who fears to speak of '98 - pat flannerypatflannery.com/creativewriting/1798.pdf · fought and...

INTRODUCTIONThis was an oral/musical/visual tribute to the people whofought and died in 1798 to establish a free and independentIrish republic on their 200th anniversary. The accompanyingvisual projections were coordinated in a separate script.

Who Fears to Speak of '98

ACT 1

Prelude to Rebellion

SCENE 1

Why They Feared to Speak(lighting - darkness)(music - begins - "An Muire Bheannaithe")(lighting - up - Wolfe Tone)

WOLFE TONE(dressed in the uniform of a French officer - writing in hisdiary)

"To subvert the tyranny of our execrable government, to breakthe connection with England, the never failing source of allour political evils, and to assert the independence of mycountry - these were my objects. To unite the whole peopleof Ireland, to abolish the memory of all past dissensions,and to substitute the common name of Irishman, in the placeof the denominations of, Protestant, Catholic and Dissenter,

(music - ends)these were my means".

(he puts down his pen and stares into the distance)(lighting - down - Wolfe Tone)

VOCAL GROUP(song - verse 1 "The Memory of the Dead")

Who fears to speak of 'Ninety-Eight, who blushes at the name?When cowards mock the patriot's fate, who hangs his head inshame?He's all a knave, or half a slave, who slights his countrythus:But a true man like you man, will fill your glass with us.

(lighting - up - vocalist)

MALE VOCALIST(poem - verse 5 "The Memory of the Dead")

"They rose in dark and evil days to right their native land;They kindled there a living blaze that nothing can withstand.

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Copyright 1998 Pat Flannery

MALE VOCALIST (Continued)Alas! That might can vanquish right they fell and passedaway But true men, like you men, are plenty here today".

(lighting - down - vocalist)

NARRATOR ONE(standing at lectern, downstage right)

History is a tale told by the conqueror. The Irish didn'tget to write much history, but they wrote some great songs. Welcome to this musically illustrated tale, of the 1798 IrishUprising, seen through the eyes of its leader,

(pointing towards Tone)Theobold Wolfe Tone, as he awaited execution, in his prisoncell.

NARRATOR TWO(standing at lectern, downstage left)

1798 is to Ireland, as 1776, is to the United States. Howdifferent American history would have been, if instead ofbecoming the first President of this great republic, GeorgeWashington spent his last night on earth, reminiscing, abouta failed American rebellion.

NARRATOR ONEHow different Irish history would be, if Theobold Wolfe Tone,had become the first President, of an Irish Republic, 200years ago.

VOCAL GROUP(music - begins - "The Memory of the Dead")(song - verse 2 "The Memory of the Dead")

We drink the memory of the braveThe faithful and the few -Some lie far off beyond the wave,Some sleep in Ireland too;All - all are gone - but still lives onThe fame of those who died;All true men, like you men,Remember them with pride.

(music - ends)

NARRATOR TWO(Standing at lectern, downstage left)

Americans, looking for their roots, among the gravestones ofIreland, are struck by the fact, that there are noinscriptions, for the year, 1798.


NARRATOR ONEThe English reprisals, for the failed 1798 rebellion, were sogreat, that for a full century afterwards, no Irish family,could afford to be suspected, of having a relative involved.

(lighting - fade to black)


SCENE 2

The Penal Laws

NARRATOR TWOTo explain why the Irish rebelled, we will begin our story,with an Orangeman, the very first Orangeman, King William ofOrange himself. Americans associate him, with his wife Mary,and a great University - the University of William and Mary. But in Ireland, we associate him, with a great wrong - thePenal Laws.


FEMALE VOCALIST(music - begins - "Roisin Dubh")(poem - verse 3 "Granuaile")

The gown she wore, was stained with gore, all by a ruffianband,Her lips so sweet, that monarchs kissed, are now gone paleand wan;The tears of grief, fell from her eyes, each tear as large ashail,None could express, the deep distress, of poor old Granuaile.

NARRATOR ONE"Granuaile", is the metaphor for, rebellious Ireland. It wasthe Irish name, of Grace O'Malley, the fabled pirate queen,who, in the time of Elizabeth, was called - "a nobletraitress, and nurse of all rebellions, in Connacht, forforty years".

FEMALE VOCALIST(poem - verse 6 "Granuaile")

Six hundred years, of the briny tears, have flown down frommy eyes;I curse the day, that Henry made, of me, proud Albion'sprize.From that day down, with chains I'm bound, no wonder I lookpale!The blood, they drained, from every vein, of poor oldGranuaile.

(music - ends)(lighting - down - vocalist)

NARRATOR TWO(music - begins - "Garden of Ireland")

The song, was a lament, for Ireland, during the long centuryof Penal Laws, that followed King William's victory, over theCatholic King James, at the 1690, Battle of the Boyne, andhis infamous Treaty with the Irish, that followed, in 1691.


NARRATOR ONEThe Treaty of Limerick, was signed by King William and Mary,under the Great Seal of England, and broke - "before the inkwith which it was writ, was dry." The wonder is, not WHY theIrish rebelled, but what took them so long.

(music - ends)(lighting - up - vocalist)

MALE VOCALIST(music - begins - "The Wearin' of the Green")(song - verse 1 "The Wearin' of the Green")

Oh Paddy dear and did you hear the news that's going round? The shamrock is forbid by law to grow on Irish ground;St. Patrick's Day no more we'll keep, his color can't beseen, For there's a cruel law agin' the wearin' o' the Green.

(music - ends)

NARRATOR TWOEven Edmund Burke, Paine's mortal enemy, called the IrishPenal Laws "the greatest contrivance for the enslavement of anation ever to emanate from the degraded mind of man".

NARRATOR ONEThe Frenchman, Montesquieu said they "were conceived bydemons, written in blood and registered in hell".

MALE VOCALIST(music - begins - "The Garden of Ireland")(poem)

We plough and sow - we're so very, very lowThat we delve in the dirty clay,Till we bless the plain with the golden grain,And the vale with the fragrant hay.Our place we know - we're so very low,'Tis down at the landlord's feet:We're not too low the bread to grow, But too low the bread to eat.

(music - ends)(lighting - down - vocalist)(lighting - up - Wolfe Tone)

WOLFE TONEIrish Catholics were:forbidden to exercise their religion forbidden to receive an education forbidden to enter a profession forbidden to hold public office forbidden to engage in trade or commerce forbidden to live within 5 miles of a corporate town

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WOLFE TONE (Continued)forbidden to own a horse of greater value than five poundsforbidden to purchase land, forbidden to lease land,forbidden to vote, forbidden to keep arms for their protection.

(lighting - down - Wolfe Tone)

NARRATOR ONEForbidden to own a horse of greater value than five pounds! And you know how the Irish love horses. A commonplace eventmade uncommon by the stature of the victim involved, gaverise to one of the greatest "caoine" or love-laments in theIrish language. "The Lament for Art O'Leary" was written byhis wife Eileen.

(one verse of the Irish version)It will survive as long as Irish is spoken. Here areexcerpts in English.


