JOURNAL OF THE COUNTY DON·EGAL HISTORICAL SOCIEI'Y Census of 1841 the wedding took Kilmacrenan place in 1788, Brighid being 23 years old at the time. Proclaimed Captain in·United Irishmen The success of the ~rench Revolution and the promise of foreign aid raised the hopes of all freedomlovin~ Irishmen. Manus had strong National sympathies. He joined the United Irishmen at their inception. His ability and powers were quickly recognised and in a very short time he was appointed Captain and Second-inCommand in his own area. Oificers of the rank of Captain we:re elected by those they were to command. The delegate of five Societies to a · lower baronial was usu:al'lY the Oaipitain. Thus, the duties of this officer comprised a considerable amount ot organisation and sup.ervision. With his education and his many contacts from Kilmacrennan to .the Glassagh' and from there to the Rlosses, there was no United Irishman ln Donegal more useful as an organiser than Manus, .and 1~ appears that he was engaged in organising activities over a wide area. Lack of proper firearms severely 'handicapped the new organisation in the beginning. They accordingly armed themselves the best they could with long-handled pikes, secretly forged by willing blacksmiths throughout the land. Manus procured such .a weapon for himself; and set' about to master its use. . He took his task seriously, practising!long and hard, until he reached a very high degree of proficiency. In fact, he attained such a standard that he gained the reputation that there was not ·another who cp~!(i equal him :is a pikeman,' and he thus became known as· "Manus 'a Phice" or ''Manus of the Pik~." , 197 Captain O'Donnell certainly got things moving in his district, and his home area appear~ to have become a hot spot quite early. Hr· and his men were able to procure some firearms and other equipment with the passage of time. On lst Octot>E?r, 1796, Alexander McClintock, J.P., of Rathdonnell, reported to Dublin Castle that on. the previous day military from Letterkenny, acting on information received, raided a dump in Kilmacrennan and seized six guns, . some ammunition and hangers. The haul would have been greater but .for the fact that the United Men got wi~d of the raid, .and, consequently, had time to remove to safety part of their store. Four months later the !Parish. of Kilmacrennan was Proclaimed by . the Lord Lieutenant and Council. The Proclamation, is dated 13th Febru~ ary, 1797, and appeared in the "Dublin Gazette" of the fallowing day. This was;prolfably the result of an incident on the highway ot Donnacad'h's Brae, midway between Kilmacrennan and Goal, when a marching column of Uhited Irishmen, carrying their pikes, met, in broad daylight, an armed column of Crown forces proceeding in the opposite direction. As they were aboll:lt to meet each party kept to its own side of the road and the two columns passed each other · without halting. Visit to the Rosses As organiser for the United Irishmen Manus did considerable travelling. About the time that Napper Tandy led the French raid on Inis Mhlc .a Duirn ·(Rutland Island) he visited the Rosses· in an unsuccessful attempt to establish a Society,there. This, presumably, would have been .in the late summer of 1798. He stayed in Cruit Island on the oecasion. He might
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzQxNzU3