James Napper Tandy

James Napper Tandy 1740-1803, Irish revolutionary. Originally a small tradesman in Dublin, he gained attention by his attacks on municipal corruption and his proposal to boycott English goods as a reprisal for the restrictions placed on Irish commerce. He joined the Irish volunteer army (see Ireland ), and he aided Theodore Wolfe Tone in founding (1791) the Dublin branch of the United Irish Society (see United Irishmen ). When faced with a sedition charge in 1793, Tandy fled to the United States and then to France (1798), where he was given the title of general. He landed (1798) in Ireland, but when he discovered that the French expedition of General Humbert to aid the Irish rebellion had failed, he fled to Hamburg, where he was arrested. He was returned to Ireland (1800), sentenced to execution, but reprieved through French influence. He died in France. His fame is perpetuated in the Irish ballad "The Wearing of the Green."

Tandy, James Napper (c.1737–1803). Variously described as ironmonger and land agent, Tandy was a prominent patriot activist in guild and corporation politics, commander of artillery for the city's Volunteers, and leader in 1784 of the more aggressive and plebeian campaign for parliamentary reform, protectionism, and a limited Catholic franchise that succeeded the main Volunteer agitation. Approached by Tone and Russell, he convened the Dublin branch of the United Irish movement and became its first secretary. When an attempt to establish contact with the Defenders exposed him to capital charges, he fled to America (1793) and then France (1797), where his rivalry with Tone divided the Irish radical exiles. In 1798 he sailed as commander of the Anacréon, with supplies for Humbert. On 16 September the expedition landed briefly on Rutland Island (see conyngham, william) but withdrew on learning of Humbert's defeat. Tandy's arrest in neutral Hamburg in November provoked a diplomatic controversy. He was returned to Ireland, convicted, and sentenced to death, but deported to France in 1802.