FEMALE VOCALIST(poem - second verse of "The Lament for Art O'Leary")

My friend trulyI never believed you would dieTill your horse returned to meWith her reins down to the ground,With your heart's-blood upon her flanksBack to your fine-tooled saddle(Where you used to sit and stand);I leapt up towards the threshold,The second stride to the gate,The third leap onto your mare.

NARRATOR TWOArthur O'Leary was a colonel home on leave from the ImperialAustrian Army. Riding his military steed, he was accosted bya Protestant claiming the animal for the statutory fivepounds. The insolent papist disdained the offer and rodeaway. He was pursued and shot dead. His faithful horse,bloodied and riderless, galloped home to Eileen.

FEMALE VOCALIST(poem - verse 4 "The Lament for Art O'Leary")

My keen and painful sorrow; That I was not at your back; Whenthe powder was fired; So I would get it through the waist; Orthe hem of my dress; So I could let you fly away; My grey-eyed rider; For you were the best of them all.

NARRATOR ONEIn addition to service in the great armies of Europe,Ireland's manhood was preserved through those dark days, by

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NARRATOR ONE (Continued)the boldness of the rapparees - the highwaymen. Irishpeasants had nothing to steal, therefore highwaymen couldonly be stealing from the foreign oppressor who had takenall. The rapparees became the folk-heroes of the day.

MALE VOCALIST(music - begins - "Brennan on the Moor")(song - verse 1 & 2 "Brennan on the Moor")

T'is of a bold young highwayman, his story I will tell, His name was Willie Brennan and in Ireland he did dwell; 'Twas on the Kilworth Mountains he commenced his wild career,And many a wealthy nobleman before him shook with fear.

(refrain)And it's Brennan on the Moor, Brennan on the Moor,Bold and undaunted stood young Brennan on the Moor.

(verse 2)A brace of loaded pistols he carried night and day,He never robbed a poor man upon the King's Highway;He robbed the rich, he helped the poor, like Turpin and BlackBess,He always helped the widow and orphan in distress.

(refrain)And it's Brennan on the Moor, Brennan on the Moor,Bold and undaunted stood young Brennan on the Moor.

(music ends)(lighting - fade to black)


SCENE 3

American and French Republicanism(lighting - up - Wolfe Tone)

WOLFE TONEMy first steps, towards rebellion, were innocent enough. Ijoined one of the many debating societies, springing up, allover Dublin and Belfast.

NARRATOR TWOThomas Paine's new book, "The Rights of Man", had run throughseven editions, and was becoming known, as "the Koran ofBelfast".

NARRATOR ONEThe man whose book, "Common Sense", had inspired the AmericanRevolution, was setting Ireland aflame, with republicanism.

WOLFE TONESomething had to be done for the Catholics. Presbyteriansdissented from the established Anglican Church, but we wereeducated and fast becoming the new rich. My co-religionistand closest friend Captain Thomas Russell from Cork, resignedhis British Army commission and threw himself into therepublican ideas of Thomas Paine.

VOCAL GROUP(music - begins - "A Nation Once Again")(song - verse 1 "A Nation Once Again")

When boyhood's fire was in my blood, I read of ancient freemen, For Greece and Rome who bravely stood, Three hundred men and three men, And then I prayed I yet might see Our fetters rent in twain, And Ireland, long a province, be A Nation once again!

(Chorus)A Nation once again, A Nation once again, And Ireland, long a province, be A Nation once again!

(music - ends)

WOLFE TONETom Russell, introduced me to Samuel Neilson, the wealthyyoung owner, of "The Irish Woolen Warehouse". These men,were no longer interested, in debating societies.

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WOLFE TONE (Continued)Joined by Henry Shears, Robert Simms, and Henry JoyMcCracken, Protestants all, we met for two days, in the ruinsof the old Gaelic stronghold, of O'Neill, high upon CaveHill, overlooking Belfast. We talked of a new Ireland.


MALE VOCALIST(music - begins - "A Nation once Again")(song - verse 2 "A Nation Once Again")

It whisper'd too, that freedom's ark,And service high and holy,Would be profane by feelings darkAnd passions vain or lowly;For, Freedom comes from God's right hand, And needs a godly train;And righteous men must make our landA Nation once again!

(Chorus)A Nation once again, A Nation once again, And Ireland, long a province, beA Nation once again

(music - ends)

WOLFE TONEThe six of us, swore a solemn pact - "never to desist fromour efforts, until we had subverted, the authority ofEngland, over our country, and asserted our independence". We declared ourselves - "The United Irishmen". We wouldchallenge The English Crown, and lead the Irish Catholicmasses, into an Independent, Irish Republic.

NARRATOR TWOTo the English, this, was a devil's brew. A Catholic revolt,led by rich, educated, Presbyterians! The leaders werearrested, but Wolfe Tone, escaped to America.

WOLFE TONEAs a republican, Philadelphia was my spiritual home. To walkthe streets, and breathe the free air, of a real, live,Republic! During the autumn of 1795, I made continuousrepresentations, to the French Minister in Philadelphia. TheFrench had helped the Americans, surely, they would help theIrish achieve - "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity".

(music begins - "The Rights of Man" - one time)(music - ends)(lighting - fade to black)


SCENE 4

Sectarianism Intensifies(music - begins - Loyalist Music)

NARRATOR TWOBut Protestant Ireland, was not about to surrender theprivileges, King Billy had won for them, at the Battle of theBoyne.

NARRATOR ONEIreland's wealthy landowners and industrialists, easilyconvinced their nervous Protestant tenants and industrialworkers, that such freedoms and privileges as they nowpossessed, would surely disappear, if Catholics were freed.

NARRATOR TWOEver since the Cromwellian conquest, Klu Klux Klan-style,ultra-loyal, "Peep O'Day Boys", had been burning out Catholichomesteads. Many, had already fled to remoter areas. Butsome stood their ground, and called themselves - "TheDefenders".

NARRATOR ONEIn May 1795, two hundred of these Defenders, were killed inan engagement in County Cavan with a new loyal militia, swornto defend Ireland from republican France.

NARRATOR TWOThe loyalist "Peep o' Day Boys" were not to be outdone bythis new, loyal, militia. On September 21st 1795, with WolfeTone in Philadelphia, they demonstrated their own undyingloyalty to the British Crown, by killing thirty CatholicDefenders at the "Battle of the Diamond". They went on tocelebrate, by founding the Orange Order in a pub inLoughgall, County Armagh.


MALE VOCALIST(music - begins - "The Sash My Father Wore")

(MORE)(song - verse 1 "The Sash My Father Wore")

Sure I'm an Ulster Orange man, from Erin's Isle I came, To see my British brethren all of honor and of fame, And to tell them of my forefathers who fought in days of yore That I might have the right to wear the sash my father wore

(Chorus)On the green grassy slopes of the Boyne, Where King Billy and his men fought and died.


MALE VOCALIST (Continued)They fought for the glory of religion, On the green grassy slopes of the Boyne.

(music ends)

NARRATOR ONEHenceforth, the authorities, would have a deadly instrumentof coercion, to augment the Crown's official forces, whenextra-legal activities, were called for.



