THE 1798 Rising is still fresh in the myths and memories of many Wexford families. My grandfather could recall the stories handed down from his grandfather, Edmund Comerford, of the John Street massacres in Wexford in 1793, the executions on Wexford Bridge in 1798, and how he barely escaped later near Bunclody.
Once again, the myth has resurfaced that the Wexford Rising took a sectarian turn under priests like Father John Murphy, and with the murders on Wexford Bridge and at Sculabogue Barn.
Hopefully, there is little danger of one sided, sectarian interpretations of the rising next year, as happened in 1898, 1938 and 1948. But it is worth asking if the Protestant leaders of the rising in Co Wexford were alienated from or integrated into the everyday life of the Church of Ireland, and if this explains their role in the United Irishmen. And if any Church of Ireland clergy were sympathetic to the United Irishmen, how did their political views compare with those of their Catholic counterparts?
The prominent leaders of the United Irishmen in Co Wexford who were members of the Church of Ireland included Beauchamp Bagenal Harvey, who became president of the Wexford Council, and his brother, James Harvey, their cousin, John Boxwell, John and Cornelius Grogan, and Matthew Keugh, the governor of Wexford Town. Four of the eight members of the government of Wexford town were Protestants Nicholas Grey, Bagenal Harvey, William Hatton, and Matthew Keogh and all three colonels for the Baronies of Forth and Bargy were members of the Church of Ireland.
THESE Protestant leaders were totally integrated into the life of the Church of Ireland. Bagenal Harvey's grandfathers were clergymen Boxwell was the grandson of a clergyman Grey, secretary of the Rebel Council and aide de camp to Harvey, married a cousin of a prominent clergyman the Hattons, Colcloughs and Grogans were patrons of parishes and Cornelius Grogan was a church warden in Rathaspeck.
As Grogan went to his death on Wexford Bridge, "the sailors of the Royal Navy who hanged him were amazed when ... they heard him recite Protestant prayers'." Keugh, executed with Father Philip Roche on Wexford Bridge, with John Elgee, rector of Wexford.
In 1798, there were 85 Catholic clergy in Co Wexford, including Bishop James Caulfield. Of those 85, only 11 were actively engaged in the rising, but the overwhelming majority, 74, were either active loyalists or kept a low profile.
At the outbreak of the rising, there were 57 Church of Ireland clergymen in Co Wexford. With a few exceptions, none of these came from the great landed or aristocratic families, and only three were English born.
Most of them shared similar social backgrounds to their Catholic counterparts, more than half (33) had strong Wexford family connections many with old Wexford names like Browne, Colclough, Hore and Sutton and a high number were enrolled as Freemen of Wexford or had townhouses in Wexford. At a time of strong corruption and clientelism, relatively few of them were pluralists holding appointments in other dioceses.
SURPRISINGLY few had direct connections with the military, although there close political affinities, and three, possibly four, of the 57 were mayors of Wexford. Vet, at a time when clerical magistrates were common, only six of the 57 were Justices of the Peace. Charles Cope presided over the massacre of 28 prisoners in Carnew on the eve of the rising, and those prisoners included Protestants.
Cope's reputation as a cruel, pitch capping clerical magistrate was surpassed only by Roger Owen of Camolin, who narrowly escaped execution in Gorey and later on Wexford Bridge.
From the 57, five were killed during the rising Robert Burrowes, Samuel Heydon, Francis Turner, John Pentland, and Thomas Trocke.
Robert Burrowes, Rector of Kilmuckridge, was killed at Kyle Glebe on May 27th prior to the Battle of Oulart Hill. Brian Cleary's research shows that his murder may have been precipitated by a shot at the rebels from yeomen in the upper floor of Kyle Glebe, and he hints strongly that Murphy and his men may have been present not to attack the house but to collect pikes and weapons.
The murder of Burrowes was used by partisan historians to promote the theory that the rising was a sectarian, anti-Protestant tumult. But Burrowes was not a sectarian man his brother Peter was a United Irishman and a friend of Wolfe Tone and Robert Emmet, their mother was a Catholic, and Robert Burrowes was a close friend of the local parish priest.
Of the 57 clergymen, 23 suffered during the rising through murder, imprisonment, assault, or loss of property. But the majority were unmolested and undisturbed by events. At least four churches were destroyed or damaged. But the number of Protestant churches damaged was markedly low when compared to the burning of Catholic churches and chapels, which continued long after 1798.
Henry Wilson, rector of Bagenal Harvey's home parish, Mulrankin, took the oath of the United Irishmen, which was administered to him in Wexford by Harvey. John Elgee bravely showed where his sympathies lay when he accompanied Keugh, Harvey and other Protestant leaders on to Wexford Bridge and prayed with them before their execution.
Burrowes, Elgee and Wilson are examples that some if not many of the clergy had sympathies for the United Irishmen. Many of the clergy had good working relations with their Catholic neighbours, and if there is any one clear indicator that the majority did not feel threatened by the events of 1798, or feel that the rising was sectarian, it is the fact that so many of them remained in Wexford after 1798.
As Kevin Whelan points out, an honest and accurate understanding of the rising is important because of the implications for current thinking. It is important to put aside the legacy of those who wanted to misrepresent the vision of a non-sectarian, democratic and inclusive Ireland. The experiences of clergy and laity of the Church of Ireland in Wexford in 1798 strengthen the arguments that the rising was not sectarian in its nature or in its execution.
Patrick Comerford is foreign news editor of The Irish Times.
