West Cork in 1798
By Aengus O Snodaigh and Cionnaith O Súilleabháin
After the ill-fated attempts by the French to land at Bantry Bay
in 1796, the West Cork area was heavily militarised by the
English forces and by local landlords' private armies. Many of
the soldiers were Irish, and Catholic and joined these armies
(the militia especially) by force rather than by choice. They
were poorly treated by their officers and during 1798 there was
great unrest within the ranks.
Many defected to the United Irish army, while others remained
within the crown forces but swore the United Irish oath. This was
replicated throughout Ireland and in 1797 and early 1798 the
numbers who had joined the United Irish were so great that the
English decided to act. They imposed a terror on the country and
shifted disaffected or compromised regiments out of their areas
or overseas.
That year, 1797, went down in history as the Year of the Missed
Opportunity with much of the United Irish army forced on the run,
the population terrorised and the military intelligence and
skills of the United Irish soldiers within the crown forces being
lost to the United Irish army when it did rise eventually in May
1798.
In the West Cork area in 1798, while other areas of Ireland were
in rebellion, the United Irish leaders were divided as to whether
to rise or not. Discussion with the United Irishmen in the
Clonakilty and the Westmeath Militia (which was based in a
three-storey building in the town) was ongoing. United Irishmen
in the militia were prepared to mutiny and rise on 19 June and
the local United Irish were to support them. (The Westmeath
Militia under the orders of a Major Nugent had been responsible
for the burning of four houses in Caheragh village on 25 May as
part of the government's `disarming' campaign. The British Army
commander on the Carbery area, Sir John Moore, wrote in his
diary: ``Nugent was obliged to burn houses before he could get
some arms. They then delivered a number of pikes.'')
They were unsure, but the commanders of the Westmeath Militia
based in the present day Garda barracks in Clonakilty, learning
of disaffection in the ranks, decided to move to the less
rebellious atmosphere of Bandon, a walled Protestant town.
On the morning of the move, 19 June, the local leaders of the
United Irish army heard of the impending march to Bandon and
quickly assembled their forces at Kilbree and marched to the site
of the Big Cross in Clonakilty.
The 220-strong Westmeath Militia, under the command of Sir Hugh
O'Reilly, left their barracks in Clonakilty early on the morning
of 19 June. At the Big Cross, they were ambushed by a large group
of local United Irishmen, led by Tadhg O Donnabháin Astna. He
grabbed the reins of O'Reilly's horse and demanded a surrender,
but he was shot in the back by Sergeant Cummins, who was in turn
shot by one of his own men, many who had defected to the United
Irish cause.
Despite the loss of their leader, the rebels were doing well in
the battle, and had captured the Westmeath's two big guns, when
co-incidentally the Caithness Legion, made up of loyalist Scots,
who were on their way from Bandon to relieve the Westmeath
Militia in Clonakilty, arrived on the scene and the tide of
victory turned against the Irish.
The United Irish forces were wide open and between 50 and 150 of
them were cut down, others were captured and taken prisoner. Two
English officers lost their lives according to Sir Hugh O'Reilly,
while United Irish records state 16 died.
Many of the United Irishmen were dragged along the road from the
site of the battle to Clonakilty town and their mutilated bodies
were left outside the markethouse for several days.
Tadhg an Astna, despite being shot, was hung, drawn and quartered
before his body was dumped at the Crab Hole (Croppy Hole) which
was situated near where the bypass road now runs.
His fiance, Eleanor, arranged to have it removed to Ballintemple
Cemetery. The two English officers were buried with full military
honours in the grounds of the local Church of Ireland cemetery,
while other soldiers are said to have been buried in Catholic
graveyards in the locality. The following Sunday the sovereign
(mayor) of the town addressed the Catholic congregation at the
behest of the local priest. He urged the peasants to put evil
thoughts out of their heads and accept the cross that God had
given them. He expressed shame that the rebels could not have
been good loyal subjects and that they had brought scandal to the
town.
For months after the battle, the militias and Yeomanry carried
out reprisals against the peasantry of the area. Many of the
Westmeath Militia defectors were executed at Cork's Mardyke,
transported or flogged for treason. Many of the leaders of the
United Irishmen in West Cork in 1798 were of the landlord class:
Connors of Manch House, Ballineen (nine miles from Clonakilty);
Stalwells of Kilbrittan Castle (17 miles away); and Dr Callanan
of Ballymacowen House (two miles away), but none of them took
part in the Battle of the Big Cross.
In 1905 a statue to the memory of Tadhg an Astna was erected in
Clonakilty to mark the only military event of significance during
1798 in Munster. one of the one events of the 1798 Rising
recorded in County Cork. Another part of Cork's 1798 tradition
was revived recently with the first airing in nearly 200 years of
the ballad commemorating another rebel Tadhg na Samhna (Timothy
McCarthy) who was hanged for his part in the planned raid on
landlord John Gilman's Milane House in Dunmanway.
West Cork United Irishmen rose on 19 June, 200 years ago this
week.
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