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Robert Emmet 1778-1803 Born in Dublin. Planned a rebellion along
with Thomas Russell who was to lead the uprising in Ulster. On his way to Dublin
Castle his troop came across the carriage of the Lord Chief Justice Lord
Kilwarden whom they killed. But the Castle gates were closed against him and the
rising soon crushed. Instead of fleeing to France Emmet stayed behind, possibly
because of his feelings for Sarah Curran. He was betrayed and hung outside St
Catherine’s Church, Thomas Street. His speech from the dock is best known for
the following "Let no man write my epitaph. Let my memory
be left in oblivion and my tomb remain uninscribed until other times and other
men can do justice to my character. When my country takes her place among the
nations of the earth, then, and not until then, let my epitaph be
After his execution his head was sold by the hangman. It is said his body was buried at Bully’s Acre and later smuggled away. It may have been taken to the Trevor vault in St. Paul’s church in North King Street as a headless body of a young man was discovered there in 1887. Trevor was governor of Kilmainham jail when Emmet was imprisoned there. The photograph at the top is of the execution block and the other photograph is of the statue by Jerome Connor in St Stephens Green, Dublin. |
