The three privateers of Rush

LONG before the fictional exploits of Dumas’ Three Musketeers, the fishing village of Rush, County Dublin, produced its own trio of real life adventurers whose story rivals any Hollywood epic. At the centre of it stood Luke Ryan, an Irish privateer and smuggler whose audacious career during the American War of Independence made him one of the most notorious raiders ever to prowl British waters.

Ryan (above) was born in Rush on February 14, 1750 and educated locally. From an early age he worked in boatyards around Skerries and Ringsend, training as a shipwright before being drawn into the extensive smuggling networks that thrived along the North Dublin coast. By the 1770s, Rush had become a major hub for Irish Sea smuggling, benefiting from its proximity to Dublin and long established links with French ports. As older smugglers retired amid wartime disruption, Ryan quickly rose to prominence.

Life on the ocean wave

By 1779, he was captain and part owner of the 120 tonne cutter ‘Friendship,’ running contraband tea, spirits, and tobacco sourced largely from Dunkirk through the financier Jean Torris. To disguise its true purpose, the vessel carried a British privateering commission. That April, the Friendship was seized at Rush for smuggling and its crew imprisoned in Dublin’s notorious Black Dog Gaol. What followed was one of the most daring episodes in Irish maritime history— Ryan orchestrated a breakout, his crew escaped prison, retook the vessel by force at Poolbeg and fled to France, an act punishable by death under British law.

Backed by Torris, the ship was refitted, renamed the ‘Black Prince,’ and heavily armed. To avoid execution if captured under a French commission, Ryan sought protection from a different source. In May 1779, he secured an American privateering commission from one Benjamin Franklin, then the US envoy in France. To ease American concerns, a Boston shipmaster, Stephen Marchant, was named nominal captain, though Ryan exercised real command over a largely Irish crew.

The Black Prince proved devastatingly effective. Operating in the English Channel, Irish Sea, and off the coasts of Wales, Cornwall and Ireland, Ryan captured or ransomed numerous merchant vessels. As British naval pressure increased, he relied more on ransoms than bringing prizes into port. His methods were deceptive and ruthless—false flags were common, and even neutral ships were sometimes robbed, blurring the line between privateering and outright piracy.

Franklin, though occasionally embarrassed by the Irish privateers’ excesses, recognised their value. During the American War of Independence, privateers were a vital weapon against British commerce. According to figures cited in the British House of Lords, American privateers captured or destroyed more than 700 British and Irish ships, causing millions of pounds in losses. Franklin also believed Irish privateers—who shared a common enemy with the American rebels—could be strategically aligned with American and French interests.

By September 1779, Ryan formally assumed the captaincy of the Black Prince. His reputation grew as he ranged as far as Western Scotland, even raiding coastal villages for supplies. Despite his audacity, he was often described as relatively civil toward his victims, which only added to his notoriety. Although sometimes embarrassed by the Rush men’s antics, Franklin went further, commissioning a second vessel, the ‘Black Princess,’ captained by Ryan’s associate Patrick Dowling. Together with other Irish captains from Rush, they sailed under American, French and sometimes British commissions, effectively operating under three flags and on opposite sides in the same war.

Ill health forced Ryan to relinquish command of the Black Prince in 1780 to his cousin Edward Macatter. He sold his share to Torris, but soon returned to sea in a larger vessel, the ‘Fearnot,’ again under an American commission. Cruising the Hebrides, Western Scotland, and Northern Irish waters, Ryan landed raiding parties in remote areas, spreading panic and driving up marine insurance rates.

French concerns over the privateers’ behaviour eventually led Franklin to withdraw their American commissions later in 1780. By then, Ryan had taken around 50 prizes under American colours. He accepted a French commission and continued privateering with remarkable success, commanding increasingly powerful ships, including the formidable ‘Calonne.’ He captured numerous vessels off Ireland and in the North Sea and was rewarded with French citizenship and civic honours in Dunkirk.

Capture

Ryan’s career ended abruptly in April 1781. Sailing near the Firth of Forth, he mistakenly attacked British frigates and was captured, along with Macatter after a brief pursuit. Imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle and later London, he was charged with piracy and treason. At his sensational 1782 trial, the prosecution proved he was Irish-born, undermining his claim to foreign status. He and Macatter were sentenced to death, their bodies ordered to be displayed in chains as a warning.

International pressure—including appeals from France and the United States, secured repeated reprieves—and both men were finally pardoned in March 1783. Ryan remained imprisoned for debt disputes with Torris and was released the following year, having lost much of his fortune. He spent his final years quietly in England with his wife and three children, dying in the King’s Bench prison in 1789.

Luke Ryan’s life—along with Dowlings and Macatters—epitomised the blurred boundaries between smuggling, privateering and piracy, and left an enduring mark on Irish Sea history during the American War of Independence.