AN upcoming festival will see hundreds take part in a re-enactment of one of the most important clashes to have occurred during the 1798 United Irishmen rebellion.
The 225th anniversary commemoration of the Battle of Ballinamuck starts on Thursday in Co Longford, kicking off four days of events centred around a bloody clash that would signal the end of the Society of United Irishmen's bid to be free of British rule.
The infamous battle saw United Irishmen and French allies led by General Humbert face off against British troops on September 8, 1798, two months after one of the rebellion leaders, Henry Joy McCracken, was executed in Belfast.
Around 500 French and Irish rebels were killed in the battle, and are believed to be buried in a mass grave outside Ballinamuck.
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This Saturday will see the battle re-enacted in Ballinamuck by hundreds of participants in period costume, with visitors able to watch the event and also visit a 'living history' campsite based on where troops waited amid tents on the eve of the clash.
The event has been funded by the Republic's Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media through the Decade of Centenaries Programme.
Other events to take place during the commemoration festival include a family fun day, guided history tours, poetry and storytelling workshops, and demonstrations of blacksmith forging.
A re-enactment of a famous Gelic football match in 1898 between the Ballinamuck Kickers and Mullahoran Dreadnoughts will also take place, with the involvement of local GAA clubs.
Ahead of Saturday's re-enactment, a recreation of the march to battle by troops will take place.
A commemoration spokesperson said: "The march, which is approximately 8km in length, takes place to signify and remember that fatal day when General Humbert marched his men from Cloone in 1798.
"They marched with such bravery to support the Irish in the Battle of Ballinamuck."
