Battle of Prosperous

The Battle of Prosperous[2] is the name given to a military engagement between the forces of the British Crown and the United Irishmen during the 1798 rebellion. Prosperous, County Kildare, a recently founded (1780) cotton-manufacturing village, was attacked shortly after the outbreak of the 1798 rebellion at 2 a.m on 24 May 1798 by a rebel force about 20 strong under Dr. John Esmonde which targeted the British garrison consisting of Cork militia and a detachment of a Welsh regiment, the "Ancient Britons".

Battle of Prosperous
Part of the United Irishmen Rebellion

Attack on Prosperous (George Cruikshank)
Date24 May 1798
Location
Prosperous, County Kildare
Result United Irish victory
Belligerents
United Irishmen British Army
Commanders and leaders

Andrew Farrell

Dr. John Esmonde[1]		 Captain Richard Swayne +
Strength
200 150
Casualties and losses
none 140 dead

The rebel entry into the village was preceded by the infiltration of a small vanguard who, possibly aided by female sympathizers within, scaled the walls of the militia barracks, killed the sentries and opened the gate. The barracks was quickly surrounded and attacked by hundreds of rebels who repulsed an attempt by the militia to break out, killing the militia commander, Captain Swayne.[3] The remainder of the garrison were trapped in the upper barracks which was then torched causing the desperate soldiers to leap from windows onto the waiting pikes. About 140 of the military were slain but the next day, members of the Ancient Britons participated in the retaliatory massacre of 34 suspected United Irishmen at Dunlavin Green, County Wicklow.

Esmonde was later caught and brought to Dublin for trial. As a Lieutenant in the Clane Yeomanry,[4] he was court-martialed on 13 June and deemed a deserter, and was executed by hanging (with his coat reversed to indicated he was a deserter)[5]:124 on June 14, 1798 on Carlisle Bridge.

Prosperous remained under rebel control until 19 June when retaken by troops under the command of Colonel Stewart who boasted of destroying "this receptacle of rebellion".

References
  1. Dr. John Esmonde Dictionary of Irish Biography
  2. Battle of Prosperous www.prosperousheritage.com
  3. Captain Swayne and the Battle of Prosperous, 24 May 1798 by Fergal Browne, History Ireland, Volume 26. Issue 3, May/June 2018..
  4. Battle of Prosperous www.prosperousheritage.com
  5. Pakenham, Thomas (1992). The year of liberty : the history of the Great Irish Rebellion of 1798. London: Orion. ISBN 1-85799-050-1. OCLC 59991661.


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