1795 RARE IRISH-AMERICANA. The Book that Connects the American Revolution to the Irish Rebellion.

Here is a rare one. By descent through the Kern family, we have the single most important published document linking the activities of the American Revolutionary War participants to interest in supporting and sustaining the Irish in their similar battle for liberty, ultimately resulting in the Irish Rebellion of 1798. 

During the early part of the 1790's a group of influential Irishmen, think The Sons of Liberty but with Irish accents, began an organization called The Society of United Irishmen. It was a secret organization, requiring an oath, an allegiance first and foremost to achieving liberty [both political and religious] from England.  By 1794, they had significantly radicalized and had also begun to swear the overthrow of the government.

It was "united" because dissenters, largely Presbyterians, worked together with Catholics regardless of religious differences. It was an uneasy alliance at times, but sustained through the Rebellion.

One of the main agitators of the group was Wolfe Tone, now regarded as the father of Irish Republicanism. The United Irishman were raided, many arrested, and their papers seized in 1793 and 1794. By May of 1795, Tone had emigrated to America under a pretense of stepping away from the movement. In reality, he was meeting with leaders of the American Revolution, including George Washington, gathering ideas, strategies, planning, and raising support. So concrete was this plan, that the present volume was printed by Thomas Stephens in Philadelphia in March of 1795, two months before Tone's arrival, and distributed among sympathizers of Ireland, liberty in general, or the American Revolution so they would understand in advance the status of the Irish situation and the work that had already been done.

The volume was printed by Thomas Stephens, influential Philadelphia publisher and supporter of the Irish cause. He dedicated the publication to Pierce Butler who had been an officer in the American Revolution, was a member of the Congress of the Confederation, a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, and signed the United States Constitution. He was also from an esteemed Irish family, and participating in the American Revolution had cost him a vast estate at home. Butler seems to have been a financier and support to the Society of United Irishmen with his newfound wealth farming rice in South Carolina. As an irony, he was the largest slave holder in the state. We people are nothing if inconsistent, aren't we?

The volume then contains a chronological imprint of all the important documents, speeches, etc., of the Society for the American audience. It includes the Society's origination documents, their oaths, addresses, speeches, and more by important figures in the Irish Rebellion, like Simon Butler, James Napper Tandy, Archibald Hamilton Rowan, Theo. Wolfe Tone, Thomas Wright, Willam Drennan, Thomas Braughal, Simon McGuire, John Bourke, and more. You can feel the growing intensity. It starts as resistance, and chronologically grows more impatient and more ready to call for armed resistance and rebellion. Absolutely fascinating and very scarce on the market. Only a single, defective copy has popped on the market in the last 20 years or so that we can trace. 

Tone, Theo. Wolfe, etc. Proceedings of the Society of United Irishmen, of Dublin. Philadelphia. Printed for Thomas Stephens No. 57, South Second-Street, by Jacob Johnson, & Co. 1795. 241pp.

Good + condition in original quarter calf and marbled boards, light losses to contrasting morocco label, rubbed at extremities. Very sound and attractive. Probably lacking a blank ffep. Contents generally very good with some light foxing, a bit moreso at prelims and rears, a closed short tear at p.9, and a corner absent on the final leaf of text just impacting a few letters [as shown.