The Belfast Jacobin (Samuel Neilson and the United Irishmen)

The Belfast Jacobin is the first-ever biography of Samuel Neilson, a founding member of the Society of United Irishmen whose profound influence on the radical movement altered the course of Irish history. Samuel Neilson joined Wolfe Tone, Thomas Russell, and Napper Tandy at the inaugural meeting of the United Irishmen in Belfast in 1791, forming a radical front whose sole purpose was to overthrow the British establishment in Ireland. Neilson, as editor of the Northern Star, was the principal proponent in shaping the United Irishmen's ideology before it was brutally suppressed by the British; he brought the international outcry caused by the French Revolution into Irish focus, attracting unprecedented levels of popularity - putting public dissatisfaction into words and gathering the forces necessary for revolt. Kenneth Dawson reveals Neilson's formidable strength as an organizer of radical politics, his incessant run-ins with law and order, and his central role in the Irish Rebellion of 1798. Samuel Neilson brought talk of revolution to the street - The Belfast Jacobin is a pivotal history that illuminates the true import of his deeds and writing, sorely obscured in all accounts of the 1798 Rebellion, until now. [Subject: Biography, Irish Studies, History, United Irishmen]