Civil unrest continued to spread throughout north Meath and east Cavan during the 1790s even after the defeat of the Defenders at Coolnahinch. It became obvious to the British government that rebellion was on the horizon, so in 1795 a full-time military unit called the Irish Militia was formed. Despite this formidable threat, the local United Irishmen appeared undeterred and destroyed the pounds (gaol houses) at Bailieborough and Virginia in the lead up to the rebellion.¹ Along with this, much of the plantation of trees beside the castle at Bailieborough lake was cut down to make pike handles and military drills were carried out on the neighbouring hill.

In August of 1798, a French fleet landed at Killala with a force of about 1,000 troops. They were soon joined by roughly the same number of Irishmen and together they marched on Castlebar to face the army of General Lake. After hearing of the French landing, upwards of 5,000 United Irishmen gathered on Rebel Hill² in Bailieborough under the command of a Presbyterian, Captain John Gibson. There was a significant number of Presbyterians in the ranks of the local United Irishmen as they had suffered a lot at the hands of the Yeomanry, who were said to call to houses in the area and burn them if no men were home.³ Rev. Montgomery from Corglass was a vocal supporter of the United Irishmen, while Rev. Moore of Ervey was an active member.⁴

The reason for the rebels gathering on the hill may have been to stop a contingent of Sutherland Fencibles providing reinforcements to General Lake at Castlebar.⁵ Alternatively, the Fencibles may have just stumbled across the rebel camp on their march from Dundalk to Longford⁶ as they most likely would have passed through Bailieborough. Either way, these were a late comer onto the battlefield. Major Porter of the Cavan Militia was first on the scene and proceeded to surround the rebel camp, while the Killinkere Yeomanry moved in from the north and hemmed the rebels in with the lake to their backs. The rebels tried to make a stand but were armed only with pikes and facing into musket and canon fire. Along with this, they were hindered by having pike shafts of varying lengths meaning their ranks were quickly broken. The rebels were pushed back to the edge of the lake where some 300 were killed at or drowned trying to escape. Others tried to break out to the north but were cut down by the Yeomanry, and those that managed to escape to the south were ambushed near Parker’s Lake by the Sutherland Fencibles. About 400 rebels were killed here at what became known as the ‘Bloody Bridge’.⁷

The battle was one of the bloodiest in the locality and it was said that afterwards bodies ‘lay like sparrows on the ground’.⁸ Captain Gibson was pardoned for his part in the events at Rebel Hill on the condition that he take up a post in Dublin Castle, which he did. The battle effectively ended resistance in this part of country during the Rebellion of 1798.

Yeomanry – A part-time military force recruited for local law and order duties and to support the crown forces. Members were usually but not exclusively working class Protestants.

Irish Militia – A full-time military force recruited to put down rebellions and repel an invasion of Ireland seeking to aid the rebels. Members were both Catholic and Protestant.

Sutherland Fencibles – Fencibles were short term regiments used in times of war to repel an invasion of Britain. The Sutherland Fencibles were a 1000 strong unit raised by the Earl of Sutherland in Scotland and were brought to Ireland to help put down the 1798 Rebellion.

References

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1. Lindsay T. Brown, The Presbyterian Dilemma: A Survey of the Presbyterians and Politics in Counties Cavan and Monaghan over Three Hundred Years: Part II of a Series on the Monaghan Presbyterians. Clogher Record, Vol. 15, No. 2 (1995), p. 48
2. Eugene Markey, 1798 The Cavan Connection, Bailieborough 1798 Bi-Centennial Committee (1998), p. 24
3. Brown, The Presbyterian Dilemma, p. 49
4. Larry Conlan, ‘Dissension, Radicalism, and Republicanism in Monaghan and the Role of Freemasonry up to and during the 1798 Rebellion’ in Clogher Record, Vol. 16, No. 3 (1999), p. 107
5. Conlan, ‘Dissension, Radicalism, and Republicanism in Monaghan and the Role of Freemasonry up to and during the 1798 Rebellion’, p. 110
6. Sir Herbert Taylor, ‘Impartial Relation of the Military Operations which took place in Ireland in consequence of the landing of French troops under General Humbert in August 1798’, Pamphlet printed for J. Milliken (Dublin, 1799), p. 8, Available at https://www.dri.ie/ (Jun. 29, 2022)
7. Markey, 1798 The Cavan Connection, pp. 24-29
8. James J. Kelly, ‘The Battle of Rebel Hill, Bailieboro, Co. Cavan’ in John Cooney and Tony McGarry (eds) The New Ireland: quest for peace and progress: papers of the 1995 Humbert Summer School (Dublin, 1995), p. 194

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