The Society of United Irishmen was founded in 1791 by Wolfe Tone, Thomas Russell and a group of Belfast Presbyterians. It started as a debating society to exchange ideas, but soon became a revolutionary group. The United Irishmen believed that religion was used by those in power to divide Irish people when they should be united. They believed people of all religious beliefs should have a say in how the country was run.
The United Irishmen were banned by the authorities in 1793 because their ideas were becoming popular. After this, some United Irishmen wished to have a rising immediately and others wished to wait for help from the French. The British Government tried to get rid of the United Irishmen by the use of terror after a French fleet of ships tried to land at Cork. The French were not able to land because of bad weather. When the 1798 Rebellion took place, most of the United Irishmen's leaders had already been arrested. Although some French troops eventually landed, the rebellion was defeated. Wolfe Tone was arrested in October of 1798 and died in captivity.
The United Irishmen collapsed after Robert Emmet's rebellion in 1803. Their ideals about unity between Catholics and Protestants also disappeared until the founding of the Young Ireland movement in the 1840s.