moft of them. Twenty-eight dragoons joined the captain and took poft in his houfe, which was attacked for near two hours by a large body of rebels, whom they at length repulfed, after having killed a number of them.

In the mean time, the rebels fet fire to several houfes in which the foldiers were quartered; and, affifted by the owners, who treacheroufly fecreted their arms, murdered feven dragoons and four of the Tyrone militia, and defperately wounded three of the former, and two of the latter.

At length, captain Beevor fallied out with twelve dragoons, and routed them in every direction. Lieutenant Mc. Farland, of the Tyrone militia, a most excellent officer, was fhot through the body and died.

They entered the houfe of Mr. Henderson, a revenue officer and a proteftant, and hot him in his bed.

Next morning they took a rebel prifoner, who gave the following information, as to their number and their mode of attack: The foldiers were quar tered in eight different houfes, each of which was to be attacked at the fame moment, by the fignal of a gun fired in the church-yard. The number of the affailants was eight hundred. They loft three captains, and near one hundred men. Captain Beevor's fervant was shot in his bed, He, lieutenant Patrickfon, cornet Maxwell, and all the privates of the dragoons and the militia, difplayed fingular spirit and intrepidity against so great a fuperiority of numbers. *

INSURRECTION AT KILDARE. †

For fome days previous to the twenty-third of May, the inhabitants of Kildare and the adjacent country continued in great numbers to furrender arms, to take oaths of allegiance, and to obtain protections.

About

Had captain Beevor whipped one or two vagabonds a day or two before this woeful event, he would have difcovered and averted it.

† Plate I. 7.

About two o'clock in the afternoon of that day, general Wilford ordered the troops under his com mand at Kildare to march to Kilcullen, for the purpofe of reinforcing general Dundas, who had had an engagement with the rebels.

John Conftable, a private of captain Neville's corps of yeomen cavalry, who conveyed the orders to him for that purpofe from general Dundas, was fhot outfide the town; yet he lived to deliver his dispatch, but dropped dead foou after.

On leaving the town, general Wilford ordered' Mr. Cooper, innholder, to collect his baggage, and that of the Suffolk fencibles, and to lodge them in the guard-houfe. He alfo fent orders to captain Winter, commanding a detachment of the Suffolk, and a small party of the 9th dragoons at Monafteréven, to follow him.

When captain Winter arrived at Kildare, he re ceived written orders from the general, to burn all the camp equipage lodged at Kildare; but Mr. O'Reilly, late major of the Kildare, having re prefented to him the danger of fetting fire to the town, and having informed him that its inhabitants would protect the baggage, which they treacheroufly promised to do, he defifted from burning it.

In about an hour after the king's troops had left the town, the inhabitants rung the market-bell, as a fignal for a general infurrection, which accordingly took place.

About two thousand † rebels, headed by one Roger Mc. Garry, marched into the town, and feized all the officers' baggage and the camp equipage, which had been lodged in the guard-house, and a confiderable quantity of pikes and fire-arms, which they had furrendered a few days before, as a proof of their fincerity to renounce their treafonable defigns, which they promifed by oath to do. The proteftant inhabitants, fearing that they fhould be maffacred,

†Their pikes had croffes painted on them,

maffacred, immediately fled to Naas or Monaftereven, for protection, and on their departure, their houfes and their property were plundered and deftroyed. Mr. Cooper loft to the amount of 2000 l. in Kildare and the Curragh.

The following horrid circumftances attended the murder of George Crawford, and his grandchild of the age of fourteen years. He had formerly ferved fo long in the fifth dragoons, as to be entitled to a penfion, and was at that time a permanent ferjeant in captain Taylor's corps of yeomen cavalry. He, his wife, and granddaughter, were ftopped by a party of the rebels as they were endeavouring to make their escape, and were reproached with the appellation of hereticks, because they were of the proteftant religion. One of them ftruck his wife with a musket, and another gave her a ftab of a pike in the back, with an intent of murdering her. Her hufband, having endeavoured to fave her, was knocked down, and received several blows of a firelock, which difabled him from making his efcape. While they were difputing whether they fhould kill them, fhe ftole behind a hedge, and concealed herfelf. They then maffacred her husband with pikes; and her granddaughter having thrown herfelf on his body to protect him, received fo many wounds in the breaft, the head, and thighs, that fhe foon after expired. These circumstances of atrocity have been verified by affidavit fworn by Crawford's widow the twentieth day of Auguft, 1798, before alderman Jenkin. The fidelity of a large dog, belonging to this poor man, deferves to be recorded, as he attacked thefe fanguinary monsters, and fought bravely in defence of his mafter, till he fell by his fide, perforated with pikes.

