Thomas Ledlie D 1808 Birch

Thomas Ledlie Birch (1754–1828) was a Presbyterian minister and radical democrat in the Kingdom of Ireland who joined the United Irishmen in 1792. He formed the Saintfield United Society of Irishmen in 1793 and was active in preparations for the 1798 rebellion. Following the rebellion's suppression, he was forced into American exile and wrote 'A Letter from An Irish Emigrant' (1799), the first published apologia for the United Irish insurrection.