Charles Teeling
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Charles Hamilton Teeling (1778–1848) was an Irish political activist, journalist, writer, and publisher from
Lisburn Lisburn ( ; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with t ...
, County Antrim,
Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...
. He was the second son of Luke Teeling a successful Catholic linen merchant who in the cause of complete Catholic Emancipation had been a delegate to the Convention, or "Back Lane Parliament", that had been called by the Catholic Committee in Dublin in December 1792. In 1798, the Teeling mill was to be destroyed by Orangemen. At the age of 16, he joined his elder brother
Bartholomew Teeling Bartholomew Teeling ( – 24 September 1798) was an Irish military officer and nationalist who was the leader of the rebel forces during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and who carried out an act of bravery during the Battle of Collooney. He ...
in the
Society of United Irishmen The Society of United Irishmen was a sworn association, formed in the wake of the French Revolution, to secure Representative democracy, representative government in Ireland. Despairing of constitutional reform, and in defiance both of British ...
, formed in 1791 by Protestant reformers in
Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
. In defiance of the Ascendancy Parliament in Dublin, and of the
Dublin Castle Dublin Castle () is a major Government of Ireland, Irish government complex, conference centre, and tourist attraction. It is located off Dame Street in central Dublin. It is a former motte-and-bailey castle and was chosen for its position at ...
Executive answerable to London, the Society sought "an equal representation of all the people" of Ireland in a "national government." With his brother-in-law John Magennis, the Teeling brothers helped connect the United Irishmen with the
Defenders Defender(s) or The Defender(s) may refer to: * Defense (military) * Defense (sports) ** Defender (association football) Arts and entertainment Film, television, and theatre Film * ''The Defender'' (1989 film), a Canadian documentary * ''The D ...
.. A vigilante response to Peep O'Day Boy raids upon Catholic homes in the mid-1780s, by the mid-1790s the Defenders, like the United Irishmen, developed into an extensive oath-bound fraternity. He was a witness, he later claimed, not a partisan in their confrontation with the Peep O'Day Boys in the
Battle of the Diamond The Battle of the Diamond was a planned confrontation between the Catholic Defenders and the Protestant Peep o' Day Boys that took place on 21 September 1795 near Loughgall, County Armagh, Ireland. The Peep o' Day Boys were the victors, killi ...
, 1795. His activities with the United Irishmen and Defenders led to his arrest on 16 September 1796, for high treason. He was released on bail the following year, remaining free during and after the
1798 rebellion The Irish Rebellion of 1798 (; Ulster-Scots: ''The Turn out'', ''The Hurries'', 1798 Rebellion) was a popular insurrection against the British Crown in what was then the separate, but subordinate, Kingdom of Ireland. The main organising force ...
, in which he was to deny any involvement. He was arrested, and briefly held, again in the wake of
Robert Emmet Robert Emmet (4 March 177820 September 1803) was an Irish Republican, orator and rebel leader. Following the suppression of the United Irish uprising in 1798, he sought to organise a renewed attempt to overthrow the British Crown and Prote ...
's abortive uprising in 1803, probably due to the involvement of his younger brother George. Teeling edited a short-lived monthly, the ''Ulster Magazine'' (Belfast, 1830–31), and then started or took over a weekly newspaper, the ''Northern Herald'' (Belfast), edited partly by Thomas O'Hagan (qv), the future Baron O'Hagan, which survived somewhat longer (1833–36). His memoirs of the politics of his youth appeared in three parts: ''Personal Narrative of the "Irish Rebellion" of 1798'' (1828), his ''Sequel to Personal Narrative of the "Irish Rebellion" of 1798'' (1832), and his ''History and Consequences of the Battle of the Diamond'' (1835). In 1835, through the ''Northern Herald'', Teeling helped launch the journalistic career of
Charles Gavan Duffy Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, KCMG, His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, PC (12 April 1816 – 9 February 1903), was an Irish poet and journalist (editor of ''The Nation (Irish news ...
, future
Young Ireland Young Ireland (, ) was a political movement, political and cultural movement, cultural movement in the 1840s committed to an all-Ireland struggle for independence and democratic reform. Grouped around the Dublin weekly ''The Nation (Irish news ...
er and editor of ''
The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...
''. Charles Hamilton Teeling was said to be ‘late of Belfast’ when he died on 14 August 1848.


References

1778 births 1850 deaths Irish journalists Irish newspaper founders 19th-century Irish writers Writers from Lisburn 19th-century Irish businesspeople Businesspeople from Lisburn {{ireland-journalist-stub