SCENE 5

Tone seeks French help(music - begins - solo piccolo)(lighting - up - Wolfe Tone)

WOLFE TONEIn February 1796, I arrived from America, at the French portof La Havre, determined to persuade revolutionary France, tosend a military expedition to Ireland. With exactly twolouis in my exchequer, I found myself negotiating with theFrench Government, and planning revolutions.

(music - ends)

NARRATOR ONE"Seanbhean Bhocht" - "the poor old woman" - a metaphor forsuffering Ireland, told of the Irish longing, for Frenchhelp.


MALE VOCALIST(music - begins - "Seanbhean Bhocht")(song - verse 1 "Seanbhean Bhoct")

Oh! The French are on the sea, Says the sean-bhean bhocht;The French are on the sea, Says the sean-bhean bhocht; Oh! The French are in the bay, They'll be here withoutdelay, And the Orange will decay, Says the sean-bhean bhoct.

(refrain)Oh! The French are in the bay, They'll be here withoutdelay, And the Orange will decay, Says the sean-bhean bhoct.

(music - ends)

WOLFE TONESomehow I persuaded the French military to divert anexpedition, already en route to India in support of a revoltagainst English rule on that sub-continent. They would goinstead to the strategically important island, of Ireland.

(music - begins - "La Marseillaise")(music - ends)(lighting - fade to black)


SCENE 6

The French at Bantry Bay(lighting - up - Wolfe Tone)

WOLFE TONEMy diary, here, December 20th, 1796, four days beforeChristmas,

(music - begins - "The Southwind" - solo)(reading from his diary)

"this morning at daybreak, we are under Cape Clear, distantabout four leagues, so I have, at any event, seen my country,but the pleasure I should otherwise feel at this, is totallydestroyed, by the absence of the general".

NARRATOR TWOOn the Fleet's flagship, twenty six year old General Hoche,one of the Revolution's most celebrated soldiers, a rival ofBonaparte himself! - was blown hundreds of miles, out to sea.

WOLFE TONE(continuing to read from his diary)

"December 22nd, 1796. This morning at eight, we have nearedBantry Bay, but the fleet is terribly scattered. We aregaining the Bay by slow degrees, with a headwind from theeast".

NARRATOR ONEThe storm died down during that fateful morning. All daylong, fully equipped troops, crowded the decks of the greatships, ready to land.


"I am now so near the shore, that I fancy I could reach outand touch it".

NARRATOR ONEGeneral Hoche's Second-in-Command, anxiously looked down thelong Bay, for the arrival of his Commander. Nobody knewwhere he was. Nobody knew, that the calm was but a break ina series of vicious storms about to hit Ireland.

(music ends)


"We are not more than 6,500 strong, but they are triedsoldiers, they have seen fire, and I have the strongesthopes, that after all, we shall bring our enterprise to aglorious termination".


NARRATOR TWOThe battle plan was to use the deep and undefended BantryBay, eighteen miles long and four miles wide, to make thelanding. Cork City, with its fine port was only three daysmarch away.


"We purpose to make a race for Cork, as if the Devil were inour bodies".

NARRATOR ONEThe capture of the port of Cork would give the French controlof all southern Ireland. Cork had the facilities to land themen and supplies needed for the capture of the entirecountry. England would be boxed in.

WOLFE TONEAll day long, I waited in agony of frustration andexpectation.

(He turns to read from his diary again)"Oh that we were once ashore, let what might ensue! I amsick to the very soul of this suspense. I could tear myflesh with rage and vexation, but that advances nothing. Andso I hold my tongue and devour my melancholy as I can".

NARRATOR TWOAt mid-night, amid a rising gale, the deputy commanderfinally made up his mind to land.


"At 2:00AM, I was awakened by the wind. I walked the decksfor an hour, devoured by the most gloomy predictions. Thestorm continues right ahead, making it impossible to work upto the landing places".

NARRATOR ONEThe huge ships were hard pressed to hold their positions, letalone work up to the landing areas. Dragging their anchors,in the face of a roaring gale, many were blown helplessly outto sea.


"The morning is now come, the gale continues. Of forty-threesail, of which the expedition first consisted, we can musterall sizes, but fourteen. The dreadful stormy weather andeasterly winds which have been blowing furiously and withoutintermission, have ruined us.

(MORE)


WOLFE TONE (Continued)(Pausing, reflecting)

If God Almighty sends me, to my dearest love and darlingbabies in safety, I will buy or rent a little spot and havedone with the world forever. I shall neither be great norfamous nor powerful, but I may, be happy."

(music - begins - "Lillibulero" - solo)

NARRATOR TWOIreland was experiencing the storm of the century. At10:00AM, on December 27th 1796, the fleet Commander gave thesignal to cut cables and run before the wind to the open sea.


"In all my life, rage never entered so deeply into my heart,as when we turned our backs on the coast."

(music - ends)

NARRATOR ONEThe whole country, covered in a snow blizzard, had been therefor the taking.

(music - begins - "Lillibulero" - band)England had not had such an escape since the Spanish Armada. Ireland's dream of escaping England's grasp, was destroyed bya wind - a Protestant wind.

(music - ends)(lighting - fade to black)


SCENE 7

Deliberate Precipitation of Rebellion

NARRATOR TWOThe English well knew that only a freak of nature had savedthem. They also knew that the French would be back. Therefore, they determined to precipitate a rising, beforethe French returned.

(music - begins - loyalist music)

NARRATOR ONEChristmas came again in January, for the Orange Order. Theywere quickly deputized for the organized terror about to beloosed upon Ireland. They were instructed to disarm theUnited Irishmen. Magistrates were ordered not to interfere.

NARRATOR TWOAll rebel arms must be decommissioned - pikes, pitchforks,scythes, kitchen-knives. All must be surrendered to thosewith proven loyalty, to the Crown. Mobs of Orangemen swarmedthe country, decommissioning everything in sight. Eagerly,they decommissioned dangerous old men, women, and youngchildren.

(music - ends)

NARRATOR ONEThe truth had to be extracted from these rebels. There wasan orgy of floggings and half-hangings. One militiamancomplained, that a certain rebel could not be persuaded totell the truth, until his head was cut off. The peoplewondered what this truth was, that was causing so muchtrouble - nobody knew.

NARRATOR TWOSpeaking the Irish language was deemed certain proof oftreason.


MALE VOCALIST(song - verse 1 & 2 "Droineann donn dilish")

NARRATOR ONELeaving nothing to chance, the English brought in the AncientBritons - a notorious Welsh yeoman unit. Again, the highlyinsulted Orange Order, re-doubled their efforts to provetheir loyalty to the Crown. The result was a bizarrecompetition in savagery.


NARRATOR TWOLord Salisbury called the helpless Irish - "the bloody foam,on the crest of the advancing tide of British civilization". The British Commander-in-Chief, Sir Ralph Abercrombie,resigned in disgust. He said - "the English army in Ireland,is formidable to all but the enemy".

(music - begins - "Anna Cuin" - solo mandolin)

NARRATOR ONEThe British had no difficulty in finding a man who relishedthis kind of work - his name was General Gerard Lake. Lakemarched the North Cork Militia, a 600-strong force, whoopenly wore the insignia of the Orange Order, into the mostpeaceful County, in Ireland - Wexford.

