Sons of Exile: The United Irishmen in Transnational Perspective 1791-1827 (original) (raw)

Sons of Exile: The United Irishmen In Transnational Perspective, 1791-1827 Muiris MacGiollabhui My dissertation produces a transnational history of the United Irishmen and recasts them as Atlantic, rather than solely Irish, revolutionaries. The United Irishmen were formed in 1791 as an organization dedicated to reform initiatives, one of which was Catholic emancipation, but by 1795, as a result of their criminalization by the British Government, their existence became clandestine, and their means violent. In 1798, they rebelled against an oppressive British Government and instead of facing the hangman's noose, although many United Irishmen did, they were subjected, en masse, to exile. Their expulsion brought an end to rebellion in Ireland and flung them into Atlantic geographies still in revolt. My dissertation maps the transnational exile of the United Irishmen throughout the Atlantic world, including the United States, Eastern Canada, and Jamaica. This project is informed by historians' calls to internationalize Irish history and integrates Irish migrants into the "Green Atlantic": a network of Irish people spread throughout the Atlantic world. By studying the exile of the United Irishmen, it is possible to ask a question that is pertinent to the late eighteenth century generally: what did it mean to be revolutionary during the "Age of Revolution"? This dissertation shows that on matters of race, gender, and democratic participation, the political ideology of the United Irishmen was fraught with inconsistencies and contradictions. Each chapter addresses this theme, querying how the United Irishmen in exile addressed matters of vi race, gender, imperialism, and political participation. The history of the United Irishmen, seen more acutely outside of Ireland, shows the messy nature of political ideology and the inconsistencies with which the United Irishmen participated in world events. vii Acknowledgments This project would not have been possible without the knowledge, direction, and love given by so many people. The faculty in the History Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz have tirelessly helped me write this dissertation. My advisor, Professor David Brundage, has been incredibly supportive from the moment I started the PhD program. Professor Brundage introduced me to the United Irishmen and helped me realize that there was an important gap in the scholarship in how they were studied transnationally. He found the perfect balance, acting as the person who reassured me on my ability while also pushing me when I needed it most. More than anything else, Professor Brundage was generous with his time and energy, especially in the final year of the program. I started to consider the radicalism of the United Irishmen in Professor Greg O'Malley's graduate class on Early America, as well as in his undergraduate class, "Revolutionary America," where I was his Teaching Assistant. Professor O'Malley taught me how to captivate an audience and weave a story but also that these stories had real, tangible effects on those alive today. Professor Terry Burke, during our meetings once every quarter for breakfast, urged me to look beyond the tidy confines of Irish history and continue to make this project as expansive as possible. Professor Kate Jones, in a graduate seminar in 2013, brought to life what citizenship meant trans-historically, a strong theme of my scholarship. Professor Lynn Westerkamp never settled for average work in seminars on American history and outside of the classroom she taught me how to style myself as a true professional. Professor Alan viii Christy always made life a little more fun when the going got tough. Dr. Matthew Lasar, my teaching role-model, helped me see how historical work could be made accessible to the public. Dr. Bruce Thompson taught me to care for my students and to be empathetic to their needs. Outside faculty members have also helped me tremendously in writing this dissertation and on the job market. Professor Seth Cotlar at Willamette University took me under his wing at the Society of Historians of the Early Republic conference in 2017 and has been there to give advice whenever asked. In the Linguistics Department, Professor Jim McCloskey helped with the final edits on the dissertation and reminisce about Ireland. Professor Ruma Chopra at San Jose State University helped me think through the similarities between the experiences of the Jamaican Maroons and the United Irishmen. Professor Maurice Bric, my undergraduate advisor at the University College Dublin, pushed me to pursue a career in academia. This dissertation would not have been possible without generous support from the following organizations: the