Ireland and the French Revolution

In the 21st century there are a number of ideas and freedoms that we take for granted.

Ideas like democracy - which means that we are able to choose our own leaders.

Freedoms such as the right to:

• express our opinions
• practice our religion
• be treated equally by others.

These ideas are relatively new in the world. In their modern forms they came about as a result of two events, the American Revolution in 1776 and the French Revolution in 1789.

The French Revolution would have an enormous impact in Ireland and on Belfast in particular.

The French Revolution meant that France would no longer be ruled by the King and thearistocracy.It was to be governed along democratic ideas. These ideas were best summed up in the famous three word slogan of the revolution - Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.

The revolution was also quite violent. The King was forcibly overthrown and later executed on the guillotine. Many more aristocrats would share this fate.

The revolution sent shockwaves across the monarchies and governments of Europe. They were determined that the old order, where they stayed in charge and took all the decisions, should stay in place.

To them democracy was not rule by the people but rule by a mob and an extremely dangerous idea. They would eventually find themselves at war with revolutionary France.

Britain would be part of this attempt to stop France. It was determined to stamp out the spread of the dangerous ideas behind democracy. However, to use a modern term, those ideas were about to ‘go viral’ throughout Europe. Ireland would be no exception

• Belfast in 1789 was a very forward thinking place. Much of this was to do with the fact that it had a large population of Presbyterians.
• Presbyterians were progressive and were interested in the ideas of liberty and tolerance. They had strong links with the universities in Scotland which were promoting a lot of new, more enlightened ideas.
• They wanted to changes the system of government because at that time only Anglicans (Church of Ireland) were permitted to sit in the Irish parliament. Presbyterians could vote but could not be elected.
• Many of the people of Belfast were very well informed about the issues and debates of the day because Belfast had a number of newspapers. The Belfast News Letter began in 1737 and today is one of the oldest newspapers in the world.
• There were political clubs such as the Northern Whig and there were attempts to help the poor into employment through the Belfast Charitable Association, located at Clifton House.
• Dr William Drennan, a Belfast-born Presbyterian and writer, explored the new ideas in articles and pamphlets and in October 1791 he sent an invitation to a young Dublin lawyer called Theobald Wolfe Tone to be involved in a new group dedicated to the ideas of democracy and the French Revolution – The Belfast Society of United Irishmen.