(lighting - up - Wolfe Tone)

WOLFE TONEI was back in France, where the revolutionaries wore theirhair cropped short and addressed each other as citizen. TheEnglish nicknamed these republicans - "croppies".

NARRATOR TWOA sergeant in General Lake's North Cork Militia, called "Tomthe Devil", invented a method of making instant "croppies"out of any rebel with a full head of hair - the dreaded"pitch-cap". He placed a paper crown, filled with moltenpitch, on the head of his prisoner. Setting it alight, themilitiamen watched delightedly as the victim was forced torip his scalp off, making himself an instant "croppy".

NARRATOR ONEAnother famous decommissioner of rebel arms, was yeomancaptain, Hunter Gowan. Of him it was said that - "his deedswould shame, all the devils in hell".

NARRATOR TWOWhat might have happened, without such provocation, we cannotknow. But what did happen, was, that, throughout 1797 and1798, ash trees, started to disappear all over Ireland. Stabbing-blades with sharp hooks for cutting bridles andgirths were being fitted to long-handled pikes by blacksmithsand carpenters and quickly hidden in the thatch.

(music - continues - mandolin and guitar)

WOLFE TONEI learned in France that the United Irishmen now had theirIrish Catholic peasant army. The Orange Order and theloyalist militia had recruited it for them. The question,was whether to wait for the new fleet I was franticallytrying to assemble at the French port of Brest.


NARRATOR ONEIn Dublin, Unitedmen Lord Edward Fitzgerald and Sam Neilson,met at the Brazen Head pub on May 18th 1798. They decidedthat the Catholic peasantry had taken enough. They shouldwait no longer for French help.

WOLFE TONESam Neilson was made military commander in the North. Hewould be seconded by my dear friend Henry Joy McCracken. Henry Joy had more to lose than anybody. He was one of thewealthiest men in Ulster. Lord Edward took command in theSouth.

NARRATOR TWOThe valiant young Lord Edward with his aristocratic haircropped short in the French republican style, gave the orderthat the stopping of all mail coaches radiating out ofDublin, on the morning of May 23rd, was the signal for therising.

NARRATOR ONEIt was the only order he was ever to give. British spies hadbeen at work in The Brazen Head. The United Irish leaderswere arrested. Lord Edward was fatally wounded trying toescape.

NARRATOR TWOThe mail coaches from Dublin were stopped as planned on May23rd, 1798. By evening the whole country knew that - "TheYear of Rebellion" - had begun.

(music - continues - full band)(music - ends)(lighting - fade to black)


ACT 2

Rebellion in Leinster

SCENE 1

Orange Atrocities fuel Rebellion(lighting - up - vocalist)

MALE VOCALIST(music - begins - "The Rising of the Moon")(song - verse 1 "The Rising of the Moon")

Oh, then tell me, Sean O'Farrell, tell me why you hurry so? Hush mo buchall, hush and listen and his cheeks were allaglow, I bear orders from the captain, get you ready quick and soon,For the pikes must be together by the rising of the moon.By the rising of the moon, by the rising of the moon.For the pikes must be together by the rising of the moon.

(music - ends)

NARRATOR ONEEverywhere, rebel groups pulled pikes from the thatch andreported to their captains.


WOLFE TONEThe English plan had worked. Premature rebellion ensuredthat there was no master plan, no leaders, no French help.


MALE VOCALIST(music - begins - "The Rising of the Moon")(song - verse 3 "The Rising of the Moon")

Out of many a mud-walled cabin, eyes were watching throughthe night, Many a manly heart was throbbing for the coming morninglight. Murmers passed along the valley, like the banshee'slonely croon And a thousand pikes were flashing by the rising of the moon.

NARRATOR TWO(music - begins - "The Rising of the Moon"- slow)

English garrison towns were attacked all over Counties Meath,Kildare, and Wicklow, some successfully, some with heavylosses. A thousand pikemen advanced on Carlow. As theyentered the town they were ambushed by the waiting militia.


NARRATOR ONECarlow buried 649 pikemen in a common grave - ever sinceknown as - the "Croppie's Hole". The loyal militia, theirblood up, burned the cabins of the poor and everyone in them -men, women and children. Those who tried to escape wereeither shot or bayoneted.

NARRATOR TWOAt the Curragh of Kildare, a group of rebels surrendered andstacked their weapons. Major General Sir James Duff,reported to his superiors, that before he could stop them,his militiamen, had set upon the rebels and massacred betweentwo and three hundred of them. The place is still known as"the Place of Slaughter".

NARRATOR ONEIn the Wicklow village of Carnew, the yeoman Captain Saunderstook thirty-four prisoners from the old castle and shot themone by one, in the handball alley. In Dunlavin, the localmilitia officer, marched twenty-eight, totally innocent men,to the village green and executed them on the spot.

NARRATOR TWOUnfortunately these atrocities inspired rebel counter-atrocities which, of course, were the only ones reported bythe authorities.

NARRATOR ONEAt Naas there were three hundred rebel dead for a Britishloss of twenty-two. Pikes were proving no match for Crownfirepower.

WOLFE TONEThe United Irishmen of Meath, eight thousand pikemen strong,stood on the "Lia Fail" - the Hill of Tara. That ancientseat of Irish kings, was desecrated by English cannon. Threehundred of my would-be comrades-in-arms lie buried there.

(music - ends)

NARRATOR TWOWith the movement's leaders either in jail or in exile thelocal captains were isolated and perplexed.

(music - begins - "The Rising of the Moon")(song - verse 5 "The Rising of the Moon")

VOCAL GROUPWell they fought for dear old Ireland and full bitter wastheir fate But oh!

(MORE)


VOCAL GROUP (Continued)what grief and sorrow filled the year of "Ninety-Eight, But thank God, there's some hearts beating, in manhood'sburning noon And we'll follow in their footsteps at the rising of themoon.



SCENE 2

Father Murphy sets the heather blazing

NARRATOR ONEMarauding Crown forces were running amok, burning thehomesteads left undefended by the risen pikemen. Terrifiedwomen and children were sleeping outdoors among the furze andthe hedges.

NARRATOR TWOSleeping out with them was a priest named Father John Murphy,curate of Kilcormack parish, which included the village ofBoulavogue.

(music - begins - "Boulavogue" - solo whistle)Hiding near a crossroads, at a small country town called "TheHarrow", they were about to be set upon by a yeoman cavalryunit under Lieutenant Thomas Bookey.

NARRATOR ONETo the cheers of the crowd, Father Murphy said - "it would bebetter for us to die like men than be butchered like dogs inthe ditches". In a brief fight Bookey was killed and hiscavalry scattered.

(music - ends)(lighting - up - vocalist)

MALE VOCALIST(music - begins - "Boulavogue")(song - verse 1 "Boulavogue")

At Boulavogue, as the sun was setting O'er soft May meadows of Shelmalier,A rebel hand set the heather blazingAnd brought the neighbors from far and near.Then Father Murphy from old Kilcormuck Spurred up the rocks with a warning cry: "Arm, arm!" he cried, "For I've come to lead you,For Ireland's freedom we fight or die!"

