On 4 November 1779, approximately 1,000 Irish Volunteers paraded on College Green with cannon bearing placards reading 'Free Trade or Else!' -- forcing Britain to lift Irish trade restrictions. A dramatic expression of American-inspired political pressure.
In 1779, a thousand Irish Volunteers paraded here with cannon bearing the sign 'Free Trade or Else' — the American example was already inspiring Irish demands. Walk across College Green to the Parliament.
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Directions to next stop
- Head east on Cork Hill, R137
- Turn right onto South Great George's Street, R114
- Turn left onto Aungier Place
- Turn right onto Mercer Street
- Turn left onto Cuffe Street, R110
- Turn right
- ... and 1 more steps
Distance: 2.0 km
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Drive: 6 min
Bronze memorial to Theobald Wolfe Tone, founder of the United Irishmen and the most important figure connecting the American Revolution to Irish republicanism. Directly inspired by Paine and the American example, Tone co-founded the Society of United Irishmen in 1791 and helped organise the 1798 Irish Rebellion -- the most significant armed uprising inspired by the American Revolution in the British Isles.
Walk south to St Stephen's Green, where the bronze memorial to Wolfe Tone stands among granite monoliths. Tone co-founded the United Irishmen in 1791, directly inspired by Paine and the American Revolution. The 1798 Rebellion he helped organise was the most significant armed uprising inspired by American independence in the British Isles. Continue to the Irish Parliament.
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Directions to next stop
- Head southwest
- Turn right onto St. Stephen's Green, R138
- Keep left onto St. Stephen's Green
- Turn right onto Mercer Street
- Turn left onto Noel Purcell Walk
- Turn right onto Digges Lane
- ... and 5 more steps
Distance: 1.4 km
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Drive: 4 min
Seat of the Irish Parliament which debated trade restrictions caused by the American war, passed resolutions demanding free trade, and was the forum for Henry Grattan's patriot movement that won legislative independence in 1782 — directly inspired by America's example.
Ireland's Parliament exploited Britain's wartime weakness to win legislative independence in 1782. Continue north to Charlemont House, home of the Volunteer commander-in-chief.
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Directions to next stop
- Head south on College Green, R137
- Turn right onto College Green, R137
- Turn right onto Eustace Street
- Turn left onto Wellington Quay, R148
- Turn right onto O'Donovan Rossa Bridge
- Turn right onto Inns Quay, R148
- ... and 5 more steps
Distance: 2.6 km
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Drive: 8 min
Home of James Caulfeild, 1st Earl of Charlemont, commander-in-chief of the Irish Volunteers formed in 1778 when British troops were withdrawn for the American war. The 'Volunteer Earl' leveraged the crisis to win Irish legislative independence.
Lord Charlemont, an unlikely radical — an aristocrat inspired by Enlightenment ideals — led the Volunteer movement from this elegant townhouse. Tomorrow, drive south through Wexford to Cork.
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Bronze statue commemorating Commodore John Barry, the "Father of the American Navy," born at Ballysampson, Tacumshane, County Wexford. Barry captured the first British vessel of the war in 1776 and received the first commission in the new US Navy from President Washington in 1797. The statue at Crescent Quay was a gift from the United States, delivered by the USS John R. Pierce and unveiled in 1956.
The bronze statue on Crescent Quay honours Commodore John Barry, born nearby at Tacumshane — the Catholic tenant farmer's son who became 'Father of the American Navy.' Barry captured the first British vessel of the war in 1776 and received the first commission in the new US Navy from Washington himself. Each year the Irish Naval Service holds a Barry Day ceremony here. Continue south to Cork.
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Island fortified from 1779 to protect Cork Harbour, Britain's primary provisioning hub for forces in America. At one point 400+ vessels assembled here for transatlantic convoys.
Spike Island was fortified from 1779 to protect Cork Harbour, Britain's vital provisioning hub. Take the ferry back and drive around the harbour to Cobh.
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Major provisioning and embarkation port for British forces; Cork supplied vast quantities of salted beef, pork, and butter to the army in America, and troop transports assembled in the harbour before Atlantic crossings.
