A Chara,
Welcome to the official web site for the Russell Gaelic Union, Downpatrick, Co. Down.

The information contained in the following pages will, hopefully, be of interest to the many supporters and friends of the R.G.U both at home and further afield, as well as the Gaels from neighbouring clubs and clubs throughout Ireland.

It is our intention to provide up to date information about all our teams, including fixtures, results, and if available match reports. We hope also to include forthcoming events and entertainment in our social club. The history section will trace all aspects of Gaelic culture in the county since the clubs formation in 1896 and will be sub-divided into categories to embrace football, hurling, camogie and the most recent phenomenon ladies football.

We at the R.G.U would welcome and appreciate any comments on any aspect of club affairs, through our message board, which can be accessed by clicking the Gael forum tab.

Is Mise,
Oilibear O'Muireagain
Oliver Morgan Web site manager for the R.G.U Downpatrick.


Thomas Russell – the man from God knows where

Born on November 27th 1767 in Betsborough House, Drumahane, North Cork, Thomas Russell now rests in the church of Ireland graveyard in Downpatrick. He was denied a dying request to be buried with this parents at the Royal Kilmainham Hospital, Dublin, and by a twist of fate he become the honorary member of the Russell Gaelic Union.
It would seem appropriate therefore, that in presenting this abbreviated history of the R.G.U., we should include a synopsis of the life of Thomas Russell, whose name the club adopted.

Having joined the British Army at the age of 15, Russell eventually resigned his Lieutenants commission in 1791 after being posted to Belfast. He there immersed himself in preparing the ground for Wolfe Tone’s visit to Belfast to found the first society of United Irishmen

Russell now began to devote a lot of his time to the propagation of the society, whose goal was to achieve a reform of the Irish government that is linked to England through an executive at Dublin Castle. They wanted a society that would provide equality of opportunity for everyone, irrespective of their creed or class, and they hoped that they would attract the loyalty of people from all religious traditions living in Ireland.

Thomas Russell was an activist as well as a philosopher, and he was influential in formulating the strategy of the United Irish movement He encouraged Wolfe Tone to travel from the United States to France to seek military support. Regretfully Russell was unable to assist his ally Tone in the 1798 rebellion, because the government showed an immense disapproval of a letter he had published ‘to the people of Ireland’ in 1796 and had him arrested and imprisoned in Dublin where he remained for over two years. In 1799 Russell, together with a number of other political prisoners, was transferred to Fort George prison in Scotland, until his release in 1802.

Following the jailed rebellion of 1798, an innovative plan was devised to capture Ireland from the English military. Russell travelled from Dublin to the North with Jeremy Hope and William Hamilton in July 1803 to enlist support. Unfortunately an explosion in an insurgent arms depot in Dublin on July 16th forced Robert Emmett to bring the date of the rising forward to July23rd.

This left little time for Russell to organise support. He travelled to Loughinisland with his adjutant general James Drake on July 22nd, and succeeded to gain quite a few recruits. Regrettably for Russell, some local personalities persuaded the Loughinisland people to withdraw their support on the evening of the 23rd July.

Consequently only a few turned up at Vianstown to help him capture the garrison at Downpatrick. Emmett’s rising in Dublin was still born. He was later arrested along with Russell, whose trial began at 10am on October 20th 1803.

As a thinker Russell was a danger to the establishment. He believed he was chosen by God to challenge the injustice in Irish society at the time. He said before his death ‘I understand that there were two kinds of law, the law of the state and the law of God, and often they conflicted with each other. I always attempted to spend my life according to Gods law.

At Russell’s trial, those who testified against him, did so under duress, and had been threatened with the charge of treason if they did collaborate. Only two of Russell’s officers did not give evidence against him. They were James Corry and Russell’s adjutant general, James Drake, from Russell was hanged on Friday October 21st 1803, Corry suffered a similar fate o Saturday October 22nd, and Drake likewise on Monday 24th October 1903.

Russell was one of the most enigmatic and unfathomable of all the United Irishmen. His social mobility was astonishing for his time and he could relate comfortably to land labourers and land owners. Russell was a charismatic character, and the affection and loyalty that he inspired and reciprocated endured him during his long imprisonment without trial and after this execution.

Russell’s best works were recalled vividly in the final verse of Florence Wilson’s poem ‘The Man From God Knows Where’.
"I was brave and near to the edge of the throng,
yet I knowed his face again
And I knowed the set and I knowed the walk
And the sound of his strange up country talk
For he spoke out right and plain.
Then he bowed his head to the swinging rope
While I said Please God to his dyin’ hope,
And Amen to his dyin’ prayer.
That the wrong would cease and the right prevail
For the main they hanged at Downpatrick Jail
Was the man from God knows where!"