(music - ends)

NARRATOR TWO(music - begins - "Boulavaogue" - solo whistle)

Word spread like wildfire. The people had a leader. FatherMurphy had set the Wexford heather blazing.

NARRATOR ONEBefore dawn next day, in an orgy of reprisals for Bookey'sdeath, the yeomanry set more than the heather blazing. Theyburned 170 farmhouses, slaughtered the families and burneddown Father Murphy's church at Kilcormack.


NARRATOR TWOWith nowhere else to go, countryfolk, in their thousandsjoined the rebel priest at his new headquarters on OulartHill.

NARRATOR ONEFrom their vantage point, on May 27th, 1798, the croppiescould see the dreaded North Cork Militia's approach - theyleft a line of burning cabins in their wake.

(music - ends)(lighting - up - Wolfe Tone)

WOLFE TONEThe wildest hopes and planning of the United Irishmen did notforesee such men as Father John Murphy.


MALE VOCALIST(music - begins - "Boulavaogue" - full band)(song - verse 2 "Boulavague")

He led us on 'gainst the coming soldiers, The cowardly yeomenwe put to flight -'Twas at The Harrow the Boys of WexfordShowed Bookey's regiment how men could fight. Look out forhirelings, King George of England, Search every kingdom thatbreeds a slave, For Father Murphy of the County Wexford Sweeps o'er the land like a mighty wave.

(music - ends)(music - begins - "Boulavague" - solo whistle)

NARRATOR TWOInstinctively he encouraged and gave his men their orders;while the experienced militiamen, marching together, andholding battle line, advanced up the rebel hill.

NARRATOR ONEWith yeoman musket balls whistling through the main Irishranks, hidden pikemen led by Father Murphy attacked from theright flank. The North Cork Militia fell back in terrorbefore the fury of these men whose homes they had sothoughtlessly burned and whose friends they had so eagerlytortured.

NARRATOR TWOFather Murphy had slipped another group of pikemen behind theattackers as they ascended the hill. The militiamen weredoomed. They were given the same mercy they had shown theirvictims - none. For only six rebel dead, Father Murphyannihilated the most hated militia unit in Ireland.



SCENE 3

Enniscorthy, Wexford and New Ross(lighting - up - Wolfe Tone)

WOLFE TONEOh, if only the French troops had landed. This is the kindof popular rising I had dreamed of.

NARRATOR ONEBehind a stampeded herd of frightened cattle, the swellingarmy of Father Murphy hurled itself at Enniscorthy's Englishcannon, at its deadly musket fire and at its yeoman bayonets. Ancient battle cries rang out as the hated foreigner reaped arebel whirlwind. Allowed to retreat towards Wexford town theBritish burned and killed everything along the way.

NARRATOR TWOThe rebels set up camp on nearby Vinegar Hill. On May 30th,leaving several thousand behind, Father Murphy led a force ofabout fifteen thousand to take Wexford. Outnumbered, fifteen-to-one, the loyal forces under Colonel Maxwell abandoned thetown to the rebels.

WOLFE TONEMy old debating society friend, Beauchamp Bagenal Harvey wasliberated from the town jail and made Commander-in-chief ofthe rebel army. I wonder how the old dandy felt ...... But aProtestant United Irishman was in charge, again. Thestruggle was no longer just a Catholic, peasant revolt.

NARRATOR ONEJune 5th, 1798 - a day that will be forever remembered inIrish history - the aristocratic Bagenal Harvey, now leaderof a rebel army, sent a galloping horseman, holding a whiteflag, towards the gates of the strategic town of New Ross. The unfortunate horseman was immediately shot by thedefending Crown forces. In his pocket they found a messagefrom Harvey, offering surrender or destruction.

NARRATOR TWOA blond giant of a man, rebel Lieutenant John Kelly, fromKillane, in the Barony of Bantry, led a wild charge ofCorkmen on Three Bullet Gate, where the unarmed horseman hadfallen.


MALE VOCALIST(music - begins - "Kelly, The Boy from Killane")(song - verse 1 "Kelly, The Boy from Killane")

What's the news, what's the news, oh my bold Shelmalier,


With your long-barrelled gun from the sea? Well, what windfrom the South brings a messenger here, With a song of thedawn for the free? Goodly news, goodly news: do I bring yeyouth of Forth! Goodly news shall ye hear Bargy men!And the boys march at morn from the South to the NorthLed by Kelly, the boy from Killane.


NARRATOR ONEThe fierce fighting and carnage at this gate, earned it thename - "bearna baoil" - the "gap of danger"; honored to thisday, in the words of the Irish National Anthem.

NARRATOR TWO(music - begins - "The Fields of America - solo whistle)

Many were the heroes created that day at New Ross, not leastof whom was the indomitable Molly Doyle. With musket ballswhizzing all around her, she cut ammunition pouches from deadand dying redcoats and threw them to the Wexfordmen.

NARRATOR ONENew Ross was the high point of the Leinster rebellion. Forseven hours the two sides charged and countercharged eachother. Charging into the mouth of the cannons the rebelswere repeatedly cut down in their hundreds by murderous fire.

WOLFE TONE(lighting - up - Wolfe Tone)

The story reached me in France of one old man, who stuffedhis hat and wig full arm's-length into the cannon's mouth,then shouted to his comrades, "blood and 'ounds, my boys,come and take her now, she's stopt, she stopt!". The cannonfired and blew him to bits.

NARRATOR TWODespite Molly Doyle's severe remonstrances, Bagnel Harveywithdrew his army without taking the town. Molly made theexhausted rebels pull a captured cannon back to camp, whereshe said "it might do some good".

NARRATOR ONEThe town of New Ross suffered more from the loyal garrisonafter the rebels withdrew, than it did in the heat of battle. 2,806 were killed. No wounded were left alive that day.

(music - ends)(lighting - up - vocalist)(music - begins - "Kelly, The Boy from Killane")(song - last verse "Kelly, The Boy from Killane")


MALE VOCALISTBut the bright sun of Freedom grew dark at New Ross, And itset by the Slaney's red waves; And poor Wexford, strippednaked, hung high on a cross, With her heart pierced bytraitors and slaves. Glory O! Glory O! to her brave sonswho died, For the cause of long-downtrodden man! Glory O! toMount Leinster's own, darling and pride, Dauntless Kelly, theboy from Killane.



SCENE 4

Reprisals, Counter-reprisals, Arklow(lighting - up - Wolfe Tone)

WOLFE TONEBagenal Harvey, riding about in his magnificent uniform, madea better debater than he did a soldier. Like the hesitantFrenchman at Bantry Bay, Harvey had waited two days in frontof New Ross before giving battle. He allowed the English tomove in 2,000 Dublin militiamen and six pieces of artillery.

NARRATOR TWOHe had no stomach for the inevitable atrocities committed byhis own side in answer to the butchering of his injuredrebels at New Ross. A barn containing over a hundreddefenseless loyalist prisoners, mainly Protestants, was setalight at Scullabogue. Harvey resigned his command.

