DUBLIN, NOVEMBER 1791
The Test
The original Test taken by members of the Society of United Irishmen was written by the Belfast physician William Drennan. Approved at the first meeting of the Dublin society in November 1791, it read:
I, A.B., in the presence of God, do pledge myself to my country, that I will use all my abilities and influence in the attainment of an impartial and adequate representation of the Irish nation in parliament: and as a means of absolute and immediate necessity in accomplishing this chief good of Ireland, I shall do whatever lies in my power to forward a brotherhood of affection, an identity of interests, a communion of rights, and a union of power among Irishmen of every religious persuasion, without which every reform must be partial, not national, inadequate to the wants, delusive to the wishes, and insufficient for the freedom and happiness of this country.
At the meeting, Theobald Wolfe Tone and Thomas Russell objected that the wording was too vague, and that the pledge might dissuade potential members. Although Tone and Russell were prime movers in the formation of the society, and were later joined in their opinion of the test by Whitely Stokes, their reservations were overruled by the broader membership.
Less elaborate, local variants of the test were administered. As recollected in his own words, in Templepatrick, County Antrim, James Burns took the following oath:
I, James Burns, do voluntarily declare that I will persevere and endeavour to form a Brotherhood of affection amongst Irishmen of every religious persuasion. I do further declare that I will persevere and endeavour for a Parliamentary Reform, and for an equal representation of all the people in Ireland.
Delegates from seventy-two societies meeting in Belfast on 10 May 1795 approved amendments to Drennan’s original test, inserting the words “full representation of the people” and omitting reference to the Irish parliament.
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