Defenders (Ireland) - Escalation

Escalation

The strife that had begun in Armagh had now spread into the neighbouring counties but it was around the town of Rathfriland in County Down that the next flashpoint occurred. The sectarian conflict that plagued south Ulster intensified around the town of Rathfriland in the early part of 1792. In May in the neighbourhood of Banbridge and Rathfriland these animosities were reported to be carried to a new height. In June a meeting of magistrates declared that the conflict between the Defenders and Peep O'Day boys now affected a considerable part of the Baronies of Upper and Lower Iveagh. The violence was to reach new levels in the Battle of Ballynappoge on 6 May. The problems in the area seem to have been running for some time and there is an account of one Presbyterian from Ballynappoge firing shots into the Defender quarter of Islandmoyle every night. The latest spark appeared to have been the funeral procession of a Catholic schoolmaster to a graveyard at Drumballyroney. The procession was hooted, insulted and pelted with dirt, by the presbyterians, and when they arrived at the grave-yard, and the priests began to chant the requiem of the deceased, they were attacked by the Presbyterians with stones and clubs, and were compelled to flee, leaving the corpse unburied. It would appear that both the Defenders and the Peep O'Day Boys had been preparing for conflict merely awaiting an excuse, and the funeral was to provide just that. Two days of violence followed and by Tuesday an army was assembled, consisting of many thousands and everything was ready for blood and carnage. Through the efforts of the Reverend Samuel Barber and some others, articles of agreement were drawn up and these were agreed upon by both sides.

Despite this, tension again rose through the summer and a series of meetings that helped to shape the politics of the 1790s took place. Amongst those who met with the Defenders that summer in an effort to restore peace were the United Irishmen Wolfe Tone, Samuel Neilson, John Keogh, Thomas Braughall, Alexander Lowry as well as Thomas Russell who was also visiting this region. These meetings were the first substantial links between the Defenders and the United Irishmen – a link that was to culminate in the rebellion in 1798. While the Defenders were reacting to bigotry and the tithe laws, and their lack of power in society, it is ironic that their new allies in France had a policy of Dechristianization which targeted the Catholic Church.