Henry Joy McCracken (1767-1798): United Irishmen
The United Irishmen was a society dedicated originally to the reform of the Irish constitution, including granting the franchise to Catholics, and later to republican revolution. It was founded in Belfast in November 1791 by a small group of young radicals, most of them Protestant, including Theobald Wolfe Tone, William Drennan, Thomas Russell and Samuel McTier. It soon extended to Dublin and remained an active though small part of political life until 1794 when, in a time of strong…