#OnThisDay 1798 United Irishmen killed over 100 civilians, most but not all, are Protestants at Scullabogue, Wexford. The guards were also both Catholic and Protestant. Rounding up of pro-government people in an area was not unheard of (and still existed into the 20th century in various conflicts-rounding up people suspected of sympathising or supporting the enemy). This was in revenge of the failed rebel attack on New Ross & for the government forces killing wounded prisoners (70 in Mary St).
At first, male prisoners were taken out in groups of four and shot but once rebels returned from New Ross, the guards in charge of the prisoners could not hold them back any longer. This atrocity has long stained the 1798 Rebellion as a purely sectarian conflict but it is more complex than that.
