The rise of the Irish Volunteers

THE Irish Parliament in the late 1700s was in no way representative of the country. Catholics and Presbyterians, who constituted a large majority of the population, were excluded.

The country was ruled by the King’s Viceroy and the Church of Ireland members of the parliament in Dublin and even then, any law they passed had to be approved by Westminster. They were also charged with the defence of the country and by the end of that decade, they were in a sorry state. There were widespread fears of a French invasion and there were very few troops in Ireland. Most of the troops stationed here had been sent to ‘the colonies’ to fight the American War of Independence. The government could not afford to replace the troops so a part-time military force was raised by local gentry to keep law and order and defend the country from invasion. Initially, about 10,000  joined the Irish Volunteers but within three or four years, that number was well over 50,000. Like the parliament, members were Protestant and middle class, with no Catholics or Presbyterians and the officers were from the gentry and aristocracy. 
The end of the war in America had a major influence on the volunteers. The movement had started in Ulster and most of them were based there. Many of the leaders of the American Revolution were of Ulster stock who had left in the first great wave of emigration in the early 1700s and when reports of what those Ulstermen had achieved in America reached Ireland, the volunteers began to look at their own situation. The volunteers began to play a political role. They were central to the campaign for free trade and began to back the more radical members of parliament who were agitating for greater powers for the parliament in Dublin and freedom from rule by Westminster.
Their most prominent move again came from the Ulster counties. The government showed no inclination towards any reform. Reform needed laws changed, particularly Poynings Law, dating from the 1400s, which said that Westminster could veto any law passed in Dublin.
Delegates from all the volunteer companies in Ulster were called to a Convention at Dungannon, County Tyrone in February 1782. Over 200 delegates marched through Dungannon and their resolutions demanded legislative independence for Ireland. The Patriot Party within parliament, led by men such as Flood and later Grattan, were encouraged by this support and while proposals were defeated, the Government were forced to make concessions.
By this stage, some of the leaders were worried about the direction the volunteers were taking and began to dampen down political agitation. Two laws passed at Westminster really ended the Irish Volunteers. The Gunpowder Act banned the importation of arms and the Convention Act banned volunteering. The return of troops from America and the raising of new government-controlled militia and yeomanry removed the original reason for their formation. Nevertheless, for a period of about 10 years, the Irish volunteers were a great driving force for parliamentary reform.
The volunteers were initially started in the Ulster counties and soon spread all over the country. The first Dublin regiment of those Irish volunteers was formed under the command of the Duke of Leinster on October 12, 1778, 234 years ago this week. 
Michael Torpey