Defenders (Ireland) - Militia Act 1793

Militia Act 1793

Catholic Emancipation from 1778 onward had removed some of the penal restrictions imposed upon Catholics, who were now allowed to vote and join grand juries. However, the declaration of war by revolutionary France against Great Britain in February 1793 was also followed by the passing of the Militia Act which was a form of partial conscription. Wealthier Catholics such as the young Daniel O'Connell joined the Militia as it was proof of their gradual acceptance into the establishment, but it was harder for poorer rural Catholics whose help was needed on a family farm. Although the terms of the Act stipulated that conscripts would serve in Ireland, it was widely believed that men would be sent abroad and the resultant opposition saw thousands taking the Defender oath. Members were usually sworn in catechisms, one such oath went:

The Defenders did not have a centralised leadership but were organised in loosely connected local cells and were limited by their lack of firearms. They sought to obtain them by launching raids on the big and small houses of the Ascendancy. In January 1793 the 'Annual Register' reported that forty farms had been raided for weapons near Dundalk, County Louth. However County Leitrim saw the most Defender activity with raids on Carrick-on-Shannon and Manorhamilton before eventual defeat at Drumkeerin in May 1793. Despite the ensuing wave of repression, the Leitrim Defenders again rose in open rebellion in 1795 and hundreds of soldiers had to be poured into the county to defeat them. The Defenders retained enough strength to rise in support of the French during the 1798 rebellion, with strong Defender contingents present at the defeats at Granard, Wilson's Hospital and Ballinamuck.