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The Castle Hill Rebellion: When Irish Revolutionaries Fought British Redcoats in Australia (1804)

Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.

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On the morning of March 5th, 1804, the sound of musket fire echoed across the hills northwest of Sydney, marking the largest convict uprising in Australian history. 

But these weren't ordinary criminals - they were seasoned Irish revolutionaries who had already battled British forces during the 1798 United Irishmen revolt, and now they were making one final desperate bid for freedom on the other side of the world.

This is the extraordinary story of the Castle Hill Rebellion, also known as the Battle of Vinegar Hill, when 300 Irish political prisoners led by Philip Cunningham attempted to seize control of the New South Wales penal colony, capture ships, and sail home to rejoin what they believed was an ongoing revolution in Ireland.

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