From Cork Harbour, fleets sailed with beef, butter, and soldiers for the American war. Visit the Butter Exchange to see the scale of this provisions trade.
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Centre of Cork's provisions trade that supplied beef, pork, and butter to British forces in America. Cork was described as the 'ultimate base of the army in America' and the annual Cork Fleet was the British forces' lifeline.
Cork's butter and beef fed the British army in America — a trade that enriched the city even as it fuelled a war many Irish sympathised with. Tomorrow, drive north to Ulster.
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Ancestral seat of the Caulfeild family, whose scion the 1st Earl of Charlemont founded and commanded the Irish Volunteers during the American war. The Earl's Volunteer regiment mustered in association with this family seat.
Charlemont Fort guarded a strategic crossing of the Blackwater and housed a garrison depleted by the American war — the very weakness that emboldened the Volunteers. Drive east to Dungannon, where the Volunteers made their boldest political declaration.
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Ancestral seat of the Caulfeild family, whose scion the 1st Earl of Charlemont founded and commanded the Irish Volunteers during the American war. The Earl's Volunteer regiment mustered in association with this family seat.
Charlemont Fort guarded a strategic crossing of the Blackwater and housed a garrison depleted by the American war — the very weakness that emboldened the Volunteers. Drive east to Dungannon, where the Volunteers made their boldest political declaration.
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On 15 February 1782, delegates from 140+ Volunteer companies assembled here and declared Ireland's right to legislative independence -- directly inspired by American revolutionary principles. Led to Grattan's Parliament.
In February 1782, delegates from 140 Volunteer companies declared that only the Irish Parliament had the right to legislate for Ireland — constitutional reform within the Empire, not separation, but directly echoing the American example. Continue north to Coleraine.
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Birthplace of Charles Thomson, Secretary of the Continental Congress for its entire fifteen-year existence and the man who engrossed the Declaration of Independence for the formal signing. Born in the townland of Gorteade near Maghera to an Ulster-Scots Presbyterian linen bleacher, Thomson emigrated as an orphan after his father died during the Atlantic crossing. He co-designed the Great Seal of the United States and chose its three Latin mottos.
Charles Thomson was born in the townland of Gorteade near here in 1729 — the orphaned son of a linen bleacher whose father died crossing the Atlantic. Thomson became Secretary of the Continental Congress, a post he held for its entire fifteen-year existence, and it was his handwriting that engrossed the Declaration of Independence for the signing. The Maghera Heritage Centre has exhibits on Thomson's life, and the Seamus Heaney HomePlace in nearby Bellaghy hosts 250th anniversary programming.
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Birthplace of Hercules Mulligan, George Washington's personal spy during the British occupation of New York. His intelligence saved Washington's life on at least two occasions. He mentored Alexander Hamilton.
Hercules Mulligan was born here before emigrating to New York, where his espionage reportedly saved Washington's life twice — making Coleraine a direct personal link between Ireland and the American cause. Tomorrow, drive east to Belfast, centre of radical Presbyterian politics.
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Belfast was a centre of the Irish Volunteer movement formed in 1778 when British troops were withdrawn to fight in America; the city's Presbyterian radicals openly sympathised with the American cause and paraded in the streets.
Belfast's Volunteers were among the most radical in Ireland, inspired by American ideals of liberty and self-governance. Walk into the city centre to Rosemary Street.
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Belfast's oldest surviving church (present building 1783), intellectual centre of pro-American sympathy. The Belfast First Volunteer Company (formed 1778) drew heavily from this dissenting Presbyterian community.
This Presbyterian church was an intellectual hub for pro-American sentiment in Ulster. End the tour at Carrickfergus Castle, where John Paul Jones struck the coast.
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John Paul Jones's ship Ranger engaged HMS Drake in Belfast Lough near Carrickfergus on April 24, 1778, capturing the British vessel. This was one of the first major American naval victories in European waters.
Jones's ship Ranger defeated HMS Drake in Belfast Lough near this castle in 1778 — a dramatic conclusion to a tour showing how the American Revolution reshaped Irish politics and identity.
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