Carnew executions
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The Society of United Irishmen having failed to advance its aims of Catholic emancipation and parliamentary reform by political means, instigated a rebellion against British rule in Ireland. The rebellion took place in May 1798, but the only significant uprisings outside of the province of Ulster occurred in counties Wicklow and Wexford, both south of County Dublin. The rebels were met with a swift response from the Dublin Castle administration and the bulk of the rebellion was suppressed within a year.
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Executions
By the morning of the 25 May, news of the long-expected outbreak of the 1798 rebellion in neighbouring County Kildare and of military losses in the battles of Ballymore-Eustace, Naas, and Prosperous had reached the garrison in Carnew, who decided to take preventative measures by assembling the rebel suspects in detention. The suspects were marched from Carnew Castle to the local handball alley and executed by firing squad (consisting of yeomanry soldiers) as a warning to the local populace.