Robert Emmet was an Irish republican who led an unsuccessful uprising against British rule in Dublin in 1803. Though the rebellion quickly collapsed, his courage and his impassioned speech from the dock before his execution left a lasting mark on Irish history. Emmet dreamed of an Ireland where its people could govern themselves, free from foreign rule. His final words, asking that no one write his epitaph until Ireland could take its place among the nations of the world, helped make him a lasting symbol of Irish patriotism and the pursuit of independence.