Robert Emmet Memorial 20 September 2011
The Robert Emmet memorial event took place at 6.30pm at St. Catherine’s Church on Thomas Street, Dublin 8.
Clan President, Derek Byrne laid a wreath in honour of his ancestor James Byrne who was executed on the 17th of September 1803 for his role in the Emmet Rebellion.
Derek Byrne, Clan President of Finte O’Broin, laying a wreath at the Robert Emmet Memorial, Dublin, on the 20th of September 2011.
The hour-long ceremony was arranged by Frank Connolly of the Robert Emmet Society, with Philip Emmet and other members of the Emmet family being present.
Robert Emmet fled to France in March 1798 on the run following the 1798 rebellion. He remained in Paris to propagating the principles of the United Irishmen and became the centre of the revolutionary exiles. In May 1803, having received from Napoleon a promise of French support for a rising, he returned to Ireland to mobilise the fragmented remains of the Society of the United Irishmen. Settling in Rathfarnham, south of Dublin, he hired Anne Devlin, kinswoman to both Miles Byrne and the Ballymanus Byrnes, and an active nationalist, as his “housekeeper.” The attempt to take the centre of power at Dublin Castle failed but is remembered as the heroic ‘Emmet Rebellion’ or ‘1803 Rebellion’.
The ceremony was also a personal opportunity for Derek to honour the memory of his ancestor James Byrne of Naas, a follower of the Byrnes of Ballymanus, Miles Byrne, and then Robert Emmet. James Byrne was arrested in possession of a pike on the 23rd of July 1803 and taken to Dublin where he was hung outside St. Catherine’s Church, Townsend Street on the 17th of September. Three days later Robert Emmet was also executed outside St. Catherine’s.
A plinth outside St. Catherine’s Church commemorates the bravery of Robert Emmet. It was unveiled in September 1980 by Michael Mullen, General Secretary of the Irish Transport and General Workers Union on behalf of the Dublin History Workshop. Not only commemorates Robert Emmet but also James Byrne and the other men executed on that spot following the 1803 Rebellion.