The Opening Years of the Reign of George III—Marked by
the Establishment of Secret Societies—The Hearts of Oak Boys—The Hearts
of Steel Boys — The Comments of Arthur Young on these Secret
Societies—The War of American Independence—The Irish Volunteers—The
Movement originates in Ulster—Ulster's Example followed by all
Ireland—The Convention of Dungannon—Influence of the Volunteers—Free
Trade obtained and a Free Parliament demanded.
The opening years of the long reign of George III
were, in Ireland, marked by the establishment of secret societies for
the redress of grievances which lay heavy on the people, and to which
the Government displayed great indifference. The poorer classes, unable
to endure any longer the grinding tyranny under which they were
condemned to live, made spasmodic efforts by a war of outrages,
conducted by secret oath-bound associations, to call attention to their
unhappy condition, and to, in some measure, obtain relief. These
organizations were in most cases defensive, but there were some
propagandist or offensive bodies.
In the south this sad condition of things led to the
establishment of the White Boys, so called on account of the members
wearing, during their nocturnal visitations, night-shirts over their
clothes. In Ulster the organizations were formed among the weaving or
manufacturing small farmers, though they included many working men who
possessed no land, and some small farmers not in any way connected with
the linen trade.
The Presbyterians, as we have seen, suffered several
religious disabilities, and, like the Roman Catholics, paid excessive
rents and oppressive tithes, though not to the same extent. The scarcity
of money, not only as capital, but also as coin in circulation; the
heavy taxation, caused by the war, and the consequent interruption of
trade, and especially the high price of bread, produced dire misery,
nearly always verging on, and sometimes terminating in famine. Such a
state of things is bound to produce lawlessness and crime, and only
requires some act of gross injustice to bear fruit.
The injustice which led to the formation in 1761 of
the Oak Boys was duty work on roads. Every householder was required to
give six days' labour in making or repairing the public roads, and if he
possessed a horse he had to give six days' labour of his horse. The
complaint was that this duty work was only levied on the poor, and that
they were compelled to work on private job roads and even upon what were
the avenues and farm roads of the gentry.
The title of Oak Boys, or Hearts of Oak Boys, was
derived from the members in their raids wearing oak twigs in their
head-gear. The organization spread rapidly over the greater part of
Ulster. Although the grievances were common to Protestant and Catholic
workmen, and there was nothing religious in the objects or constitution
of the Oak Boys, the society was an exclusively Protestant body, owing
to the total absence at that period of any association between
Protestants and Catholics.
The Steel Boys, or Hearts of Steel Boys, followed the
Oak Boys. They also were exclusively Protestant. The origin of this
organization was the enormous fines for renewals of leases levied by an
extravagant landlord, who thereby introduced into his part of Ulster an
unjust and bad custom. The greater part of his tenantry, being unable to
pay the fines, were evicted. This inhuman oppression called the Steel
Boys into existence.
The Oak Boys and Steel Boys gradually developed into
general reformers; they resisted the payment of tithes and exhibited a
certain amount of republican spirit. Both societies had good reasons for
combination, and they were free from religious intolerance and hatred.
They committed many outrages, however, especially the Steel Boys. Arthur
Young, referring to members of these societies, says: "Acts were passed
for their punishment, which seemed calculated for the meridian of
Barbary. This arose to such a height, that by one Act they were to be
hanged under circumstances without the common formalities of a trial,
which though repealed by the following session, marks the spirit of
punishment; while others remain yet the law of the land, that would, if
executed, tend more to raise than quell an insurrection. From all which
it is manifest that the gentlemen of Ireland never thought of a radical
cure, from overlooking the real cause of disease, which, in fact, lay in
themselves, and not in the wretches they doomed to the gallows. Let
them", he continues, "change their own conduct entirely, and the poor
will not long riot. Treat them like men who ought to be as free as
yourselves: put an end to that system of religious persecution which for
seventy years has divided the kingdom against itself; in these two
circumstances lies the cure of insurrection, perform them completely and
you will have an affectionate poor, instead of oppressed and
discontented vassals."
The Oak Boys and Steel Boys did not last long, and
when put down did not revive, because the general exodus to America
carried off all those who were most energetic and intolerant of
oppression, and at the same time relieved the labour market to some
extent; but chiefly because the grievances which led to their formation
were redressed. Some of them who were taken and tried at Carrickfergus
escaped through the unwillingness of the jury to bring in a verdict
against them.
