September 20th, 1803
Robert Emmet (1778-1803) was a member of the United Irishmen and refused to accept the Act of Union (1801) between Great Britain and Ireland. The Act was passed following a decade of trouble and unrest in Ireland. This had coincided with revolutionary movements throughout Europe and in particular France, from where military aid was sought. The United Irishmen rose mainly in Ulster and Wexford in May 1798. The rising was quickly and savagely crushed. William Pitt was prompted then to settle Irish affairs by introducing the Act of Union.
Robert Emmets was a small and bungled rising in 1803 designed to set up an Irish Republic. An explosion at an arms dump gave away the plan and in the end he had only a small band of men with which to take Dublin Castle. Emmetts men murdered the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland during the rising. Emmett went into hiding but was captured, tried and executed. He is especially remembered for his brave words from the dock after sentence had been passed. There are memorials to him on St Stephens Green and in St Catherines Church in Dublin.
Two songs by the Irish poet, satyrist and musician Thomas Moore, She is Far From the Land and Oh, Breathe Not His Name, were inspired by Emmett.
