history, 1750–1800 (Belfast, 1969), pp 171–6.

7 For the anti-militia riots, see Bartlett, Thomas, ‘An end to moral economy: the Irish militia disturbances of 1793’ in Past and Present, no. 99 (1983), pp 41–64 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. For the Armagh outrages, see Tohall, Patrick, ‘The Diamond fight of 1795 and the resultant expulsions’ in Seanehas Ardmhacha, iii (1958), pp 17–50 Google Scholar, which is still useful though the subject requires further investigation; Camden to Portland, 6 Aug. 1796 (P.R.O., H.O. 100/62/153–62).

8 On 22 Jan. 1796 Camden wrote to Portland that the Defenders swore not only to be true to one another ‘but to unite and correspond with the society of United Irishmen’ (P.R.O., H.O. 100/62/15–20).

9 Westmoreland to Pitt, 4 Jan. 1793 (ibid., Pitt papers, 30/8/331).

l0 Rev. Edward Hudson to Francis Dobbs, 29 Jan. 1791 (R.I.A., Charlemont papers, MS 12 R 16, no. 51). I am grateful to Professor James S. Donnelly, Jr, for this reference.

11 Camden to Portland, 27 Apr. 1795 (P.R.O., H.O. 100/57/203–5).

12 Camden to Portland, 22 Jan. 1796 (ibid., H.O. 100/62/15–20).

13 W. E. H. Lecky. A history of Ireland in the eighteenth century (new ed., 5 vols., London, 1892), iii, 391–2. Camden expressly ordered O'Connor's decapitation (Camden to Portland, 9 Sept. 1795, P.R.O., H.O. 100/58/298–301). For more on O'Connor, see Brady, John. ‘Laurence O'Connor, a Meath schoolmaster’ in I.E.R., 5th ser., xlix (1937), pp 281–7Google Scholar; idem., ‘A rebel schoolmaster’ in I.B.I., xxvi (1938), p. 61, xxviii (1942), p. 92Google Scholar. See also below, p. 394.

14 Elliott, , ‘Origins and transformation of early Irish republicanism’, pp 420–21Google Scholar; cf. idem., Partners in revolution, pp 42–3.

15 Life of Theobald Wolfe Tone, ed. Tone, W. T. W (2 vols, Washington, 1826), ii, 80–82 Google Scholar.

l6 For a useful essay on messianism and millenianism in Gaelic Irish literature, see Breandán Ó Buachalla, ‘An mheisiasacht agus an aisling [Messianism and vision poetry]’ in Pádraig de Brún, Sean Ó Coileáin and Pádraig Ó Riain (eds). Folia Gadelica: essays presented to R. A. Breatnach (Cork, 1983), pp 72–87

17 O'Farrell, Patrick, ‘Millenialism, messianism and utopianism in Irish history’ in Drudy, P. J. (ed.), Anglo-Irish Studies, ii (1976), pp 45–68 Google Scholar.

18 Miller, David W., ‘Presbyterianism and “modernization” in Ulster’ in Past and Present, no. 80 (1978), pp 66–90, esp. 82–4CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

19 Donnelly, James S. Jr, ‘Propagating the cause of the United Irishmen’ in Studies, lxix (1980), pp 5–23 Google Scholar. Donnelly, however, tends to view millennial ideas as an importation from ‘English’ culture rather than as an integral part of the Gaelic tradition.

20 Donnelly, . ‘Pastorini and Captain Rock’, pp 102–39Google Scholar.

21 P.R.O., H.O. 100/58/204, printed below p. 28.

22 Ó Buachalla, ‘An mheisiasacht agus an aisling’; see also Buachalla, Breandán Ó, ‘Na Stíobhartaigh agus an t-aos léinn: Cing Séamas [The Stuarts and the learned classes: King James]’ in R.I.A. Proc, lxxxiii, sect. C, no. 4 (1983), pp 81–134 Google Scholar. For a contrary view, see Dunne, T. J. ‘The Gaelic response to conquest and colonisation: the evidence of the poetry’ in Studia Hibernica, xx (1980), pp 7–30 Google Scholar.

23 Cullen, L. M., ‘The hidden Ireland: reassessment of a concept’ in Studia Hibernica, ix (1969), pp 7–47 Google Scholar.

24 P.R.O., H.O. 100/58/206, printed below, p. 390.

25 Andrew McNevin, a captain of invalides, was, in spite of his reputation for ‘levity and forwardness’ considered by Dublin Castle to be one of its best agents in the Antrim area. In 1797 he played an important part in uncovering Defender penetration of the Monaghan militia stationed at Blaris, near Lisburn. (Camden to Portland, 29 July 1795. P.R.O., H.O. 100/58/171–7; Cooke to Nugent, 6 Aug. 1796, National Army Museum, London, Nugent papers, MS 6807/174/155–6).

26 Camden explained to Portland on 29 July 1795 that informants identified only by initials ‘are persons employed by government whose names I cannot detail to your grace, but we have generally found their intelligence accurate’ (P.R.O., H.O. 100/58/171–7).

27 Michael Phillips, a Franciscan, had on his own initiative infiltrated the Defenders in County Roscommon and had supplied the government with information on them. In 1795 he moved to Belfast where he was quickly unmasked as a government agent with the result that in January 1796 his body was found floating in the River Lagan. (Nugent to —, 15 Jan. 1796, S.P.O., Rebellion papers, 620/23/11).

28 Above, n. 11; Sylvester Douglas to Evan Nepean, 19 Mar. 1795 (P.R.O., H.O. 100/51/274–5).

29 Camden to Portland, 30 May 1795 (P.R.O., H.O. 100/69/345–50); See also the letter from the Meath magistrate Rev. Mr Noble to Pelham, 9 July 1795, suggesting that if we could go a little further (with prudence) than law allows we should soon have them [Defenders] quief (ibid., H.O. 100/58/225–6).

