Test of the Society of United Irishmen

rdf:langString Test of the Society of United Irishmen

rdf:langString The test was a pledge taken by members of a democratic political society in the Kingdom of Ireland, the United Irishmen, who in 1798 organised a republican insurrection. The original Test taken by members of the Society of United Irishmen was written by the physician William Drennan. Approved at the first meeting of the Dublin society in November 1791, it read: I, - AB in the presence of God, do pledge myself to my country, that I will use all my abilities and influence in the attainment of an impartial and adequate representation of the Irish nation in parliament: and as a means of absolute and immediate necessity in accomplishing this chief good of Ireland, I shall do whatever lies in my power to forward a brotherhood of affection, an identity of interests, a communion of rights, and a union of power among Irishmen of every religious persuasion, without which every reform must be partial, not national, inadequate to the wants, delusive to the wishes, and insufficient for the freedom and happiness of this country. At the meeting, Theobald Wolfe Tone and Thomas Russell objected that the wording was too vague, and that the pledge might dissuade potential members. Although Tone and Russell were prime movers in the formation of the society, and were later joined in their opinion of the test by Whitely Stokes, their reservations were overruled by the broader membership. Less elaborate, local variants of the test were administered. As recollected in his own words, in Templepatrick, County Antrim, James Burns took the following oath: I, James Burns, do voluntarily declare that I will persevere and endeavour to form a Brotherhood of affection amongst Irishmen of every religious persuasion. I do further declare that I will persevere and endeavour for a Parliamentary Reform, and for an equal representation of all the people in Ireland. As government repression increased following the French declaration of war on Britain in February 1793, and as a move, beginning in Belfast, was made toward a more militant, potentially insurrectionary, organisation, the test was revised. Delegates from seventy-two societies meeting in Belfast on 10 May 1795 approved amendments to Drennan's original test inserting the words "full representation of the people" and omitting reference to the Irish parliament. Emphasis was also placed on the need for secrecy. The test, or oath as it was now commonly referred to, now read: In the awful presence of God, I, [name], do voluntarily declare, that I will persevere in endeavouring to form a brotherhood of affection among Irishmen of every religious persuasion, and that I will also persevere in my endeavours to obtain an equal, full and adequate representation of all the people of Ireland. I do further declare, that neither hopes, fears, rewards or punishments shall ever induce me, directly or indirectly, to inform on or give evidence against any member or members of this or similar societies, for any act or expression of theirs, done or made, collectively or individually, in or out of this society, in pursuance of the spirit of this obligation. In the words of William James MacNeven (McNevin) who had taken the oath in Dublin from Mary Moore, "the substance was so altered as to correspond with the progress of opinion, embracing both republicans and reformers". Under the Insurrection Act of 1796 any person convicted of administering the test was to "suffer death without benefit of clergy" and anybody taking the oath was to be "transported for life". An early and celebrated victim of the Act was William Orr who, in October 1797 was hanged in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, for administering the United Irish test to a soldier.