Portrait of Robert Emmet
Full portrait of Robert Emmet, which currently hangs in Leinster House.
Portrait of Robert Emmet
Portrait of Robert Emmet
Full portrait of Robert Emmet, which currently hangs in Leinster House.
Robert Emmet was arrested on the 25th of August 1803. In late August, proceedings took place against many of his colleagues in the insurgency, most of whom were executed. Emmet was brought to Green Street courthouse on the 19th of September, where his trial began. The evidence that he had led the insurgency was overwhelming, and he did not put up a strong defence. Instead, he chose to use the courtroom to voice his republican ideas.
After twelve hours of an intense trial, during which he was fully aware that he would almost certainly face the death penalty at the end, Emmet gave a brilliant speech from the dock that became legendary. The most famous part of Emmet's speech is its final sentence:
'When my country takes her place among the nations of the earth, then, and not till then, let my epitaph be written.'
At the end of the day's proceedings, Judge Norbury handed down the death sentence. Emmet spent his last night in the company of clergymen, producing an account of the insurrection for his brother Thomas Addis Emmet and writing final letters to family and friends. He was hanged and then beheaded in front of St. Catherine's Church on Thomas Street the following day.
'When my country takes her place among the nations of the earth, then, and not till then, let my epitaph be written.'
At the end of the day's proceedings, Judge Norbury handed down the death sentence. Emmet spent his last night in the company of clergymen, producing an account of the insurrection for his brother Thomas Addis Emmet and writing final letters to family and friends. He was hanged and then beheaded in front of St. Catherine's Church on Thomas Street the following day.
After Emmet's death, the United Irishmen went into a gradual decline. However, the legacy of the 1798 Rebellion and Emmet's insurrection remained important for Irish republicanism. The ideals of the United Irishmen were revived later, with the founding of the Young Ireland movement in the 1840s.