New Geneva

Abstract

This chapter discusses the circumstances relating to the establishment of New Geneva. If the Genevans were from the first associated with the Ulster Volunteers movement, members of the governments in London and Dublin had very different ideas about their purpose. Shelburne undoubtedly had in mind combating France, and proving that Britain, whatever the views of the North American republicans, remained an asylum for liberty. In other words, New Geneva was indissolubly tied to the existing state of international relations. For others, New Geneva yielded a more positive image of Ireland. The support of King George III for the project may well have been because it promised the promotion of forms of Protestantism, and of the morals associated with them that he admired.