It is now 225 years since General Humbert landed in Ireland on the shores of County Mayo to support the rebellion of Wolfe Tone. The year 2023 marks the 225th anniversary of this moment in Franco-Irish history. The commemoration in 2023 of the "Year of the French" reminds us of the historicity of a unique friendship and a shared heritage.
Gen Jean Joseph Amable Humbert on horseback at the Battle of Castlebar. Musée de Bruyères, Remiremont. The Irish Times, november 2022.
At the end of the 18th century, Theobald Wolfe Tone moved to Paris in revolutionary France, where he met Lazard Carnot and pleaded with the Directory for France to support the emancipation movement in his native island. Wolfe Tone wanted to unify Irish citizenship in a particularly divided political society.
The young French Republic decides to support the Irish cause carried by the United Irishmen and plans to send expeditions to Ireland. A rebellion was then prepared in 1798, especially in the counties of Wexford and Mayo.
On August 22, 1798, three French frigates anchored near Kilcummin Point in County Mayo. 1067 French soldiers under the command of General Jean Joseph Amable Humbert disembarked, to help liberate Ireland. They took possession of Killala, then Ballina, before being joined by 3,000 Irishmen armed with pikes and pitchforks to swell their ranks.
On August 25, this small Franco-Irish army routed 5,000 infantrymen and 1,000 English cavalrymen: these were the famous "Castlebar races". The city of Castlebar was liberated and on August 31, 1798 a "Republic of Connaught" was established with John Moore as its first President. This Republic was founded on the same ideals of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity as the French Republic.
The Republic of Connaught came to an end on September 8, 1798, when the English led by Lord Cornwallis and General Lake finally surrounded the troops of General Humbert who was forced to surrender at Ballynamuck in County Longford.
In 2023, we celebrate the 225th anniversary of the events of 1798, which is remembered in Ireland as the "Year of the French". Every year in August, the festival In Humbert’s Footsteps celebrates and re-enacts with the help of some Irish volunteers, the landing and the first decisive battles at Killala and Ballina.
To celebrate the Year of the French, the Embassy has taken part in a series of events since the beginning of 2023:
The French Ambassador to Ireland, Vincent Guérend, visited Ballina in February, launching the Year of the French with the "Mise en lumière" of the Humbert Memorial.
On the occasion of the Six Nations Tournament, the Residence of France was transformed into "Humbert’s pub" on the eve of the match between the French rugby team and the Irish team.
In March, the Ambassador also took part in the vast project of planting 225 trees of Liberty, marking the journey of General Humbert to Ireland, by planting an Irish oak tree in the gardens of the Residence of France.
As 2023 is not over, other events are still to come in order to continue to celebrate this special year for the Franco-Irish friendship. The Ambassador will travel to Enniscorthy, County Wexford, to participate in local commemorations of the 1798 uprising. A festival organized in collaboration with the Embassy will be held from August 19 to 22 in Ballina to mark the 200th anniversary of General Humbert’s death and the 225th anniversary of his landing in Killala Bay. Finally, a conference on the notion of the Republic should also take place in Dublin between high-level French and Irish representatives in Autumn 2023.
For more information:
Pierre Joannon, " Les soldats perdus de l’armée d’Irlande ", Revue historique des armées [En ligne], 253 | 2008, online on 07 November 2008. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/rha/4463
Stephen Dunford, Guy Beiner, ’In Humbert’s Footsteps: Mayo 1798’, Fado Books, 200 | 2006
Thomas Flanagan, ’The Year of the French’, NYRB Classics, 544 | 2004
Commemorations in 2023:
In Humbert’s Footsteps, Facebook Page
Ballina 2023, Website
In Humbert’s Footsteps, Mayo City Council website
The National 1798 Rebellion Center, Website