Dr. John Esmonde, was a physician from Sallins, Co. Kildare, and member of the United Irishmen, who was hanged in 1798 for having led the insurgents in the Battle of Prosperous, in Co. Kildare, during the risings of that year. Esmonde was a medical doctor and became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland shortly after it was established. He attended the Catholic Convention. As a Lieutenant in the Clane Yeomanry, he was court-martialed and deemed a deserter, and was executed by hanging (with his coat reversed to indicated he was a deserter) on 13 June 1798.