Geneva Barracks
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Geneva Barracks was the name of a British military barracks in County Waterford, Ireland, which gained notoriety as a holding centre for rebel prisoners during and after the 1798 rebellion.
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[edit] Origins
In 1782, the governing Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland achieved a measure of self rule under the English crown by the granting of an Irish Parliament. The subsequent scrapping of the previous trade restrictions imposed by London and which had largely provoked the call for a parliament in Dublin led to a wave of grandiose plans for the economic and cultural development of Ireland. One such plan was for the formation of a colony of artisans and intellectuals to stimulate trade. In 1783 a failed rebellion against the ruling French and Swiss alliance led to a wave of Genevan refugees in Europe. As artisans, they were valued for their knowledge and skills and were invited to settle in Ireland. A site in county Waterford was quickly acquired for the anticipated arrivals and named “New Geneva” in reference to the origins of the first settlers.
[edit] Military Barracks
However, the colony quickly collapsed due to financial and legal difficulties and the site was then taken over by the government who began to transform the settlement into a military base. Barracks were built to house companies of militia newly raised following the outbreak of war between revolutionary France and Britain in 1793. The militia's purpose was to complement the regular forces stationed across the estuary in county Wexford at Duncannon fort and to protect nearby Passage East in the event of French invasion. By 1798 the barracks was capable of holding almost 2,000 soldiers.
[edit] 1798 rebellion: prison
The outbreak of the United Irish rebellion in May 1798 achieved its greatest success in county Wexford and for a time county Waterford was threatened. However, the rebel defeat at New Ross on 5 June prevented the breakout of Wexford rebels and discouraged Waterford rebels from taking to the field. The barracks then became a temporary holding centre for rebels and never held less than 1,000 prisoners by the summer of 1798. The prison at Geneva barracks quickly became notorious for its atrocious conditions and ill treatment of prisoners.
Most prisoners held who were not sentenced to death and executed were transported to Australia or pressed into the Fleet. However, emissaries of the King of Prussia were first allowed to select the fittest men from among the prisoners to serve in his armed forces in part payment for services rendered by his Hessians in suppressing the rebellion. Thomas Cloney, one of the rebel leaders at the battles of Three Rocks, New Ross and Foulksmills endured confinement at New Geneva while under sentence of death which was later commuted to exile by Lord Cornwallis. He claimed that the scars of the manacles put on him during his time in New Geneva were visible decades later.
The barracks gradually fell into disuse in the years following the end of the Napoleonic wars and were finally closed in 1824.
