The United Irishmen

Programme Outline

This programme traces events, mainly in Ulster, from William III’s victory for the English Crown at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 to the outbreak of the rebellion of the United Irishmen in 1798. It details the inequalities in Irish society, especially those imposed by the Penal Laws, which caused resentment and unrest amongst both Roman Catholics and Presbyterians. The dominant position of the mainly Anglican aristocracy both in owning land and in controlling how the country was governed is emphasised. The special importance of the linen industry in Ulster is noted, as are the consequences of the economic depression of the 1770s. The programme details how Presbyterians reacted to their sense of grievance. Some emigrated to the New World. Others, influenced by revolutionary events in America and France, took up the radical cause of the United Irishmen and often identified with their Catholic Irish compatriots. Others turned their anger on their Catholic neighbours whom they saw as rivals for jobs and land by joining rural secret societies or the Orange Order. Presbyterian grievances in Ulster and Catholic discontent throughout Ireland expressed itself in the rising of 1798.