The Rebellion of 1798 was an uprising against British rule in Ireland. The organisers were the United Irishmen, a republican revolutionary group influenced by the ideas of the American and French revolutions. At the beginning they mainly comprised Presbyterian radicals who were angry at being shut out of power by the Anglican establishment, they were joined by many from the Catholic population.
The 1798 rising was one of the bloodiest episodes in Down's history. Thousands of rebels from the County 'turned out' in June 1798 to be defeated at the Battle of Ballynahinch.
In addition to incarcerating many people for very minor offences, the Gaol held rebels captured after the battles of Saintfield and Ballynahinch in 1798 and the United Irishman, Thomas Russell, the Gaol’s most famous prisoner who was executed here for his role in the abortive rebellion of 1803.
The Museum has a small but important collection of objects relating to the period including a letter giving an eye witness account of the Battle of Saintfield and a collection of documents relating to the investigation of the activities of Thomas Russell and his co-conspirators, James Drake and James Corry around the Loughinisland area in July 1803.
