Upon the mercy of government : the story of the surrender, transportation, and imprisonment of Michael Dwyer and his Wicklow comrades, and their subsequent lives in New South Wales

For a period of five years following the 1798 Rebellion in Ireland, Michael Dwyer and a dwindling number of his followers held out in the Wicklow mountains. But the abortive rising of Robert Emmet in July 1803 led to a major military operation being directed against them.
Upon the Mercy of Government records the exact circumstances which led to the surrrender of Dwyer and his closest imrades; it traces their fortunes from their subsequent imprisonment under the rrrannical Edward Trevor in Kilmainham Jail, io their eventual transportation in the convict ship 'Tellicherry' to the penal colony of New South Wales. Initially granted the status of free settlers, they were soon confronted by the dictatorial governor, William Bligh of the 'Bounty'.
This painstakingly researched book gives a vivid account of their subsequent struggles to attain economic viability. It concentrates in particular on the career of Michael Dwyer, tracing his subsequent disastrous business dealings and his sad death. Upon the Mercy of Government is an historical work which portrays a very human story and also gives fresh insights into the history of both Ireland and Australia in the early part of the nineteenth century.