John Henry Colclough (c. 1769 – 28 June 1798) was

United Irishman ''The United Irishman'' was an Irish nationalist newspaper co-founded by Arthur Griffith and William Rooney.Arthur Griffith ...

executed in

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...

following the

Irish Rebellion of 1798 The Irish Rebellion of 1798 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1798; Ulster-Scots: ''The Hurries'') was a major uprising against British rule in Ireland. The main organising force was the Society of United Irishmen, a republican revolutionary group influence ...

Life

He was born circa 1769 into an old landowning Wexford family, the son of Thomas Francis Colclough and lived at Ballyteigue, Kilmore. He went abroad to study medicine and qualified as a doctor. On his return to

he married Elizabeth Berry. He became involved in Irish nationalism, joined the

United Irishmen The Society of United Irishmen was a sworn association in the Kingdom of Ireland formed in the wake of the French Revolution to secure "an equal representation of all the people" in a national government. Despairing of constitutional reform, ...

and was arrested with

Lord Edward Fitzgerald Lord Edward FitzGerald (15 October 1763 – 4 June 1798) was an Irish aristocrat who abandoned his prospects as a distinguished veteran of British service in the American War of Independence, and as an Irish Parliamentarian, to embrace the caus ...

on 27 May 1798 and taken to Wexford gaol. From there he was sent with Fitzgerald to parley with the rebels at

Vinegar Hill Vinegar is an aqueous solution of acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains 5–8% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting simple sugars to ...

, returning alone to report negotiations had failed. He was later, somewhat reluctantly, in the company of the rebels at the Battle of New Ross. After the battle, and the royalists had regained the town, he fled with his wife and

Bagenal Harvey Beauchamp Bagenal Harvey (died 28 June 1798) was a barrister and a commander of the United Irishmen in the Battle of New Ross during the 1798 Rebellion. He was the eldest son of Francis Harvey of Bargy Castle, Wexford, who was one of the six ...

to the Greater Saltee Island, from whence they planned to escape to republican France. They were betrayed under torture by a local farmer, arrested, and brought to Wexford town to be court-martialled. Found guilty, they were hanged on Wexford bridge on 28 June 1798, their heads afterwards put on spikes and their bodies thrown into the River Slaney. Colclough's body was recovered by his supporters during the night and buried in St. Patrick's burying ground, Wexford.

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* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Colclough, John Henry 1798 deaths People executed by the Kingdom of Great Britain People executed by the British military by hanging United Irishmen People from County Wexford Executed Irish people Year of birth uncertain

Life

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