Robert Emmet (4 March 1778 – 20 September 1803) was an Irish nationalist and Republican, orator and rebel leader. He led an abortive rebellion against British rule in 1803 and was captured, tried and executed for high treason. Robert Emmet came from a wealthy Protestant family who sympathised with Irish Catholics, namely their lack of fair representation in Parliament. The Emmet family also sympathised with the American Revolution. From a very early age Robert Emmet’s political and social aspirations views were defined. As an orator, some of his last words were made in a speech on the eve of his execution. Robert Emmet was born at St. Stephen's Green, in Dublin on 4 March 1778. He was the youngest son of Dr Robert Emmet (1729–1802), a court physician, and his wife, Elizabeth Mason(1739–1803). The Emmets were financially comfortable, with a house at St Stephen's Green and a country residence near Milltown. One of his elder brothers was the nationalist Thomas Addis Emmet, a close friend of Theobald Wolfe Tone, who was a frequent visitor to the house when Robert was a child. Robert Emmet entered Trinity College, Dublin in October 1793, at the age of fifteen.