A Life of Thomas Russell, 1767-1803: A Soul on Fire

Thomas Russell, the United Irishman and close friend of Wolfe Tone, had an eventful and varied life. He fought in India, was a journalist with the radical Northern Star, librarian with the Linen Hall Library, and an important radical political activist of the 1790s. He played a key role in the founding of the United Irishmen, and in transforming the constitutional society into a revolutionary conspiracy. He is accepted as the most socially radical of all the United Irish leaders and was a fervent opponent of the slave trade and industrial exploitation. He was seen by the government as perhaps the most dangerous of the United Irishmen, and as a result he spent six years in prison without a trial. He emerged from prison in 1802 still intent on revolt, and is unique in being the only founder of the United Irishmen to participate in the society’s last stand - the Emmet revolt of 1803. To assist Emmet’s efforts in Dublin, he attempted to raise Ulster, but failed and was hanged in Downpatrick.