30 Camden to Portland, 29 July 1795 (ibid., H.O. 100/58/171–7).

31 Camden to Pitt, 26 Sept. 1795 (ibid., Pitt papers, 30/8/326/42).

32 Camden to Portland, 25 Sept. P95 (ibid., H.O. 100/58/334–43).

33 So much so that the cabinet quickly ‘concluded the measure to be necessary because it had your excellency's sanction’ (Portland to Camden, 16 Mar. 1796, ibid., H.O. 100/62/64–6). In August 1796 Camden was still citing material from the digest on Defenders (Camden to Portland, 6 Aug. 1796, ibid., H.O. 100/62/153–63).

page 381 note 1 S.P.O. draft: ‘And Gannon is also an agent of Cambles'

page 381 note 2 S.P.O. draft: after ‘delegates’ the following words are deleted ‘seem to be used almost synonymously’.

page 381 note 3 For all appendices, see document no. 3 (below, pp 387–92).

page 382 note 4 Portland asked Camden for a drawing of a captured pike to compare it with others discovered in Edinburgh (P.R.O., H.O. 100/57/303–4, 23 May 1795).

page 382 note 5 S.P.O. draft: ‘only 4 rounds’.

page 383 note 6 S.P.O. draft: the informant is given as ‘Mr Stark, April 2’

page 383 note 7 S.P.O. draft: the informant is given as ‘Mr Stark, Carrick-on-Shannon, April 27’

page 383 note 8 Camden referred to Captain Stout in his account of disturbances in Connacht: ‘they summoned people to appear before Captain Stout, the nickname for their leaders and settled differences about wages and rent by a jury and imposed fines and in one instance obliged a man to make a public apology and declaration of good will to Captain Stout sworn to before a magistrate’ (Camden to Portland, 28 May 1795, P.R.O., H.O. 100/57/336).

page 383 note 9 In the draft in the State Paper Office, French's information is dated 11 May.

page 384 note l0 The information referred to is in P.R.O., HO. 100/58/181–92, of which ff 186–7 only are given as follows.

page 384 note 11 No name is given in the S.P.O. draft.

page 384 note 12 Note in margin.

page 384 note 13 End of information taken from statement relative to United Irishmen.

page 384 note 14 S.P.O. draft attributes this information to Sir Edward Newenham in Leitrim.

page 385 note 15 Counties Louth, Westmeath and Tyrone were clearly inserted as afterthoughts into the S.P.O. draft; Armagh docs not appear on the S.P.O. draft.

page 385 note 16 S.P.O. draft has the following words deleted: ‘and without any foreign assistance before the 12th May next’.

page 386 note 17 S.P.O. draft has the following words deleted: ‘in the pocket book of a man hang'd’

page 386 note 18 S.P.O. draft has ‘tythes’ deleted.

page 386 note 19 S.P.O. draft has also ‘Appointing mandators, using signs and catechisms’.

page 387 note 20 S.P.O. draft has ‘kingdom’ deleted and ‘state’ inserted.

page 388 note 21 According to the S.P.O. draft Mr Maxwell sent this information to Dublin Castle on 21 June 1795.

page 389 note 22 I have been unable to establish the meaning of these words and can only suggest that such expressions as ‘Elfictic Motic’ and ‘Elias Sandles’ and variations on them, appear to have been chosen by the Defenders precisely because they helped create an atmosphere of awe and mystery appropriate to oath-taking. Such expressions are of course redolent of Freemasonry and there is evidence to suggest that Freemasonry was a model for the secret societies, loyalist and republican, of the 1790s. Thomas MacNevin wrote that the Defenders’ ‘cabalistic jargon’ stemmed from ‘the vulgar imitativeness of ignorance, … the foolish and unnatural cant of fraternity’ ( MacNevin, Thomas, The life and trials of … eminent Irishmen (Dublin, 1846), p. 292 Google Scholar). For some information on this important but neglected subject, see White, Terence de Vere, ‘The Freemasons’ in Desmond Williams, T. (ed.), Secret societies in Ireland (Dublin, 1973), pp 46–57 Google Scholar.

page 389 note 23 Recte Arba? Sec Joshua, 14:13.

page 390 note 24 There appears to have been some uncertainty as to where this document should be placed. In the S.P.O. draft it was placed among United Irishmen material but it was then struck out and placed with Defender material ‘to which it properly belongs’. A Mr White of Sligo, according to Camden a person of considerable credit’ supplied the Castle with this document (Camden to Portland. 29 July 1795, P.R.O., H.O. 100/58/171–7).

page 391 note 25 The S.P.O. draft dated Lt. Col. Jones's information to 9 June 1795.

page 391 note 26 I.e. conacre.

page 391 note 27 S.P.O. draft has the following words deleted: ‘which were delivered into Lord Milton's office at the Castle by’

page 393 note 28 For this mutiny, sec Froudc, J. A., The English in Ireland in the eighteenth century (3 vols, London, 1881), iii, 163–4Google Scholar.

page 394 note 29 For Defenderism in the army, see Bartlett, Thomas, ‘indiscipline and disaffection in the armed forces in Ireland in the 1790s’ in Corish, P J. (ed.). Radicals, rebels and establishments: Historical Studies XV (Belfast, 1985), pp 115–34Google Scholar.

page 394 note 30 For O'Connor, see above, pp 376–7.

page 394 note 31 The ‘Smugglers’ appears to have been another name for the Dublin Society of United Irishmen (Camden to Portland. 28 May 1795. P.R.O., H.O. 100/57/336).