“Let no man dare, when I am dead, to charge me with dishonour; let no man attaint my memory, by believing that I could have engaged in any cause but that of my country's liberty and independence; or that I could have become the pliant minion of power, in the oppression and misery of my country.”
Irish republican Robert Emmet was executed on September 20, 1803, after the rebellion he led against British rule failed. He was 25 years old. His impassioned speech from the dock moved sentencing Judge Lord Norbury to tears and inspired romantic poets, including Shelley and Coleridge. As a founding father of the Irish Republic, Emmet epitomised the idea of an Irish identity that could be “Protestant, Catholic and Dissenter’. He faced his gruesome death with the words: “My friends, I die in peace with sentiments of universal love and kindness towards all men”.
On July 23, 221 years after Emmet’s unsuccessful rebellion, the Courts Service is hosting a special free programme of events at Green Street Courthouse, the site where Emmet delivered his famous oration.
Places are limited. Click here for more information and booking link.