Item 1 - Letter from Lord Altamont, Dublin to Richard 2nd Earl, Castlebar

5pp

Letter from Lord Altamont, Dublin to Richard 2nd Earl, Castlebar, stating that 'notwithstanding clamor the Union stands fair to keep its ground, riots and insurrection are threatened, but too much spoken of to be seriously intended'. The only trouble might come from meetings out of doors. At the meeting of the anti unionists at Charlemont House [18 Jan 1800] it was agreed to give up Mayo 'as a lost game', but 'Mr O'D[onel] conceives his eloquence may remove mountains'. He has forbidden meetings in Westport and states that 'the whole county [of Mayo] is so entirely with us' that he believes Mr O'Donel would be out polled at a meeting of the magistrates. The object of meetings in rural areas is 'to raise a Civil War'. He goes on to record how the Government has been taken in on a number of instances and gives Enniscorthy as an example where a notable rebel, Red Burroughs, has been returned. As 'to the Northerns they have given out that all leases are to be broken when the Union passes.' He writes that 'Ld Cass [Castlereagh, Chief Secretary] thinks he shall beat Downshire at their meeting but I doubt it' and it is rumoured that [John Foster] 'the Speaker is softening to the measure'. He thinks that there will be a majority of about 60 and that it will all be decided between 3rd and 15th February. With regard to other news, he refers to Bonaparte's inclination to make peace, a revolution at Carlton House and amusement at a cartoon of [William] Pitt and the Emperor of Russia. He imagines the Bishop of Tuam, rather that the Bishop of Ferns will get the primacy. In a postscript he reminds the Earl that his letters are confidential and that if [James Moore] O'Donel holds a meeting, Wilson is to attend it.

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03/01/2017
23/06/2025