7 January 1999 Edition

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Wicklow celebrates end of `98, start of `99

We're not decommissioning pikes - they forgot about 1803



By Roisín de Rossa

On New Year's Eve, in a fitting tribute to 1798, pikemen and women from Wicklow and Wexford braved pouring rain to unveil three plaques in the Wicklow hills. Pike people came from Glen of Imaal, from Carrickbyrne, Courtnacuddy, Coolgranny, Enniscorthy, Bunclody.

Gerry O'Neill of Blessington, Co Wicklow organised the unveiling. The first was to commemorate a young scout by the name of Dwyer. This was his story.

A considerable force of yeoman, led by James Duff, straight from an appalling massacre at the Curragh, where 3000 were left dead, marched on the United Irishmen, who were camped on Blackamore Hill. The United Irishmen with an army of several thousand, were awaiting the signal from Dublin that the rising had been successful.

A young lad, Dwyer, came upon Duff's approaching army, killed one of his scouts, took his horse and rode back up the hill to the United Irish encampment and warned them of Duff's approaching force. The United Irish struck camp, leaving 15 of their number behind to delay Duff, and escaped to Wexford.

O'Dwyer, having warned the United Irishmen, rode back to Duff's army. No one knows why. Perhaps in the forlorn hope that he might delay them, or mislead them. He was executed at the little bridge at the foot of the hill.

A local man walking away from the unveiling of the plaque last Thursday said, ``Sure, it is the wrong place that yous have it placed. He died at the stone further down the bank. You can see his blood. It's still on the stone.'' Living history, which died from fear.

No one spoke of Dwyer or of the battle. But Maureen Phibbs, who read a short poem at the unveiling, told of how it was only when her son happened to visit a library in Australia that she had learned that a great battle had taken place on this hill - and that the hill was called Blackamore Hill. Though born and bred by the hillside, she had never heard tell of the battle, or its name. ``Who fears to speak of `98'' indeed.

The other two plaques unveiled were to honour three United Irishmen, William Burke, Richard Byrne and Oliver Hoyle. All three had died in a tragedy up at a little cottage where Hoyle lived, above Hollywood, opposite the beautiful Knocknadruice Hills. It was the very same cottage where Neil O'Boyle Plunkett was murdered at the end of the Civil war in 1923. Just over the hill is the cross which marks the spot where in 1591 Art O'Neill, who had escaped from the Castle and walked in the mid-winter snow, was found frozen to death. Mrs. Nolan, who now lives in the cottage, unveiled the new plaque.

Hoyle, Byrne and Burke were buried down beside the graveyard, Burke and Byrne outside and Hoyle, a Protestant, inside, what was then a small Protestant church graveyard, and a plaque was unveiled to mark their graves.

Were these commemorations to be the last of the 1798 celebrations? ``No way!'' say the pikepeople. The struggle of the United Irishmen didn't just stop on 31 December 1798. In reality, terrible repression followed, persecution of the survivors, reprisals, confiscations went on - they didn't just stop because the year ended.

Resistance continued and culminated for that generation in 1803 with Emmet's Rebellion. As Gerry O'Neill said. ``Some people talked of decommissioning pikepeople on 31 December. But the struggle went on, as it goes on today''.

``Who knows if in 2003, when we celebrate the 200th anniversary of Emmet's Rebellion, whether Ireland will have rid itself of Tone's `execrable connection'. But we're not giving up now, in 1999, anymore than the men and women did in 1798.''

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