Of
all the heroic martyrs to be found in Irish history,
none can compare in popularity with the romantic martyrdom
of 'the bould Robert Emmet, the darlin' of Erin'.
His,
was probably one of the greatest speeches
made from the dock by a condemned prisoner.
He ended it thus:
"Let no man write my epitaph.......Let my memory
be left in oblivion and my tomb remain uninscribed until
other times and other men can do justice to my character.
When my country takes her place among the nations of
the earth, then, and not till then, let my epitaph be
written.
Robert
Emmet was the seventeenth and youngest child of Dr.
Robert Emmet and Elizabeth Mason of Dublin. They lived
at 124, St. Steven's Green, Dublin. Five previous sons
had been called Robert and of the seventeen children
only three boys and one girl survived.
Robert
was educated in Samuel Whyte's academy in Grafton Street
(located where Bewleys Cafe now stands). He entered
Trinity College at the age of seventeen and there began
two great friendships. The first with Thomas Moore,
who later immortalised him in poetry and song, and the
second with Richard Curran, to whose sister, Sarah,
he became bethrothed. He was expelled from Trinity College
in 1798 for holding radical political views and he then
joined the newly formed United Irishmen
To
the ordinary people, Robert Emmet was a hero, but to
the civil authorities of the time, he was another young
Irish traitor, a misguided young man of respectable
background who had chosen to challenge Dublin castle
by appearing one night in Patrick Street dressed in
a General's uniform and making himself the centre-piece
of a crowd (of thugs and drunks!). One victim that night
was a humanitarian, Lord Kilwarden who was the Lord
Chief Justice. His coach was surrounded by the mob and
he was piked to death! Emmet did not know of this until
later. Thirty people lost their lives that night.
The
British authorities later admitted that his so-called
rebellion was 'as formidable in it's preparation and
means of doing mischief as any in history.' It has been
said that if it were not for a series of unfortunate
set-backs, Emmet's valient effort of July 23rd, 1803,
might well have changed the course of Irish history.
