A Successful French Invasion Of Britain Through Ireland?

Wolfe Tone certainly requested French help for his rebellion. It seems that the French Foreign minister was a rabid Anglophobe and was frothing at the mouth to help! Two such invasions were planned one through Galway with about 5,000 troops, which never materialised and one through Cork again comming to nought. These were in 1797! In 1798 General Humbert landed at Kilala, Co. Mayo with about 200 troops and was initially sucessful but on meeting much larger British forces took a hiding and eventually helped the british Imperial forces round up rebels who had managed to flee. The story is recreated in Tom flanagan's novel 'The Year Of The French' and was serialised on RTE (Irish National Television) under the same name! Was such an invasion ever really a runner and if so how would Ireland have fared as a French colony, quite badly I suspect!
 
I had not read the timeline on this one or even seen it which was posted just a few days before, but the whole scenario of a sucessful French invasion of Britain through Ireland and Ireland subsequently becomming a French colony is interesting!
 

Sior

Banned
It would end up with Welsh Women kicking French ass! Just like OTL

[FONT=arial,helvetica,arial,lucida sans]THE FRENCH INVASION OF FISHGUARD[/FONT]
During their two days on British soil the French soldiers must have shaken in their boots at mention of name of "Jemima Fawr" (Jemima the Great). The 47-year-old Jemima Nicholas was the wife of a Fishguard cobbler. When she heard of the invasion, she marched out to Llanwnda, pitchfork in hand and rounded up 12 Frenchmen. She brought them into town and promptly left to look for some more. - Men of Harlech meet your match!
 
It would end up with Welsh Women kicking French ass! Just like OTL

[FONT=arial,helvetica,arial,lucida sans]THE FRENCH INVASION OF FISHGUARD[/FONT]
http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/Wales-History/Fishguard.htm
During their two days on British soil the French soldiers must have shaken in their boots at mention of name of "Jemima Fawr" (Jemima the Great). The 47-year-old Jemima Nicholas was the wife of a Fishguard cobbler. When she heard of the invasion, she marched out to Llanwnda, pitchfork in hand and rounded up 12 Frenchmen. She brought them into town and promptly left to look for some more. - Men of Harlech meet your match!
Look like a piece of propaganda.
 

archaeogeek

Banned
Look like a piece of propaganda.

It is; the landing was bungled up, the troops sent to Wales were ex-convicts released just for that, and the commanders were considered politically unreliable rookies, and the troops were barely a demi-brigade in strength. The odds of success of the landing were basically a fraction of Napoleon's odds in Italy.

Much of the story is difficult to attest outside of rah-rah-ing British sources, especially when Cawdor starts claiming that the french had reinforced the legion noire with grenadiers.
 
The version I heard was that many of the women wore red dresses and at a distance the French mistook them for Redcoats.

As far as the Irish notion goes, a French army could, with better luck, probably have made it to Ireland, but then what? They are no nearer England (indeed somewhat further away) than they would have been at Calais. They are marooned in Ireland much as Bonaparte's men were in Egypt. It will be difficult to get supplies to them from France, so they'll have to live off the country, which won't do much for their popularity. Eventually, I suspect, their commander sneaks off home and they are left behind until enough British forces can be brought to bear to compel their surrender.
 
Trotsky, why be so pedantic? Your namesake would not have been like that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Admiral Hoche in 1796 Nearly did It.

In 1796 Admiral Hoche came towards Ireland with a fleet of 14,000 French troops and great Irish patriot Wolfe Tone and reached Bantry Bay in Co. Cork, Southern Ireland but due to horrific weather conditions failed to land. However they did manage to get back to France allright!
 
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