Joseph Holt ( rebel ) Joseph Holt ( 1756 – 16 May 1826 ) was a United Irish general and leader of a large guerrilla force which fought against British troops in County Wicklow from June – October 1798 . He was exiled to Australia in 1799 where he worked as a farm manager and later returned to Ireland in 1814 . Background . Holt was one of six sons of John Holt , a farmer in County Wicklow . The Holt family were Protestant loyalists in Ballydaniel ( Ballydonnell ) near Redcross who arrived in Ireland as Elizabethan or planters under James I . Holt , upon marrying Hester Long [ maternally of the Manning ( " Oranger " ) family ] in 1782 , set himself up as a farmer in the vicinity of Roundwood . He joined the Irish Volunteers in the 1780s and held a number of minor public offices such as an inspector of wool and cloth but became involved in law enforcement as a sub - constable , billet master for the militia and a bounty hunter . Holt was involved in The Battle of Vinegar Hill which was an engagement during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 on 21 June 1798 when over 15 , 000 British soldiers launched an attack on Vinegar Hill outside Enniscorthy , County Wexford . 1798 . Despite Holt ' s apparent loyalism , he became a member of the Society of United Irishmen in 1797 and gradually began to attract suspicion until finally in May 1798 his house was burned down by the Fermanagh militia , instigated by the local landlord Thomas Hugo who owed Holt a sum of money . Holt then took to the Wicklow mountains , gradually assuming a position of prominence with the United Irish mostly Catholic rebels . Avoiding set - piece battles , Holt led a fierce campaign of raids and ambushes against loyalist military targets in Wicklow , striking at will and reducing government influence in the county to urban strongholds . The defeat of the County Wexford rebels at Vinegar Hill on 21 June saw surviving rebel factions heading towards the Wicklow Mountains to link up with Holt ' s forces . Emerging to meet them , Holt was given much of the credit for the planning of the ambush and defeat of a pursuing force of 200 British cavalry at Ballyellis on 30 June 1798 . However the subsequent midlands campaign to revive the rebellion was a disaster and Holt was lucky to escape with his life back to the safety of the Wicklow Mountains . Holt rallied the remaining rebels and continued his United Irish guerrilla campaign as before allegedly even solving gunpowder shortages by inventing his own concoction known as ' Holt ' s Mixture ' . Eluding a number of large - scale sweeps into the mountains by the army following the collapse of the rising , Holt together with Rebel Captain Michael Dwyer tied down thousands of troops and his forces were augmented by a steady supply of recruits , a significant proportion of whom were deserters from the militia . Surrender . Holt had largely held out in expectation of the arrival of French aid but news of the defeat of the French at the Ballinamuck together with his ill - health brought about by the hardships of his fugitive life , age and family considerations prompted Holt to initiate contact through intermediaries as his wife , Hester Long ' s sister worked at Powerscourt for Lord Richard Wingfield , 4th Viscount Powerscourt with the Dublin Castle authorities with a view to a negotiated surrender . Dublin Castle was eager to end the rebellion in Wicklow and allow him exile after incarceration in the Bermingham Tower without trial in New South Wales . Bank of Ireland Peter La Touche paid for his pregnant wife Hester Long and son Joshua Holt ' s passage and for their daughter to be educated in Ireland . Transportation . Holt went out on the " Minerva " ( along with Henry Fulton ) and on it met Captain William Cox who had been appointed paymaster of the New South Wales Corps . The ship arrived at Sydney on 11 January 1800 , and shortly afterwards Holt agreed to manage Captain Cox ' s farm . He always claimed in Australia that he was a political exile and not a convict . In September 1800 he was arrested on suspicion of being concerned in a plot against the government , but was soon afterwards released as no evidence could be found against him . He was successful in his management for Cox , and afterwards bought land for himself which eventually yielded him a competence . In 1804 a group of convicts plotted to over throw a garrison at Parramatta and head up the river to take a ship and sail back to Ireland and escape but Holt sold out the plan earlier to the Governor and was given a pardon in exchange for his information . In April 1804 he was sent to Norfolk Island and put to hard labour . After he had been there 14 weeks Governor King sent instructions that he should be recalled to New South Wales , but delays occurred and it was not until February 1806 that he arrived at Sydney again . Pardon . In June 1809 Holt received a free pardon , but as this had been given after the arrest of Governor Bligh , it had to be handed in to the government when Governor Macquarie arrived . Holt , however , was officially pardoned on 1 January 1811 and in December 1812 , having sold some of his land and stock , with his wife and younger son took passage to Europe on the " Isabella " ; also on board was Henry Browne Hayes . The ship was wrecked by a reef so the passengers and crew were landed at Eagle Island one of the Falkland Islands , and Holt showed great resolution and ingenuity in making the best of the conditions on the island . He was rescued on 4 April 1813 but did not reach England until 22 February 1814 as he went via the United States . Holt retired to Ireland where he lived for the rest of his life , but regretted he had left Australia . He died at Kingstown now Dún Laoghaire near Dublin on 16 May 1826 and is buried in Carrickbrennan Churchyard at Monkstown . He was a man of great courage and force of character , a good leader of men . ( see " Bolton " ) His elder son Joshua Holt married and remained in New South Wales , and the younger son Joseph Harrison Holt also went there via the United States after his father ' s 1826 death . Further reading . county