The United Irish Movement of the 1790s launched a tradition of revolutionary republicanism in Ireland which continues to this day. This book examines the origin, context, nature, and practices of the republican nationalist movement from its inception in 1791 to its defeat in the Great Rebellion of 1798. The book explores its ideology, propaganda, social composition, and mobilization, and shows how these threads were woven together by an emerging liberalism not usually associated with the republican tradition and which only fitfully survived the demise of the radical movement. It shows how clas ... More

The United Irish Movement of the 1790s launched a tradition of revolutionary republicanism in Ireland which continues to this day. This book examines the origin, context, nature, and practices of the republican nationalist movement from its inception in 1791 to its defeat in the Great Rebellion of 1798. The book explores its ideology, propaganda, social composition, and mobilization, and shows how these threads were woven together by an emerging liberalism not usually associated with the republican tradition and which only fitfully survived the demise of the radical movement. It shows how class and religious tension contributed to United Irish failure, but at the same time highlights its successes. The author's analysis of United Irish mobilization, both ideologically and organizationally, is placed within the fluid context of revolution and counter-revolution in late 18th-century Ireland.