A Report of the Debate which took place at a General Meeting of the Roman Catholics … for the Purpose of Considering the Propriety of Adopting the Declaration of the General Committee of the Roman Catholics of Ireland (Dublin: Printed by P. Byrne,1 1792)

The Roman Catholics of Ireland, Mr. Keogh said, had been called on by their fellow-subjects to declare themselves, and either to avow or disclaim the principles which had been attributed to them. Another objection to investing the Catholics with that first privilege of a free Citizen; that privilege, which constitutes the distinction between freedom and slavery – the elective franchise, was, that they were a set of ignorant and uneducated men. But granting the allegation of their antagonists in its fullest extent it could have no weight against the right of the Catholic, until it should have become a principle of the constitution, that it was knowledge, not property, that ought to be represented. Unchain the Roman Catholics, put no bars to their efforts, share with them the general protection now confined to Protestants. Many entertained fears for the safety of the Protestant religion, if Roman Catholics were emancipated.