The road built to trap the rebel who was a thorn in the side of British rule in Ireland
Military Road O'dwyer G John Lough Bray, Picture:
Their situation seemed hopeless. Surrounded, in a cottage beneath Kaedeen Mountain, County Wicklow, the prospects of escape appeared bleak. Earlier, Michael Dwyer — a veteran of the 1798 Rebellion and thorn in the side for British rule in Ireland — had taken shelter here in the winter of 1799. Becoming aware of his presence, the British authorities sent 100 redcoats to surround the cottage.
The roof was soon ablaze and a gunfight ensued, during which a companion of Dwyer named McAllister was seriously wounded. Deciding he could not escape, McAllister resolved to sacrifice himself. Flinging open the cottage door, he was immediately gunned down. Dwyer used the ensuing lull, while the soldiers reloaded their muskets, to dash for freedom.
Swimming the swollen River Slaney, he escaped as the redcoats, attired in military regalia, were unable to follow. To their disgust, the British Army had allowed the 'Scarlet Pimpernel of Wicklow' to escape once again.
Born during 1772 in the Glen of Imaal, County Wicklow, Dwyer was the eldest son of John Dwyer, a local farmer. When he was 19 years old, the Society of United Irishmen was established and soon after became a secret oath-bound society aimed at achieving religious freedom and an independent Irish republic. This led to a climate of sectarian fear among the loyalist community, and a campaign of terror was instigated against Society members. The local spark for rebellion came when 38 men — including a close relative of Dwyer — were executed in the West Wicklow town of Dunlavin.
Likely motivated by idealism and revenge, Dwyer fought in the subsequent 1798 Rising with remarkable bravery, according to contemporary accounts. After the defeat of the rebels, Dwyer refused to accept an amnesty for those who were not the main leaders. Instead, he withdrew to the Wicklow Mountains and from this redoubt continued to wage a guerrilla campaign against British rule in Ireland.
During the next five years, Dwyer demonstrated, as at Kaedeen, an extraordinary ability to evade capture, despite, at one time, having a bounty on his head of 500 guineas (about €50,000 in today’s values).
Although none of his attacks on crown forces were militarily significant, Dwyer was such an irritant to the administrators of British rule that one of Ireland’s first purpose-built roads was constructed to subjugate him. Work on the new road started at Rathfarnham, County Dublin in August 1800 and eventually stretched 59 kilometres to terminate at Aghavannagh in the extreme south of County Wicklow.
Although not fully completed during Dwyer’s rebellion, the access it allowed meant the writing was on the wall for the Wicklow outlaw.
It was now increasingly dangerous to give shelter to Dwyer and his diminishing band of followers, so the outlaw was forced to rely more on improvised shelters in the high mountains. With his support base and area of operation hugely threatened, Dwyer recognised the end game had arrived. In 1803, he sought terms for peace from the liberal-minded, local MP, William Hume of Humewood Castle, County Wicklow.
Dwyer was never formally tried as part of an agreement made before his surrender. Instead, he was banished for life to New South Wales, Australia. Not having been convicted of any crime he went, however, as a free man, sailing from Queenstown, County Cork (now Cobh) accompanied by his wife, older children and some close acquaintances from his rebel days.
Arriving to Australia in February 1806, the rebels were each awarded 100 acres. Like many transported Irish revolutionaries who were to follow, he soon became part of the establishment, and, in a classic example of poacher turned gamekeeper, was appointed Chief Constable for Liverpool, New South Wales, in 1820. Ironic as it may seem, Dwyer was now a servant of the Crown and an upholder of the law he had once so bitterly opposed; but there was to be no happy ending.
Dismissed from the Constabulary for maladministration, Dwyer was forced to sell off his assets. This included a tavern named 'The Harrow Inn', where he was reputed to have been his own best customer. Now bankrupt, he was incarcerated for a time in a debtor’s prison. Shortly after his release, having lived just 52 action-packed years, he passed away in August 1825.
Kaedeen Mountain, Co. Wicklow. pic.twitter.com/U0tc98sfbP
— Kevin Hayes (@kevvhayes) April 25, 2021
Drive the military road today and within minutes the city is just a memory and you are immersed in a mountain fastness. Gateway to many of Wicklow’s finest hiking routes such as the Lough Bray Loop, the Road gives access to a land of mountains, lakes and forests, but almost no people.
The route has made it possible for huge numbers who might otherwise never have done so, to get close and personal with this majestic wilderness area on Dublin's doorstep. And it all came about because of one man. He rose from poverty to become, within his lifetime, a great Irish hero and later a remarkable success in Australia before coming a full circle to die in poverty.