Robert Emmet


Emmet, Robert

 

Born 1778 in Dublin; died there Sept. 20, 1803. Figure in the Irish national movement.

In 1798, Emmet joined the United Irishmen, among whose leaders was his brother, Thomas Emmet. He shared the revolutionary democratic ideas of the society’s left wing. He spent the years between 1799 and 1802 in France. Emmet opposed the Act of Union of 1801 and favored the creation of an independent Irish republic. Upon returning to his homeland in 1802, he began planning for an armed insurrection. However, his attempt in July 1803 to raise a rebellion ended in failure, and Emmet was executed.