NARRATOR ONEThe English later seized upon the atrocity at Scullabogue toassert the sectarian nature of the '98 uprising and tojustify their own prior atrocities. Bagenal Harvey'sresignation did not save him from being hanged on WexfordBridge and his severed head displayed in the town square.


MALE VOCALIST(music - begins - "The Rising of the Moon" - slowinstrumental)(poem)

"The streets of England were left quite naked Of all its army both foot and horse, The Highlands ofScotland were left unguarded, Likewise the Hessians, the seasthey crossed. But if the Frenchmen had reinforced us, Andlanded transports at Baginbun,Father John Murphy would be their seconderAnd sixteen thousand with him would come."


WOLFE TONEThe English were pouring troops into Ireland. Father Murphyand his Lieutenants knew that to avoid encirclement they mustbreak out of Wexford. They must join up with other areas. That is why New Ross was so important. It stood on the vitaljunction of the rivers Barrow and Nore and would have openedthe way to Kilkenny and the western counties.


NARRATOR TWOBut first they must secure the strategic coastal town ofArklow. On their way they thoroughly routed a force ofhighly trained British Fencibles at Tubberneering. On June9th 1798, Father Murphy's sixteen thousand men appeared onthe sandhills south of Arklow. General Needham had two fullweeks to prepare his defense.

NARRATOR ONESupported by artillery, the defending troops were stunned bythe determination of the attack.

NARRATOR TWONeedham's field-report to General Lake said "theirperseverance was surprising and their efforts to possessthemselves of the guns on my right were most daring,advancing even to the muzzles, where they fell in greatnumbers". The rebels failed to take the town.

(music - begins - "Boulavague")(music - ends)(lighting - fade to black)


SCENE 5

Vinegar Hill

NARRATOR ONEGeneral Lake arrived in County Wexford with the main Englishforce and set about encircling the rebels. Father Murphyknew that they must either split up and be slaughtered insmall groups or win a major pitched battle. He chose the 390foot high Vinegar Hill for his last brave stand.

NARRATOR TWONeedham, regrouping at Arklow, was still a day's march away. Murphy decided to entice early battle. Eagerly Lake obliged.


WOLFE TONEHelpless and alone, did the risen Catholic peasantry face thefull fury of England's hatred for a republican ideal that hadseduced the planter in many of us.


MALE VOCALIST(music - begins - "Boulavogue")(song - last verse "Boulavogue")

At Vinegar Hill o'er the pleasant Slaney,Our heroes vainly stood back-to-back; And the yeos at Tullowtook Father Murphy And burned his body upon the rack. Godgrant you glory, brave Father Murphy, And open heaven to all your men; For the Cause that called you may call tomorrow In another fight for the Green again.

(music - ends)

NARRATOR ONEThere are as many estimates of croppy casualties on VinegarHill as there are chroniclers, but one thing upon which theyall agree, the majority of the dead did not fall in battle. Anybody remaining on the hillside after General Lake'sdevastating cannonade, was finished off and buried where theylay. It was to be a warning to all Ireland.

NARRATOR TWOBut the cannon-churned hill was to become a planting-groundrather than a graveyard for Irish freedom. Tone's dream ofan independent Irish Republic would sprout again in Ireland,just as the wheat in the pockets of the croppies butchered onthat terrible day would sprout and spread its color of goldover the green landscape of Ireland.



FEMALE VOCALIST(poem - "Requiem for the Croppies by Seamus Heaney)

The pockets of our greatcoats full of barley No kitchens on the run, no striking camp We moved quick and sudden in our country.The priest lay behind ditches with the tramp.A people, hardly marching on the hike We found new tactics happening each day; We'd cut through reins and rider with the pike And stampede cattle into infantry.Then retreat through hedges where cavalry must be thrown.Until, on Vinegar Hill, the fatal conclave.Terraced thousands died, shaking scythes at cannon.The hillside blushed, soaked in our broken wave. They buriedus without shroud or coffin And in August the barley grew upout of the grave.


NARRATOR ONEThe 1798 rebels were not issued with rations. For sustenanceeach man carried raw wheat kernels stuffed in his pockets.

NARRATOR TWOThe following year the authorities were horrified to seeVinegar Hill and the fields of Wexford ablaze with goldenwheat, growing out of the shallow croppy graves.

NARRATOR ONEThe dead croppies fought for a new form of government, theloyalist militia fought to keep their privileged positionsunder the English crown. How different were their songs.


MALE VOCALIST(poem - verse 1 "Croppies lie Down")

We soldiers of Erin, so proud of the name, Will raise upon rebels and Frenchmen our fame; We'll fight to the last in the honest auld cause And guard our religion, our freedom and laws;We'll fight for our country, our king and his crown, And make all the traitors and croppies lie down.Down, down, croppies lie down ...

NARRATOR TWOIn the aftermath of rebellion, the fate of the ordinarypeasant was, in many ways, worse than that of the croppy inhis shallow grave.

NARRATOR ONEHundreds were sold into slavery to the King of Prussia.

(MORE)


NARRATOR ONE (Continued)The lucky ones were dispatched to Australia's Botany Baypenal colony. Some more were given the "privilege" ofserving on the lower decks of a British sail-of-the-line.

MALE VOCALIST(poem - verse 4 "Croppies lie Down")

Oh, croppies ye'd better be quiet and still, Ye shan't have your liberty, do what ye will; As long as salt water is formed in the deep, Our foot on the neck of the croppy we'll keep. Remember thesteel of Sir Phelim O'Neill Who slaughtered our fathers inCatholic zeal, And down, down, croppies lie down ...


NARRATOR TWOThus was born the fear of 1798, as the victorious Orange tookits revenge on the defeated Green.

NARRATOR ONEThose loyal to the English monarchy preferred to call 1798 asectarian war. They refused to concede that this "Catholiczeal", had anything to do with the ancient Gaelic innateunderstanding of what Thomas Paine called "The UniversalRights of Man"; or that the Protestant leaders of the UnitedIrishmen had heard the clear voice of Thomas Paine's "Reason"and "Common Sense". They refused to even consider that theBoys of Wexford simply wished to imitate the bright newsystem of inclusive government so recently and sosuccessfully, brought into existence in America.


MALE VOCALIST(music - begins - "The Boys of Wexford")(song - verse 1 "The Boys of Wexford")

In comes the captain's daughter, the captain of the yeos,Saying "brave United Irishmen, we'll ne'er again be foes; A thousand pounds I'll give you and fly from home with thee,I'll dress myself in man's attire and fight for Liberty!

(refrain)We are the boys of wexfordWho fought with heart and hand,To burst in twain the galling chain And free our native land.



ACT 3

Ulster, the French and the West

SCENE 1

Antrim and Down(lighting - up - Wolfe Tone)

WOLFE TONERobert Simms, in charge of the rebellion in the north, wasone of the five leaders who, with me, took the first UnitedIrishman's oath on that fateful day in May 1795. He knewthat Lord Edward lay mortally wounded. He also knew that Iwas not on the sea with another French fleet. He did notgive the order for Ulster to rise. He would not give theEnglish their localized, leaderless rebellion.

