The Grave of William Drennan Chief Architect of the United Irishmen
There are many historcally significant graves dotted around
Clifton Street Cemetery and this is one of them.
William Drennan M. D. 1754 –
5 February 1820
He was a physician, poet and political radical, was one of the chief architects of the
Society of United Irishmen. He is known as the first to refer in print to
Ireland as "the emerald isle" in his poem "When
Erin first rose".
Born in
Belfast in 1754,
William was son to
Reverend Thomas Drennan (1696–1768), minister of Belfast's
First Presbyterian Church. Thomas Drennan was an educated man from the
University of Glasgow and was ordained to the congregation of
Holywood, County Down in 1731. Drennan was heavily influenced by his father, whose religious convictions served as the foundation for his own radical political ideas. His sister,
Martha, married fellow future
United Irishman Samuel McTier in 1773.
Education
In 1769 he followed in his father's footsteps by enrolling in the University of Glasgow where he became interested in the study of philosophy. In 1772 he graduated in arts and then in 1773 he commenced the study of medicine at
Edinburgh. After graduating in 1778 he set up practice in Belfast, specialising in obstetrics. He is credited with having been one of the earliest advocates of inoculation against smallpox, and of hand washing to prevent the spread of infection. Drennan also wrote much poetry, coining the phrase "
Emerald Isle" and was the founder and editor of a literary periodical, "Belfast
Magazine". He moved to
Newry in 1783 but eventually moved to
Dublin in 1789 where he quickly became involved in nationalist circles.
Politics
Like many other
Ulster Presbyterians, William was an early supporter of the
American Colonies in the
American Revolution and joined the
Volunteers who had been formed to defend Ireland for
Britain in the event of
French invasion.
The Volunteer movement soon became a powerful political force and a forum for
Protestant nationalists to press for political reform in Ireland eventually assisting
Henry Grattan to achieve home rule in 1782. However Drennan, like many other reformers, quickly became dismayed by the conservative and sectarian nature of the
Irish parliament and in 1791 he co-founded the Society of United Irishmen with
Wolfe Tone and
Thomas Russell.
He wrote many political pamphlets for the
United Irishmen and was arrested 1794 for seditious libel, a political charge that was a major factor in driving the United Irishmen underground and into becoming a radical revolutionary party. Although he was eventually acquitted, he gradually withdrew from the United Irishmen but continued to campaign for
Catholic Emancipation.
RBAI or Inst.
Drennan settled in Belfast in 1807 after inheriting a large fortune. In 1810 he co-founded the non-denominational
Royal Belfast Academical Institution. As a poet, he is best remembered for his poem
The Wake of
William Orr, written in memory of a United Irishman executed by the
British.
Despite Drennan's links with revolutionary republicans, he gradually became alienated from the post-Union nationalism of the period.