the Irish Catholic priesthood. Union was opposed by most hardline Irish Protestants, as well as liberals such as Grattan. FitzGibbon had been a strong supporter of Union since 1793, but refused to have Catholic emancipation with the Union. In the end, FitzGibbon's views won out, leading to the Union of Ireland with Great Britain to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland without any concessions for Ireland's Catholic majority (or for that matter, Catholics in the rest of the new United Kingdom). FitzGibbon later claimed that he had been duped by the way in which the Act was passed (by the new Viceroy Lord Cornwallis promising reforms to Irish Catholics), and was bitterly opposed to any concessions during the short remainder of his life. FitzGibbon as Lord Chancellor in the Irish Rebellion of 1798 FitzGibbon's role as Lord Chancellor of Ireland during the period of the 1798 rebellion is questionable. According to some, he supported a hardline policy which used torture, murder and massacre to crush the rebellion , or that as Lord Chancellor, he had considerable influence on military affairs, and that martial law could not have been imposed without his consent. Others allege that as Lord chancellor, he had no say in military affairs and the Encyclopædia Britannica states that he was "neither cruel nor immoderate and was inclined to mercy when dealing with individuals", however the same source also states that "(Fitzgibbon).. was a powerful supporter of a repressive policy toward Irish Catholics". Fitzgibbon's former side was displayed by sparing the lives of the captured United Irish leaders, 'State prisoners', in return for their confession of complicity and provision of information relating to the planning of the rebellion. However, this willingness of the prisoners to partake of the agreement was spurred by the execution of the brothers John and Henry Sheares on 14 July 1798. In contrast to the leniency shown to the largely upper class leadership, the full weight of military repression was inflicted upon the common people throughout the years 1797–98 with untold thousands suffering imprisonment, torture, transportation and death. Fitzgibbon was inclined to show no mercy to unrepentant rebels and in October 1798 he expressed his disgust upon the capture of Wolfe Tone that he had been granted a trial and his belief that Tone should have been hanged as soon as he set foot on land. He was quick to recognise