The Society of United Irishmen, also simply known as the United Irishmen, were a sworn society in the Kingdom of Ireland formed in the wake of the French Revolution to secure "an equal representation of all the people" in a "national government." Despairing of constitutional reform, in 1798 the Society instigated a republican insurrection in defiance of British Crown forces and of Irish sectarian division. Their suppression was a prelude to the abolition of the Protestant Ascendancy Parliament in Dublin and to Ireland's incorporation in a United Kingdom with Great Britain.
Henry Joy McCracken was a leading member in the north of Ireland of the republican Society of the United Irishmen. He sought to ally the largely Presbyterian movement with the Catholic Defenders, and in 1798 to lead their combined forces in Antrim against the British Crown. Following the defeat and dispersal of the rebels under his command, McCracken was court-martialled and executed in Belfast.
The Royal Belfast Academical Institution is an Independent grammar school in Belfast, Northern Ireland. With the support of Belfast's leading reformers, it opened its doors in 1814. Until 1849, when it was superseded by what today is Queens University, the institution pioneered Belfast's first programme of collegiate education. Locally referred to as Inst, the modern school educates boys from ages 11 to 18. It is one of the eight Northern Irish schools represented on the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. The school occupies an 18-acre site in the centre of the city on which its first buildings were erected.
William Drennan was an Irish physician, poet and radical democrat. In Belfast he moved the formation of the Society of United Irishmen dedicated, in defiance of Protestant Ascendancy and British Crown authority, to representative government for Ireland. After the suppression of the 1798 Rebellion, Drennan sought an avenue to reform in education: he was the leading figure in the establishment of the Belfast [later the Royal Belfast] Academical Institution. As a poet, Drennan is best known for his eve-of-rebellion, "When Erin first rose", and its reference to Ireland as "the emerald isle".
Manchester Royal Infirmary is a hospital in Manchester, England, founded by Charles White in 1752. It is now part of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, sharing buildings and facilities with several other hospitals.
Thomas Paliser Russell was founding member, and leading organiser, of the United Irishmen marked by his radical-democratic and millenarian convictions. He was executed for his part in Robert Emmet's rebellion in 1803.
Events from the year 1774 in Ireland.
Events from the year 1795 in Ireland.
Events from the year 1792 in Ireland.
Mary Ann McCracken was a Belfast-born Irish businesswoman, radical humanitarian, supporter of the United Irishmen and a noted social reformer.
Events from the year 1771 in Ireland.
Events from the year 1752 in Ireland.
Events from the year 1785 in Ireland.
Smithfield and Union is one of the Belfast quarters established by Belfast City Council in the 21st century. Initially designated the Smithfield Market and Library quarter, the current name was adopted in 2011. Based around the north of Belfast City Centre it extends from North Street to Frederick Street and is bounded by Royal Avenue/York Street and Carrick Hill/Millfield. It houses Belfast Central Library and two of the main daily newspapers The Irish News and The Belfast Telegraph.
The Belfast Charitable Society is a charitable organisation in Belfast, operating in Clifton House since it opened in 1774.
Clifton Street Cemetery, Belfast, holds the graves of a number of Belfast's most distinguished figures. The cemetery, whose entrance is at Henry Place in Belfast, is cared for by Belfast City Council and can only be accessed by prior arrangement with council officials. The cemetery contains the graves of members of the United Irishmen and social reformers as well as industrialists. There are also approximately 8,000 people buried in the cemetery's poor ground.
Thomas McCabe was a founding member of the Society of the United Irishmen, a revolutionary organisation in late 18th century Ireland.
Samuel McTier was the first President of the Belfast Society of the United Irishmen, a revolutionary organisation in late 18th century Ireland.
Martha "Matty" McTier was an advocate for women's health and education whose correspondence with her brother William Drennan and other leading United Irishmen documents the political radicalism and tumult of late eighteenth-century Ireland.
Jane "Jenny" Greg in the 1790s was an Irish republican agitator with connections to radical political circles in England. Although the extent of her activities are unclear, in suppressing the Society of United Irishmen the British commander, General Lake, described Greg as "the most violent creature possible" and as someone who had caused "very great [political] mischief" in her native Belfast.
