The Rebellion in Wicklow 1798, by Ruan O'Donnell, Irish Academic Press, 441pp, £39.50/£17.95
This book must be greeted with enthusiasm, for the predominant reason that County Wicklow hitherto has been almost completely neglected, or mar ginalised, in the avalanche of published works on 1798 over the past two hundred years. That this is a miscarriage of justice is self-evident. Wicklow in its diverse and menacing terrain was within a trot of the centre of power, Dublin.
Wicklow's strategic importance was enormous. Its potential for protracted and guerrilla warfare had been demonstrated over centuries. In 1798, when other counties and sectors, from Antrim to Mayo, from Dublin to Wexford, had ceased hostilities, County Wicklow alone continued to offer a real and substantial threat to the governing power, while at sea and on land the war between the English and the revolutionary French continued unabated.
Co-ordinated rebellion in County Wicklow was not extinguished until 1803. In 1798 Wicklow men fought on from the opening of conflict on May 23rd to the month of November. The major figure amongst outstanding, talented and enterprising Wicklow citizens was General Joseph Holt.
This work by one of Ireland's most important younger historians cannot be overestimated. It fills a vacuum, where, for example, in neighbouring Wexford a catalogue of authors, good and bad, has written extensively of that county's part in the Rising. O'Donnell sets out with clinical objectivity and clarity the long road to inevitable revolt in all its frightfulness. He does this meticulously, respectably and yet with an appetising style which invites the reader to pursue the issue page after page. The situation becomes clear not merely nationally but in County Wicklow's own special situation. The organisation, expansion, promotion and political sagacity of the United Irishmen have rarely been so satisfactorily delineated for the general reader.
The political upheavals which culminated in total war in 1798 threw men and women of distinction from obscurity into the forum of history. O'Donnell's work on Wicklow gives proper focus to many more. He introduces them in their social and commercial culture, one we can recognise today. The leaders in 1798 would today be leading figures in the IFA, the ICA, the Chambers of Commerce, the ICMSA, the political parties.
Once he has established the background, O'Donnell moves on to the actual conflict, which raged from Carnew and Arklow to Dunlavin, Blessington, Bray and Blackmore Hill. The author does not shrink from itemising atrocities or apportioning blame. His evidence for the ethnic backgrounds of Wicklow's inhabitants, ruling classes, old Irish aristocracy, ascendancy and combatants, is thorough. The work is powerfully supported by comprehensive bibliography, notes and indices.
The author permits himself a verdict and wry witticism in his introduction: "Men like Holt and Dwyer were household names in the late 1790's and far better known than many currently famous United Irish leaders whose status was retrospectively conferred in the late 1800's."
Well, there's an end to that then.
Nicholas Furlong is the author of Fr John Murphy of Boolavogue 1753-1798 and co- editor of The Mighty Wave and the Women of 1798