NARRATOR TWOBut hearing of successes in Wexford, a group of eager youngUnited Irishmen, under Henry Joy McCraken, took over fromSimms in the north.


MALE VOCALIST(music - begins - "Henry Joy")(song - verse 3 "Henry Joy")

I pulled my boat in from the sea, and hid my sails away, I strung my nets from under a tree, and scanned the moonlightbay; The boys were out- the redcoats too, I kissed my wifegoodbye, And there beneath that greenwood shade, I followed Henry Joy.


NARRATOR ONEOn the night of June 5th, ironically about the time BagenalHarvey was disengaging from New Ross 160 miles to the south,McCracken was mustering his forces at Donogore Hill, forattacks on surrounding towns, before marching on Belfast.

WOLFE TONEMy friend Henry Joy McCracken, that most stalwart of men,sent Samuel Orr to take Randalstown and Toome-bridge in orderto secure the rebels from a Derry attack. McCracken himselfled the main force on Antrim town.


NARRATOR TWOThe defending garrison were beginning to break when Britishreinforcements started to arrive from Belfast. McCracken'srebels turned to face them. Just as Sam Orr re-appeared onthe scene from the west, the relieving British captain felldead. His dragoons broke and ran. In full retreat, they ranright at the new arrivals. Orr's men mistook the wildretreat for a desperate charge. They too broke and ran.

NARRATOR ONEThe remainder of the relief column from Belfast arrived andprofessionally made short work of the confused rebels. Therising in the north was defeated before it ever got started. More than 300 lay dead on the field.

NARRATOR TWOSuspects, prisoners and wounded were despatched in the usualefficient manner of the British. One officer on burialdetail, wondered aloud "where the devil do these rascals comefrom?" A wounded rascal about to be buried alive, raised hisbloody head and replied to the officer's rhetorical question"I come fra' Ballyboley".

WOLFE TONEThe events in Antrim and Down paralleled those in Wexford andthe southeast. They too had their Molly Doyle, her name wasBetsy Gray. She was an uncommonly beautiful woman and rodeinto battle on a white horse carrying a green flag. On June12th 1798, she was in the front ranks of the Irish pikemen atWindmill Hill near Balinahinch, the place that became knownas the Vinegar Hill of the north.

NARRATOR ONEHenry Joy McCracken was captured near Carrickfergus. He knewhis fate and asked that no appeals be made on his behalf. Hewas taken to the Corn Market in Belfast and publicly executedless than one hundred yards from his home in Rosemary Lane.


MALE VOCALIST(music - begins - "Henry Joy")(song - last verse "Henry Joy")

In Belfast town they built a tree, and the redcoats musteredthere;I saw him come with beating drum sounding o'er the barracksquare; He kissed his sister, went aloft, and said a sad goodbye, And as he died, I turned and cried, "You have murdered HenryJoy".



WOLFE TONEHenry Joy was the best of us. He was the most idealistic ofus. He was the only one of the six who founded the UnitedIrishmen at Cave Hill in 1795, to took the field in 1798. Would that I could have been at his side. But he is gone andthe sectarianism we both sought to defeat is now morevirulent than ever. With English help, the Orange holds swayover the Green.

(lighting - down - Wolfe Tone)

NARRATOR TWOBritish sponsored terror now had a different purpose - todiscourage hitherto peaceful peasants from rising should areal French landing ever come.

NARRATOR ONEWhatever the British purpose, the Orange Order felt it theirpatriotic duty to enforce. They went about it with a will.

NARRATOR TWOWilliam Lecky, the 19th century historian and essayist,described such unbridled loyalist savagery on the rebelliousCatholic population, as belonging to "distant and darkerages, in which the first conditions of civilized society wereinapplicable".

NARRATOR ONEThis is where the Irish oral tradition is most noticeable. The obscure names of the thousands of Irish martyrs meantnothing to the triumphant loyalists. But the peopleremembered every one. In the Irish Bardic tradition, theirobscure Irish names were immortalized by Irish songwriters.

NARRATOR TWOOne such name is Roddy McCorley, a young County AntrimDefender.


MALE VOCALIST(music - begins -"Rody McCorley")(song - 1st & last verse "Roddy McCorley")

Ho! See the hosts of fleetfoot men Who speed with faces wan, From farmstead and from fisher's cot Upon the banks of Bann. They come with vengeance in theireyes;Too late, too late are they-For young Rody McCorley goes to die On the bridge of Toome today.

(last verse)Because he loved the Motherland,


Because he loved the Green,He goes to meet the martyr's fate With proud and joyous mein; True to the last, oh, true to the last, He treads the upward way; Young Roddy McCorley goes to die On the Bridge of Toome today.

(music - ends)

NARRATOR TWOTo the English his public execution on the shores of LoughNeagh was just one more "piece of bloody foam on the crest ofthe advancing tide of British civilization", but the Irishstill sing his name him today.



SCENE 2

The French at Killala(lighting - up - Wolfe Tone)

WOLFE TONEIf only I was as successful in convincing General NapoleonBonaparte to come to Ireland instead of Egypt, as I was inconvincing General Hoche to come to Bantry Bay, instead ofgoing to India, I may not be in this cell today.

NARRATOR ONEOn his deathbed in St. Helen's, Napoleon regretted thatyouthful decision. If instead of expending a large part ofthe French Army at the Pyramids of Egypt, he had deprived theEnglish of Ireland and surrounded them in 1798, would thereever have been a Waterloo in 1815?

WOLFE TONEI was almost beside myself with frustration when Bonapartesailed from Toulon on May 19th 1798. Ireland was now to be amere diversion. This astonishing young general, had decidedto found an empire in the east.

NARRATOR TWOThe English thought the danger had passed. Lord Cornwallis,who had surrendered a continent to George Washington atYorktown, was mopping up in Ireland.

WOLFE TONEThe "French Diversion" was to consist of three frigates,commanded by General Humbert. He would land 1,000 Frenchveterans and a few field-cannon on the northwest coast ofIreland, preferably near the port of Sligo. They wouldsecure a beachhead and distribute 6,000 muskets to the localinsurgents. A larger fleet of ten sail would quickly followwith 3,000 men and supplies. The main force, a further 7,000men, was to await encouraging news from Ireland.

(music - begins - "La Marseilles" - flute and drum)(music - ends)

NARRATOR ONEHumbert's 1,000 men sailed from La Rochelle on August 6th1798. They were accompanied by Matthew Tone and BartTeeling. To avoid the British blockade they sailed far outto sea and arrived off the northwest coast of Irelandundetected. Looking for a suitable place to land Humbertslipped into Killala Bay in County Mayo on August 22nd 1798.


NARRATOR TWOHe set up headquarters in the home of the Protestant Bishopof Killala. The house was known as "The Castle". Confinedwith his family to the upstairs, the Reverend Bishop, JosephStock, later complained bitterly that the French used up 26tons of his coal and set fire to his chimney twice.

WOLFE TONEHumbert's Killala was a far cry from Bonaparte's Pyramids ofEgypt, but French troops were finally on Irish soil and I wasgrateful for that much. Their presence re-lit the spark thathad died two and a half months earlier at Vinegar Hill andBallinahinch.

