Outbreak of the Irish Rebellion

Date: May 24, 1798 • Location: Droichead Nua, Ireland

This milestone marked the outbreak and beginning of this historic period, which spanned 1798.

The Irish Rebellion of 1798 began, with battles beginning in County Kildare and fighting later spreading across the country.

The Irish Rebellion of 1798 was a popular insurrection against the British Crown in what was then the separate, but subordinate, Kingdom of Ireland. The main organising force was the Society of United Irishmen. First formed in Belfast by Presbyterians opposed to the landed Anglican establishment, the Society, despairing of reform, sought to secure a republic through a revolutionary union with the country's Catholic majority. The grievances of a rack-rented tenantry, and of market-town traders, journeymen and weavers drove recruitment.