The dispute and subsequent war with the American
colonies was especially prejudicial to Ulster. The exportation of Irish
linen to America had been very considerable, and now that source of
national wealth was completely closed by an embargo which was laid upon
the exportation of provisions from Ireland to the rebellious colonies.
The effect was disastrous. Wool and black cattle, as well as land, fell
suddenly in value, and in many places the rents could hardly be
collected. As the American fisheries were now cut off, it became
necessary to supply their place, and on the nth of October, 1775, the
matter was brought before the English House of Commons, with the result
that it was resolved to encourage the Newfoundland fishery, and it was
also resolved that it would be lawful to export from Ireland clothes and
accoutrements for such regiments on the Irish establishment as were
employed abroad ; and that a bounty of five shillings a barrel should be
allowed on all flax-seed imported into Ireland, as a remedy against the
evils apprehended from the cutting off of the supply from America.
England being at this time (1779) involved in war
with America, France, and Spain, and Ireland being threatened with
invasion, it was deemed prudent, as regular troops had been withdrawn
for service elsewhere, and public funds were unavailable for the payment
of the militia, to entrust the defence of Ireland to Volunteer forces.
The movement originated in Belfast, and the example of Ulster spread
rapidly throughout the country. Large military associations were formed,
and all classes took up arms to resist foreign invasion. The spirit of
Volunteering absorbed the energies of both classes and masses, and,
popular sentiment running in this direction, the country became very
tranquil, and with universal drill, observance of the law became also
universal.
The Government, satisfied with the bona fides
of the phenomenally large number of Volunteers, supplied them with arms;
but they made at the same time an effort to bring the new force, thus
formed, under the immediate control of the Crown, in which attempt they
were unsuccessful. The movement, having become popular, could not be
restrained, and in the end the State sanctioned what it could not
suppress. In 1780 the Volunteer force in Ireland was computed to be
nearly 40,000 strong, and composed of well-appointed and perfectly
disciplined men.
Being thus acknowledged by the Government, the
Volunteers soon began to show that their object was by no means confined
to the defence of the kingdom against the attacks of foreign enemies,
for they proceeded to canvass the political questions of the day, and
declared their intention to unite in demanding and protecting the
national rights. The movement became general, without distinction of
creed, and when Parliament met on the 12th of October, 1779, and the
address was carried by the Speaker to the Lord-Lieutenant, the streets
of the capital were lined by the Dublin Volunteers, under the command of
the Duke of Leinster. Later the thanks of the House of Lords to the
Volunteers throughout the country was carried with but one dissentient
voice. Riots ensued in Dublin, the populace being pacified only by the
personal influence of members of the lawyers' corps of the Volunteers.
Alarmed at the conduct of the Irish Volunteers, and
at the spirit shown in the Irish Parliament, Lord North, as Premier,
laid before the English House of Commons his three propositions for the
relief of Irish commerce, which consisted in allowing Ireland free
export of her wool and woollen manufactures, as well as of glass and all
kinds of glass manufactures, and free trade with the British
plantations, on certain conditions, of which the basis was an equality
of taxes and customs.
These propositions had, however, little effect in
calming the agitation in Ireland. The Volunteers, having obtained free
trade, now sank all other objects in asserting the constitutional rights
of Ireland, and resolved to obtain a free Parliament. Constant
correspondence was carried on between the various armed associations in
order to ensure uniformity of action, and they made no secret of their
intention to retain their arms until they had succeeded in obtaining the
independence of Ireland. Early in 1780 they entered upon a "plan of
campaign", arranging reviews for the summer and choosing their officers.
In addition they now commenced to publicly announce their decisions, and
state their opinions on public affairs. These were printed in the
newspapers, and were markedly unanimous in declaring the general opinion
that Ireland was an independent kingdom, and that no power but the King,
and the Lords and Commons of Ireland could make laws to bind the Irish
people, who were ready to risk their lives in resisting the
encroachments of any external legislature.