NARRATOR ONEThere is no word in the Irish language for a "republic", butthe Irish had been practicing such a form of government forthousands of years. They elected their kings. The peopleowned the land. The king was just as subject to the law asthe people were. It was a government of laws, not of men.

WOLFE TONEInstinctively the men of the west embraced Frenchrepublicanism.


MALE VOCALIST(music - begins - "The Men of the West")(song - verse 1 "The Men of the West")

When you honor in song and in story, the names of the patriotmen, Whose valor has covered with glory, full many a mountainand glen. Forget not the boys of the heather, who marshalledtheir bravest and best, When Ireland was broken in Wexfordand looked for revenge in the West. I give you the gallantold West boys, where rallied our bravest and best, WhenIreland lay broken and bleeding, Hurrah! for the men of theWest.

(music - ends)

WOLFE TONEOn the very first day a thousand Mayomen flocked to theFrench Tricolor and hundreds more joined every day. Withshouts of "Viva La Republique" and "Erin Go Bragh", theyrouted a much larger force of British regulars at what becameknown to history as "The Races of Castlebar" and declared"The Republic of Connacht".



SCENE 3

Ballinamuck

NARRATOR TWOGeneral Humbert had established his bridgehead, but wherewere the re-enforcements?


WOLFE TONEPacing the deck of the flagship "Hoche" at Brest, I and thenext wave of 3,000 men were confined to port by a Britishblockade. News was scant from my brother Matthew and Humbertin Ireland. I envied Napper Tandy who had managed to slipout of Dunkirk, and escaped the British pickets on thecorvette "Anacreon", loaded with supplies for Humbert.

NARRATOR ONENot only had the British effectively blockaded the Frenchcoast but they had moved 100,000 regular troops to Ireland. Uncertain of Bonaparte intentions, Ireland had becoming quitea "diversion" for the British authorities.

NARRATOR TWOHumbert, his three ships gone back to France for moresupplies, decided to break out of Mayo. He heard there wasan uprising in the midlands, he headed there. Along the wayhe learned the awesome strength of the army Cornwallis wasbringing against him. He also learned that rebellion waseffectively stamped out everywhere by this famous general whohad lost a continent and was not about to lose Ireland.

NARRATOR ONEHumbert and his stout-hearted Mayomen headed north throughCounties Sligo and Leitrim. They were finally cornered andoutnumbered ten-to-one at Ballinamuck in County Longford. The stories of personal bravery and sheer heroism on thatSaturday, September 8th 1798, survive to this day.

NARRATOR TWOAfter the French surrendered the Irish fought on. They ranout of shot for their single remaining French cannon. Theyloaded it with nails, spikes, stones, whatever they couldfind. A British cannonball had wrecked the undercarriage. Two strong Mayomen bent over and supported it on their backs. When it fired their backs were broken.


MALE VOCALIST(music - begins - "The Men of the West")(song - last verse "The Men of the West")


Though all the bright dreamings we cherished, went down indisaster and woe, The spirit of old is still with us, that never would bend tothe foe; And Connaught is ready whenever, the loud rolling tuck of thedrumRings out to awaken the echoes, and tell us the morning hascome.



SCENE 4

The long Reign of Terror

NARRATOR ONE(music - begins - "Southwind" solo guitar)

Such stories were told in whispers at Irish firesides duringthe long night that endured for over a century and a quarterof direct British rule known as The Union. Hope rose brieflywhen the clear voice of Daniel O'Connell won CatholicEmancipation in 1828 only to disappear again when willfulBritish neglect caused the Great Famine of 1845 to 1849.

NARRATOR TWOThe Reign of Terror that followed Ballinamuck was familiar. England would make sure that all memory of this "Year ofLiberty" would disappear into the unmarked graves of thoseIrish fools who had thought that England would allow anAmerican-style Republic to flourish on its other island.

NARRATOR ONEFor weeks the Irish rebels were hunted down for sport. TheEnglish repatriated the French soldiers. Humbert wastransferred to French America and settled in New Orleans. After the Louisiana Purchase, he stayed on and commanded anAmerican regiment against the British at the Battle of NewOrleans in 1812. The defeated and slain British Commanderwas the same English officer to whom Humbert had surrenderedhis sword at Ballinamuck - General Pakenham from CountyLongford.



SCENE 5

Tone upon the sea(lighting - up - Wolfe Tone)

WOLFE TONEWhen on September 16th 1798, our nine ships with 3,000seasoned French troops, finally broke out into the open seafrom Brest, we did not know that Humbert had surrendered sixdays earlier. We were in high spirits. The last reportswere of victories at Ballina and Castlebar and that Humbertwas moving on Sligo, the Irish port to where we were bound.

NARRATOR TWOKnowing the French were out and that Tone was aboard, theBritish launched a powerful flotilla from Portsmouth onSeptember 24th.

WOLFE TONEWe were intercepted off the Donegal coast by a formidableBritish squadron. Hopelessly outgunned, Commodore Bompardordered the smaller troop-carrying ships away. His flagshipwould engage the British to cover their flight.

NARRATOR ONEAs the fast British ships bore down on the heavy "Hoche", theFrench naval officers pleaded with Tone to escape on one ofthe fleet French schooners. He declined.

WOLFE TONEI was a French officer. Besides, would it be said that Ifled whilst the French were fighting the battles of mycountry?

NARRATOR TWOFor six hours, while the Hoche sustained terrible punishment,Tone commanded one of the batteries. He impressed even thehardest French officers. The ship's masts and rigging wereblown away, her sails hung in shreds, blood washed the decks.

NARRATOR ONEFinally, holed below the waterline, Bompard struck his flag.



SCENE 6

Tone's End(lighting - up - Wolfe Tone)

NARRATOR TWO(music - begins - "Boulavogue" - lament)

Tone, wearing a uniform of the French Republic he had solately served with distinction, was taken to Dublin inchains. He was tried and sentenced to death.

NARRATOR ONEHe asked for a soldiers death, a firing squad. He wasrefused.

WOLFE TONEI have sacrificed all my views in life, I have courtedpoverty, I have left a beloved wife unprotected and childrenwhom I adore, fatherless. After such sacrifices in a causeof Justice and Freedom, it is no great effort at this date toadd the sacrifice of my life.

(music - ends)(lighting - down - Wolfe Tone)

NARRATOR TWO(music - begins - "Bodenstown Churchyard")

Determined to prevent the English from defiling his body withtheir rope, Wolfe Tone cut his throat and died a week later. Thirty-five years old, the father of Irish republicanism wasburied at Bodenstown in Co. Kildare.


NARRATOR ONEThe golden wheat has never died. You hold it in your handstonight. Tone's dream of Liberty and Justice for all, byuniting Protestant, Catholic and Dissenter - will never die. Tone's dream - the substitution of the common name ofIrishman, for Protestant, Catholic and Dissenter, and the menwho died for it - will never be forgotten.

(music - begins - "Who Fears to Speak of '98")(lighting - stage lights)(lineup)(music - ends)(House lights)

End


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