The 1798 Rebellion was one of the bloodiest events in Irish history. Thousands of people were slaughtered in a single summer in a massive popular uprising against British rule. Thousands more were seriously injured and traumatised by the horrific violence they witnessed. Significant disturbances involved more than half of Ireland's counties, and the numbers of insurgents - upwards of 100,000 - dwarfed those who fought in later national uprisings.

Today we still live with the ideological and practical consequences of the rebellion. This was the bloody climax of a decade of radicalism and reaction that saw the emergence of new forms of militant republicanism and popular loyalism that strongly influenced the course of Irish history. It was inspired by a desire to unite Ireland's political and religious factions, but in the end drove them further apart. The rebellion sought to secure Ireland's independence, but instead led directly to an Act of Union with Great Britain that determined the course of Anglo-Irish relations for two centuries.

French and American revolutionary ideas were deeply embedded in this movement, and the impact of 1798 reached far beyond Irish waters. The flight, exile and banishment of thousands of Irish people abroad ensured that its ripple effects were felt on the European continent and throughout the English-speaking world, in Britain, North America and Australia.