Robert Emmet was an Irish Republican, orator and rebel leader. Following the suppression of the United Irish uprising in 1798, he sought to organise a renewed attempt to overthrow the British Crown and Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland, and to establish a nationally representative government. Emmet entertained, but ultimately abandoned, hopes of immediate French assistance and of coordination with radical militants in Great Britain. In Ireland, many of the surviving veterans of '98 hesitated to lend their support, and his rising in Dublin in 1803 proved abortive.
Emmet in Thomas Street, The Shamrock, Dublin, 1890
Site of Mrs. Palmer's house in Harold's Cross where Emmet was arrested, with memorial marker.
Depiction of Robert Emmet's trial
Robert Emmet was honoured on two Irish postage stamps issued in 1953, commemorating the 150th anniversary of his death
Irish republicanism is the political movement for the unity and independence of Ireland under a republic. Irish republicans view British rule in any part of Ireland as inherently illegitimate. An ideology since the 17th century, various methods have been employed to achieve the republic, including rebellions and paramilitary campaigns. Although the makeup of republicanism has been multidenominational, its relation to catholicism increasingly became central.
The Battle of Killala marked the end of the rising
Michael Dwyer
Depiction of Robert Emmet's trial
William Smith O'Brien, leader of the Young Ireland movement