United Irishmen in Training
This is one of a paired set of prints, along with United Irishmen on Duty, published on successive days (June 12 and 13, 1798). It appeared as the actual United Irishmen were rising up against British rule in a number of eastern counties including Dublin, Meath, Kildare, Wicklow, and Wexford. It shows a pathetic group of United Irishmen showing off their miserable military skills and equipment against a dummy British soldier.
© Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University
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The Society of United Irishmen was founded by Wolfe Tone and Napper Tandy in 1791. Inspired by the success of the American and French Revolutions, the society was initially aimed at bringing Irish Catholics and Protestants together to limit British involvement in Irish affairs and to lobby for significant parliamentary reform. Over time, however, the Society became more radical, breaking away from the more moderate approaches of Henry Grattan and his followers and advocating the overthrow of British rule in Ireland and enlisting the help of France. When France declared war against Britain in 1793, the Society was outlawed and effectively driven underground. And after the abortive French Invasion of Ireland in December 1796 (planned with the help of the United Irishmen) martial law was declared, habeas corpus suspended, houses searched for weapons, and anyone suspected of rebel sympathies could find themselves arrested and tortured. At home in Britain, the yeomanry were called up, and well-armed militia were sent to Ireland to quell the growing insurrection.
By the time this print appeared, Gillray had already been on the Pitt government payroll for about a year, and it is probably most revealing to see it in that context. There are several things to note. First, Gillray insists that this is a French-inspired scene. There is nothing beyond the title that announces that these are Irishmen. Most, if not all of the trainees are wearing the French tri-color cockade. The action takes place before a pub at the sign of the "Tree of Liberty" which had been early adopted as a French revolutionary symbol, and the words above the doorway announce that "True French Spirits" are to be obtained there.
Gillray also makes it clear that the trainees are more comical than threatening with their miserable clothes (the British dummy is better clothed), scarcely functioning weapons, and, with most of them, a decided preference for drinking over training. The only real threats seem to come from the pike held by the lead Irishman and the pikes and swords waiting to be sharpened. Why would Gillray do this?
I think the answer is that the print is designed for a British audience of potential recruits. Portaying the participants as essentially Frenchmen makes it easier to think of them as the natural enemies of Britain, not as fellow countrymen. And the contrast between these impoverished and rag-tag soldiers and the British troops familiar to English audiences with their scarlet uniforms and impeccable order and precision would have suggested the overwhelming advantage Britian was likely to have in any upcoming battles.
Sources and Reading
- Commentary from the British Museum on United Irishmen in Training.
- Draper Hill, The Satirical Etchings of James Gillray, 1976, #57
- Christiane Banerji and Diana Donald, Gillray Observed, 1999, Ch. 4
- "Society of United Irishmen," Wikipedia
- "Irish Rebellion of 1798," Wikipedia
- Thomas Wright and R.H. Evans, Historical and Descriptive Account of the Caricatures of James Gillray #204
- Thomas Wright and Joseph Grego, The Works of James Gillray, the Caricaturist; With the History of His Life and Times p. 242
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