Mr. James Williams, a revenue officer, of the proteftant religion, having made his efcape, they plundered his house, and destroyed his property; and having hung up his favourite dog, they fired many fhots at it, lamenting at the fame time, that they had not

an

an opportunity of treating his heretick mafter in the fame manner.

About eleven o'clock that night, they ftopped and plundered the Limerick mail-coach, and maffacred one of the paffengers, lieutenant William Giffard of the Sad regiment, and fon to captain John Giffard of the royal Dublin regiment. The favages, having fhot one of the horfes fo as effectually to prevent the coach from proceeding, demanded of lieutenant Giffard, who, and what he was? to which he anfwered without hefitation, that he was an officer, proceeding on his way to Chatham, in obedience to orders he had received. They demanded, whether he was a proteftant? and being anfwered in the affirmative, they held a moment's confultation, and then told him, that they wanted officers; that if he would take an oath to be true to them, and join them in an attack to be made next morning upon Monaf tereven, they would give him a command, but otherwife he muft die. To this the gallant youth replied, that he had already fworn allegiance to the king; that he would never offend God Almighty by a breach of that oath; nor would he difgrace himfelf by turning a deferter, and joining the king's enemies; that he could not fuppofe an army of men would be fo cruel as to murder an individual who had never injured them, and who was merely paffing through them to a country from whence poffibly he never would return; but if they insisted on this propofal, he muft die; for he never could confent to it. This brave and yet pathetick anfwer, which would have kindled fentiments of generous humanity in any breasts but those of Irish rebels, had directly the contrary effect upon them: With the utmoft fury they affaulted him; he had a cafe of pocket piftols, which his natural courage, and the love of life, though hopeless, prompted him to use with effect. Being uncommonly active, he burst from them, and vaulting over a fix-feet wall, he made towards an houfe where he faw light, and

heard

heard people talking. Alas! it afforded no refuge! it was the house of poor Crawford, whom, with his granddaughter, as before mentioned, they had just piked for being proteftants. A band of the barbarians, returning from this exploit, met lieutenant Giffard; there he fell, covered with wounds and with glory; and his mangled body was thrown into the fame ditch with honeft Crawford and his innocent grandchild. Thus he expired, at the age of feventeen, a martyr to religion and honour, whose memory will ever be refpected by the virtuous and the brave!

While these blood-hounds continued their fanguinary orgies in the night, they conftantly exclaimed against hereticks and orangemen.

About one o'clock in the morning, they marched for Monaftereven, from thirteen to fifteen hundred in number, and commanded by captain Mc. Garry.

As by far the greater part of the popish members of the ycomen corps in the county of Kildare joined the rebels, or were known to be difaffected, I think it right to mention that fourteen of that persuasion in the Monaftereven corps, much to their honour, fhewed on all occafions the utmost fidelity to their king and country.

In their march to Monaftereven, they killed fuch proteftants as they could lay their hands on, and plundered their houfes. They gave many wounds with a pike to Thomas Birch, parifh clerk of Kildangan, a man above eighty years old; and then drove him into his houfe, which they fet fire to, with an intent to burn him; but he efcaped out of the back door, and recovered afterwards.

They murdered dean Keatinge's parish clerk, a very old man; and they took a proteftant boy of the name of Higginbotham to their camp at Knockallin, and fhot him there. They piked one Miley, a carpenter, near Dunlavin, and major Ponfonby's VOL. I. fervant,

X

Mr. John Caffidy, a brewer of that town, and a Romanist, fhewed fingular zeal on all occafions, as a loyalift, in that corps.