Wolfe Tone

Theobald Wolfe Tone, posthumously known as Wolfe Tone (; 20 June 176319 November 1798), was a leading Irish revolutionary figure and one of the founding members in Belfast and Dublin of the United Irishmen, a republican society determined to end British rule, and achieve accountable government, in Ireland. Throughout his political career, Tone was involved in a number of military engagements against the British navy. He was active in drawing Irish Catholics and Protestants together in the United cause, and in soliciting French assistance for a general insurrection. In November 1798, on his second attempt to land in Ireland with French troops and supplies, he was captured by British naval forces. The United Irish risings of the summer had already been crushed. Tone died in advance of his scheduled execution, probably, as modern scholars generally believe, by his own hand. Later generations were to regard Tone as the father of Irish Republicanism. His grave in Bodenstown, County Kildare, is the site of annual commemorations. Early life Tone was born on 20 June 1763. The oft-asserted claim that his father descended from a Huguenot family who had settled in Dublin in the 17th century has never been substantiated. It is impossible to prove or disprove, as no birth records have been identified to date in Dublin or Kildare for Tone’s father Peter (ca 1731?-1818) and, more importantly, his paternal grandfather William (ca. 1706?-1766). The identity of Tone's paternal great-grandfather is thus unknown. Theobald's father, Peter Tone, was a coach-maker who had a farm near Sallins, County Kildare and belonged to the Church of Ireland. His mother, Margaret Lamport, came from a Catholic merchant family who converted to Protestantism after Theobald was born. His maternal grandfather was captain of a vessel in the West India trade. He was baptised as Theobald Wolfe Tone in honour of his godfather, Theobald Wolfe of Blackhall, County Kildare, a first cousin of Arthur Wolfe, 1st Viscount Kilwarden. However, it was widely believed that Tone was the son of Theobald Wolfe, which, if true, made him a half-brother of the poet Charles Wolfe. After his death, he was widely referred to as Wolfe Tone. In 1783, Tone found work as a tutor to Anthony and Robert, younger half-brothers of Richard Martin MP of Galway, a prominent supporter of Catholic emancipation, at Dangan, the Martin family home. Tone fell in love with Martin's wife, but later wrote that it came to nothing.