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Ireland 1778–1803

The American War and the rise of the Volunteers

  • 3 things to know
  • A2 Unit 2

Overview

The effect of the American war on Irish opinion, the formation and composition of the Volunteers and the Dungannon convention.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

Why was sympathy for America especially strong among Ulster Presbyterians?

Key term

Why did the American colonists' case appeal to Irish Patriots?

Numbers

Why was Ireland left militarily exposed in 1778?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Why did the American colonists' case appeal to Irish Patriots?

    Model answer

    The colonists complained of being taxed and legislated for by a parliament in which they had no representation. Irish Patriots made exactly that objection to the British Parliament's claim to bind Ireland.

  2. 2

    Why was sympathy for America especially strong among Ulster Presbyterians?

    Model answer

    Ulster Presbyterians had emigrated to the American colonies in very large numbers, so many families had relatives fighting there, and Presbyterians at home resented their own exclusion from full civil rights.

  3. 3

    How did the war damage Irish trade?

    Model answer

    The loss of the American market and the embargo of 1776 on Irish provisions exports cut away much of the provision trade and helped produce a severe commercial depression by 1778.

  4. 4

    Why was Ireland left militarily exposed in 1778?

    Model answer

    Most of the regular army in Ireland had been drawn off for service in America, and when France entered the war in 1778 the coasts were left almost undefended.

  5. 5

    Why did the government not simply raise a militia in 1778?

    Model answer

    The Irish administration had neither the money nor the parliamentary authority to embody a militia, so local defence was left to associations that the gentry raised and paid for themselves.

  6. 6

    What were the Volunteers?

    Model answer

    The Volunteers were armed and uniformed corps raised locally from 1778, funded and officered by the gentry and the urban middle classes, to defend Ireland against French or Spanish invasion.

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