The United Irishmen Popular Politics in Ulster and Dublin, 1791-1798 [Paperback]

The United Irish movement launched a tradition of revolutionary republicanism in Ireland which continues to the present day. This book examines the origins, context, nature, and practice of early Irish republicanism. It is primarily concerned with the hitherto largely neglected internal dynamics of the movement from its inception in 1791 to its defeat in the great rebellion of 1798. Nancy J. Curtin explores its ideology, propaganda, social composition, and mobilization, and shows how these threads were woven together by an emerging liberalism not usually associated with the republican tradition and which only fitfully survived the demise of the radical movement.

[H]er sympathetic analysis is clear-sighted, stimulating, and authoritative. This book is an excellent example of what revisionist Irish history, much debated in recent years, ought to be about. --American Historical Review

Curtin offers the most exhaustive analysis to date of the expansion of the movement from Northeast Ulster and Dublin in the mid-1790s...Curtin's study should caution historians against dismissing United Irish propaganda as irrelevant to the majority of the population. Nevertheless, the critical importance that it attaches to English language printed materials in explaining the unprecedented success of the movement in attracting recruits will be debated for some time to come. --Albion