The session of 1780 closed on the 2nd of September,
and the Earl of Buckinghamshire, having displeased the ministry by the
weakness of his administration, was recalled, the Earl of Carlisle being
sent to replace him. The new Viceroy found the people greatly agitated
by the great question of legislative independence. During the summer of
1781 reviews of the Volunteers were held in various parts of the
country, and caused much excitement. The organization of the Volunteer
movement made phenomenal progress, and when Lord Carlisle met the Irish
Parliament on the 9th of October it was evident, from the conciliatory
tone of his address, that he dare not risk a stronger policy than that
of his predecessor. The Lord-Lieutenant omitted all reference to the
Volunteers, whom the Government wished to discourage and eventually
disarm. A vote of thanks to the Volunteers was, nevertheless, passed
unanimously, "for their exertions and continuance, and for their loyal
and spirited declarations on the late expected invasion". The resolution
was proposed by Mr. John O'Neill of Shane's Castle; it was opposed by
Mr. Fitzgibbon, afterwards Lord Clare; but, the Government having been
obliged to acquiesce, it was carried without a division. It may
therefore be regarded as a triumph for Ulster.
The Government, strong and secure in their majority,
cared not to make concessions to popular demands. Such concessions as
they had been forced to make were granted grudgingly, and frequently too
late to please the people who had clamoured for them. Such a condition
of things could not long continue. The first movement toward
amelioration was made by the officers of the southern battalion of the
first Ulster regiment of Volunteers, commanded by Lord Charle-mont, who
met at Armagh on the 28th of December, 1781, to consult on the state of
public affairs, and who, having declared that they beheld with
consternation the little attention paid by the majority of their
representatives in Parliament to the constitutional rights of Ireland,
invited all Volunteer Associations throughout the province to send
delegates to a meeting to be held in Dungannon on Friday, the 15th of
February, 1782, to deliberate on the alarming aspect of public affairs.
The proceedings of the Ulster Volunteers had been
marked by moderation and firmness as well as by their numerical
strength. In the Volunteers themselves were admirably combined the
characteristics of the citizen and the soldier. They were steady and
peaceable, strong and self-reliant, and full of the dignity which
springs from a consciousness of difficult duties well performed. They
seemed each and all moved by the sentiment which inspires the sentinel
to whom "that hour is regal when he mounts on guard".
The invitation of the Ulster regiment won a ready
response from 143 Volunteer corps of the province, and the Government,
though provoked, looked on powerless to prevent the meeting or to
disperse the assembly. The delegates met at Dungannon on the appointed
day. Most of them were large landed proprietors and of recognized
patriotic proclivities; they felt the gravity of the proceedings in
which they were taking part, proceedings which might involve
unlooked-for consequences to the country. The meeting took place in the
church, the chairman being Colonel William Irvine, and among the more
distinguished men present was the Earl of Charlemont. Twenty-one
resolutions were adopted, which were in substance as follows:—
"That whereas it has been asserted, that Volunteers,
as such, could not with propriety debate, or publish their opinions on
political subjects, or on the conduct of Parliament or public men:
Resolved, that a citizen by learning the use of arms does not abandon
any of his civil rights; Resolved, that the claim of any body of men
other than the King, Lords and Commons of Ireland, to make laws to bind
this kingdom, is unconstitutional, illegal, and a grievance; that the
powers exercised by the Privy Councils of both kingdoms, under colour or
pretence of the law of Poynings, are unconstitutional and a grievance;
that the Ports of Ireland are by right open to all foreign countries not
at war with the King; that a Mutiny Bill, not limited in point of
duration from session to session, is unconstitutional; that the
independence of the judges is equally essential to the impartial
administration of justice in Ireland as in England." The Volunteers also
stated that it was their "decided and unalterable determination to seek
a redress of these grievances", and as they declared they held "the
right of private judgment in matters of religion to be equally sacred in
others as" themselves, they rejoiced "in the relaxation of the penal
laws against our Roman Catholic fellow-subjects"; and conceived "the
measure to be fraught with the happiest consequences to the union and
prosperity of the inhabitants of Ireland".
Such was the famous convention of Dungannon. Its
resolutions were adopted by all the Volunteer corps of Ireland, and
served as the bases of Parliamentary proceedings in both countries. No
sooner had the proceedings been made public than a new spirit seemed to
animate the popular party. The Volunteers in other parts of the country
held meetings, committees were formed, and a bond of frequent
correspondence established, while a central national committee regulated
the movements of this new force in politics.
