24th
January 1822.
"The Rev. Mr. Trench and family were attacked
on the 24th January in his Carriage on the road at Kellystown,
Carlow. Several shots were fired at his Carriage and the School
House in Kellystown where Rev. Trench and his family took
refuge. One of the horses was killed. I believe the same
gang have committed several Outrages in Carlow".
"I propose that a Subscription be open to offer a reward for the
Discovery of the Perpetrators of the Various Outrages".
"I request the Magistrates of Carlow to reach Agreement that any
Persons concerned in the Outrages who will give Information that
will convict any of the other Persons concerned therein will
obtain his Majesty's Pardon".
"I also request the Magistrates of Carlow to make application to
the Lord Lieutenant to extend Extraordinary Police to Kellystown
and other parts of Carlow which may require it.
I the undersigned Benjamin Bunbury Subscribe £50 Sterling to
Reward Private Information of the Perpetrators".
- (signed)
- B. Bunbury.
Note added by Michael
Purcell 2008:
When Benjamin Bunbury drew up his
Subscription Pledge he could not have known that the Gang
involved (later called the Rathvilly Gang) were actually on
their way to raid his own home that night when quite by
chance, at midnight, the Gang came across Rev. Trench's
Carriage travelling on the road from Castletown to
Kellistown. They decided there and then to attack the
Carriage. Many others subscribed to the Reward and within a
week the total amount offered for information was over £700.
In April 1822 Rev. Fr. M. Doyle P.P. Clonegal informed the
authorities that he had information that would lead to the
arrest of the Gang. In a letter to Captain Brown, (whom he
describes as "Governor ") Father Doyle described the Gang as
"...a Gang of Robbers, resident in the
Barony of Rathvilly, men, some of whom have grown grey in
their inveterate habits and have trained up their youth in
villainous practices, to wit, taking up arms, robbing etc.
etc. till at length they attempted to rob the Rev Mr.
Trench...".
I have received information from one of the
party whom I have moved to repentance and even to prosecute
the entire Gang to conviction, But on certain conditions, I
could not prevail on him to prosecute if their lives were in
danger. The Gang members were duly arrested and tried
"..as a gang of thugs who had been terrorizing the
inhabitants of the county of Carlow and surrounding counties
for many years".
The head of the Gang, Michael Finnegan, was
reported as having 50 acres of land, 30 cows and a
well-appointed set of farming implements. The Judge in the
case was the "Hanging Judge", Lord Norbury, who was reported
as being very emotional as he sentenced some of the gang to
death for their crimes. Other members of the gang were
transported.
Later the Rev. Fr. Doyle looked for his
share of the Reward, BUT, he was told the Reward was only
payable if the Gang had been convicted of the attack on the
Rev. Trench but as we will see from the following newspaper
report it would appear that the Authorities acted smart and
did not charge the Gang with the attack on Trench but
charged them with a different crime and therefore did not
have to make good on the promise of £700 reward. Also in an
effort to claim the Reward, many
"informers" had come
forward giving false and misleading information to the
Authorities, this also led to confusion concerning payment.
As far as I can ascertain the Reward was never collected.
Transcribed by: Michael Purcell
c2008
"OUTRAGE"
On Thursday July 25th 1822 The Chief
Baron Lord Norbury (John Toler, a Tipperary man) pronounced
"with tears in his eyes"
the following Sentence:
To be hanged at Carlow Gaol on Tuesday
6th August 1822.
Michael, Timothy and Hue Finnegan,
William Nowlan and William Walsh.
To be hanged on Saturday the 10th of
August 1822, Andrew and Armstrong Anderson, Nicholas and
Thomas Troy and Christopher Dooley.
Charging the Jury his Lordship
recapitulated the entire of the evidence and paid a high
compliment to the Rev. Mr. Doyle, Parish Priest of Clonegal,
for the "admirable line of conduct which he had observed
in bringing about the means by which the offenders had been
delivered into the hands of justice".
Addressing the prisoners he stated that
"it was melancholy to reflect that neither youth nor age
could protect them - Some of you are too old to have been
found in so degrading and distressing a situation, while if
the parents of the others had done their duty and paid
proper attention to their children, some of you ought now to
be under chastisement in school instead of standing forward
to await the penality of the law, sufficient time for
preparation will be afforded to each of you, provided you
made a good use of it".
(Hue Finnegan was 12 years old, I am
trying to ascertain the ages of the others.)
- The above is a true and
accurate transcript of the original document.
|
Transcribed by:
Pat. O' Reagan c2008 |
|
The Carlow Morning Post, August 22nd
1822.
Public Executions in Carlow.
Michael Finnegan, Hugh Finnegan (father and
son) and William Nolan were launched into eternity at about
3.30 p.m. on August 20th. The execution took place in front
of the Carlow Gaol where the unfortunate gentlemen were
attended by Rev. W. Fitzgerald. They acknowledged the
justice of their sentences and were apparently resigned to
their fate. The sheriff having postponed the execution until
after the arrival of the Dublin Coach. Not less than 20,000
persons assembled to witness the execution - more than half
were of the fair sex- and there remained in town several
hundreds of both sexes who returned home to their respective
dwellings in a state of drunkenness. They and the other
members of the gang had been convicted of burglary and
robbery from the house of Patrick Farrell, Grangeford on
April 18th 1822.
- The above is a true and
accurate transcript of the original document.
|
Transcribed
by: Michael Purcell
c2008 |
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