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| Lord Edward Fitzgerald. |
Ireland
trembled on the brink of rebellion in the spring of 1798. The United Irishmen
had resolved to fight or die for independence. But
careless talk cost lives. James Tandy, son of the
famous United Irish leader Napper Tandy, was a terrible blabber-mouth. Little
did he realize that whenever he discussed his father’s movements, the
information was relayed straight to Dublin Castle by the spy Leonard McNally.
It was difficult for the Castle’s spies to
infiltrate the United Irishmen from top to bottom because of the localized and
secretive nature of the organization, parts of which are still obscure today.However,
the United Irish leaders were watched by (amongst others), Samuel Turner and
Thomas Reynolds. Turner was deep in the rebels’ counsels and they trusted him completely.
Samuel was friends with Lord Edward Fitzgerald and his wife Pamela.
Reynolds was a relative of the Duke of Leinster, the brother of Lord Edward Fitzgerald, and was also related to Wolfe Tone by marriage (he and Tone had married two sisters). A tip-off from Reynolds led to the arrest of 14 top United Irishmen in March 1798.
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| Thomas Reynolds. |
The
arrest of the secret committee mortally wounded the United Irishmen’s
organization. Lord Edward Fitzgerald was now their de facto leader, aided by an
attorney, John Sheares. But Fitzgerald was a weak leader, despite his personal
charm – and little did he realise that his ‘friend’ Samuel Turner betrayed his
every move.
Two more spies who played a crucial role were Francis Higgins, a newspaper editor, and Francis Magan (code-name ‘M.’). Higgins recruited Magan, a Catholic barrister who was down on his luck, to spy on Fitzgerald, who was now a marked man - a reward of £1,000 had been offered for his head…
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