Helen Hu

January 3, 2010
3rd Block
Wolfe Tone

As a devout Irish patriot, Wolfe Tone made an extraordinary impact on

Irish history and culture. Under his leadership, the Society of United Irishmen

secured a reform of the English Parliament as well as a movement that brought

together Protestant, Catholics and dissenters in Ireland (Bartlett). Wolfe Tone

fought his entire life for a republican form of government in Ireland (Bartlett).

Wolfe Tone, or Theobald Wolfe Tone, was born on June 20, 1763 in

Dublin. He attended school with his brothers and entered Trinity College in 1781.

When he was 21, he met and fell in love with Matilda Witherington, whom he

would love for the rest of his life. He once said: “If I ever succeed in life, or attain

at anything like station or eminence, I shall consider it as due to her counsels and

example” (Webb).

In the winter of 1790, Wolfe Tone and a few of his friends congregated to

form a club for discussing political and literary topics (Webb). The following year,

Tone published a political work, An Argument on Behalf of the Catholics of

Ireland. Soon thereafter, Tone and his friends founded the Society of United

Irishmen in 1791 (Workman). The Society was originally a reform organization,

but they also began to seek an alliance between the Protestant upper class and

the Catholic peasantry (Workman). Inspired by the French Revolution and the

American Revolution, Wolfe Tone felt that Ireland was ready for a revolution of its

own—a revolution to overthrow the monarchy and secure peace and

independence for the Irish people.

 What’s most remarkable was Wolfe Tone’s philosophy on independence

from the monarchy. He affirmed “That the influence of England was the radical

vice of our Government, and that Ireland would never be either free, prosperous,

or happy, until she was independent, and that independence was unattainable

whilst the connection with England existed” (Workman). At a certain point, Wolfe

Tone had seen the Parliament of Ireland, the Parliament of England, the

Congress of America, the Corps Legislative of France and the Convention

Batave, and deemed the legislation of Ireland, the Parliament of Ireland, the most

unfortunate of the bunch (Workman).

Wolfe Tone could absolutely not accept English tyranny over Ireland, and

in 1798, French and Irish forces teamed up to rise against the English army, in

the Irish Rebellion of 1798. At the end of the rebellion, between 10,000 and

25,000 rebels were killed, and few conflicts were solved. The rebellion would

lead to a long history of republican separatism, of insurrection with assistance

from abroad, of heroic sacrifice, of murderous government reprisals and of

sectarian cruelty (Bartlett). Wolfe Tone was sentence to death after the rebellion,

and on November 12, 1798, while waiting in prison, he committed suicide

(Workman). Today, his memory lives on as that of an Irish hero.

 Works Cited

Bartlett, Thomas. "The 1798 Irish Rebellion." British History in-depth. BBC, 15

Oct 2010. Web. 3 Jan 2011.

<http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/irish_reb_01.shtml>.

Webb, Alfred. "Theobald Wolfe Tone." Library Ireland. DUBLIN: M. H. GILL &

SON, 1878. Web. 3 Jan 2011.

<http://www.libraryireland.com/biography/TheobaldWolfeTone.php>.

Workman, Brian. "Theobold Wolfe Tone." N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Jan 2011.

<http://www.irishkevinsmith.com/id11.html>.