Did you know that Emmet County is named after a young insurrectionist?
Robert Emmet was born in Dublin, Ireland on March 4, 1778. The son of a doctor, Emmet, who attended Trinity College, had a flair for oratory and for 'community organizing.'
He was so passionate about the cause of freedom (and against the oppressive British crown) that he led the [Irish] Rebellion of 1803.
It was a failed uprising of 200 men, armed with pikes, who were headed to Dublin Castle, the seat of government. Emmet was captured, tried, and convicted of high treason and hung and quartered. He was 25 years old when he died for the cause of Irish sovereignty.
Emmet's Speech from the Dock is legendary. It contains this line: "Let them and me rest in obscurity and peace, and my name remain uninscribed, until other times and other men can do justice to my character. When my country takes her place among the nations of the earth, then, and not till then, let my epitaph be written."
In the spirit of Ireland for the Irish, ERG salutes and remembers you, Robert Emmet.