I have been asked by Michael Purcell of County Carlow in Ireland to post this information to the Irish-American list. This is the 1st part. the following is the Introduction to the Oath Introduction by Michael Purcell of Carlow, Ireland to List of able bodied men from 1798 Bunbury documents extracted from the Pat Purcell Papers, 2nd February 2007. In 1797 the British Administration in Ireland made a concentrated effort to break up the "illegal, seditious and evil-disposed organisation known as the United Irishmen". The previous year ( 1796) two bills were passed in Parliament "The Indemnity Bill" and "The Insurrection Act" which increased the powers of the local magistrates. Also in 1796 power was given to arrest suspected persons and to imprison them for an unlimited period without charge. Under the Insurrection Act the lord lieutenant, Lord Camden, was empowered to proclaim any county to be "in a state of disturbance". In May 1797 the country was placed under Martial Law and parts of Leinster , including Carlow, were proclaimed as being in a disturbed state. The magistrates now had power to order searches, torture, curfew and to sentence "idle and disorderly persons" to serve in the fleet. Information was sought on illegal assemblies, literature, posters, arms and strangers seen in any area were to be reported. In Carlow the magistrates decided to administer an Oath of Allegiance to King George the Third, as "a Test" under an Act which had been passed in 1774 . The original Oath of nearly 400 words was tailored down by Carlow magistrate, Benjamin Bunbury , to a mere 27 words in the document displayed and transcribed below. The writing is in the hand of Benjamin Bunbury who travelled about the county from the 21st November to the 27th November 1797 to collect the "marks" and signatures of 97 "able bodied" men in an attempt to commit them under sacred Oath to be loyal to King George the Third and the Laws of his Kingdom. Most of the men recorded on the List claimed to be unable to write, ( although this may have been a ploy with the same reasoning that de Valera adopted 130 years later when in 1927 he declared the Oath of Allegiance to King George the Fifth an "empty political formula" because he refused to read the Oath before he signed ?) ( my own personal hunch !) one way or the other many of those who did subscribe to Bunbury's List were , we can be sure, already sworn members of the United Irishmen . It was said that many took the Oath to the United Irishman with one hand and the "oath" to the King with the other !. they became known as "The Duplicators" but the reality for many of them was that their true loyalty was to the United Irishmen. We know this because out of over twelve hundred names listed many of those named died during or were executed or deported following the Rising of 1798. We can see from the Lists that Bunbury called to various farmers on successive days and it appears that the farmer lined up the men to take the Oath . Many would have been coerced into signing, besides under the recently passed Acts of Parliament if they refused they could be arrested and imprisoned without trial . The zealous Magistrate Bunbury collected over 400 names altogether between 21st. November and 29th December 1797. ( On 16th December 1797 a French Fleet with 15,000 troops sailed for Ireland but due to bad weather the mission was abandoned ). I hope to publish more of the Lists in the future , they are an excellent census subtitute for researchers and a tangible reminder of "distrubed" times in Ireland. -- Pat Connors, Sacramento CA http://www.connorsgenealogy.com

Pat: Where can I find the "list" referred to in your e-mail? Roger Hatton ----- Original Message ----- From: "Pat Connors" <[email protected]> To: "IRISH-AMERICAN" <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2007 10:08 AM Subject: [IRISH-AMER] Oath and List of Disturbed Duplicators from 1797,part 1 >I have been asked by Michael Purcell of County Carlow in Ireland to post > this information to the Irish-American list. This is the 1st part. > > the following is the Introduction to the Oath > Introduction by Michael Purcell of Carlow, Ireland to List of able > bodied men from 1798 > Bunbury documents extracted from the Pat Purcell Papers, 2nd February > 2007. > > In 1797 the British Administration in Ireland made a concentrated effort > to break up the "illegal, seditious and evil-disposed organisation known > as the United Irishmen". The previous year ( 1796) two bills were passed > in Parliament "The Indemnity Bill" and "The Insurrection Act" which > increased the powers of the local magistrates. Also in 1796 power was > given to arrest suspected persons and to imprison them for an unlimited > period without charge. Under the Insurrection Act the lord lieutenant, > Lord Camden, was empowered to proclaim any county to be "in a state of > disturbance". In May 1797 the country was placed under Martial Law and > parts of Leinster , including Carlow, were proclaimed as being in a > disturbed state. The magistrates now had power to order searches, > torture, curfew and to sentence "idle and disorderly persons" to serve > in the fleet. Information was sought on illegal assemblies, literature, > posters, arms and strangers seen in any area were to be reported. > In Carlow the magistrates decided to administer an Oath of Allegiance > to King George the Third, as "a Test" under an Act which had been > passed in 1774 . The original Oath of nearly 400 words was tailored > down by Carlow magistrate, Benjamin Bunbury , to a mere 27 words in the > document displayed and transcribed below. The writing is in the hand of > Benjamin Bunbury who travelled about the county from the 21st November > to the 27th November 1797 to collect the "marks" and signatures of 97 > "able bodied" men in an attempt to commit them under sacred Oath to be > loyal to King George the Third and the Laws of his Kingdom. > Most of the men recorded on the List claimed to be unable to write, ( > although this may have been a ploy with the same reasoning that de > Valera adopted 130 years later when in 1927 he declared the Oath of > Allegiance to King George the Fifth an "empty political formula" > because he refused to read the Oath before he signed ?) ( my own > personal hunch !) one way or the other many of those who did subscribe > to Bunbury's List were , we can be sure, already sworn members of the > United Irishmen . It was said that many took the Oath to the United > Irishman with one hand and the "oath" to the King with the other !. they > became known as "The Duplicators" but the reality for many of them was > that their true loyalty was to the United Irishmen. We know this > because out of over twelve hundred names listed many of those named > died during or were executed or deported following the Rising of 1798. > We can see from the Lists that Bunbury called to various farmers > on successive days and it appears that the farmer lined up the men to > take the Oath . Many would have been coerced into signing, > besides under the recently passed Acts of Parliament if they refused > they could be arrested and imprisoned without trial . The zealous > Magistrate Bunbury collected over 400 names altogether between 21st. > November and 29th December 1797. ( On 16th December 1797 a French Fleet > with 15,000 troops sailed for Ireland but due to bad weather the mission > was abandoned ). I hope to publish more of the Lists in the future , > they are an excellent census subtitute for researchers and a tangible > reminder of "distrubed" times in Ireland. > > -- > Pat Connors, Sacramento CA > http://www.connorsgenealogy.com > > > ====Irish American Mailing List===== > Add/check your surname to the Irish-American mailing list Surname Registry > at: http://www.connorsgenealogy.com/IrishAmerican/ > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >