April will be here before I know it and with it, Patrick Hore Day. I've spent a lot of time thinking about Patrick's short life and hoping that by some miracle his death sentence wasn't carried out. Perhaps a jailbreak or sentence commuted to transportation. Alas, last night I found a newspaper article that confirmed Patrick had been hanged as scheduled on April 5th in 1798.
The second sentence in the above article reports the craven execution of Patrick and three of his fellow patriots. I first learned of Patrick when several boxes of papers of the Browne-Clayton family were discovered by the National Library. The following is from those papers:
United Irishmen Patrick Hore
and his gang, namely Christopher
Beaghan, Oliver Carey, John Currin, John Howlett and James Muldoon were arrested on
14th March 1798. They were
charged with ‘being evil disposed and Designing persons’ who, on 10th
March, had gathered at Mount Neal,
Carlow, and ‘wickedly’ conspired 'with certain other persons'
to ‘Willfully and of Malice prepare to Kill and Murder the Honorable and Reverend Francis Paul Stratford
[brother of the Earl of Aldborough] against the peace of the King. That they on the 10th of March in
the 38th year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the third King did at
Mount Neal, Carlow between Sunset of said day and Sunrise on the Day next
following did Cut down take and Carry Away one Deal Tree, Value 5 shillings,
One Ash Tree, Value 3 shillings and one Oak Tree, Value 10 shillings the goods
of Francis Paul Stratford, Esquire without his consent, he being the Owner
thereof.”
On 26th March, they appeared before the General Assizes held at Carlow, where upon Information taken by Benjamin Bunbury, revealed that these six men had met earlier in the year at Garristown where they ‘contemptuously maliciously and feloniousy did Administer an Unlawful Oath and Solemn Engagement upon a Book to Mathew Brennan of the import following that is to say "Damnation to the King and All the Royal Family and all his heirs and forces by Sea and Land " and that he [Mathew]should be United with them’. It was further alleged that the day after they met at Mount Neale they were planning ‘Wickedly Unlawfully Maliciously and feloniousy did Compere Confederate and agree together and to and with each other … to Kill and Murder Luke Lyons against the peace’.
The six men were found guilty and sentenced to be ‘hanged by the neck till dead, execution to be done on Monday the fifth day of April next’.
On 26th March, they appeared before the General Assizes held at Carlow, where upon Information taken by Benjamin Bunbury, revealed that these six men had met earlier in the year at Garristown where they ‘contemptuously maliciously and feloniousy did Administer an Unlawful Oath and Solemn Engagement upon a Book to Mathew Brennan of the import following that is to say "Damnation to the King and All the Royal Family and all his heirs and forces by Sea and Land " and that he [Mathew]should be United with them’. It was further alleged that the day after they met at Mount Neale they were planning ‘Wickedly Unlawfully Maliciously and feloniousy did Compere Confederate and agree together and to and with each other … to Kill and Murder Luke Lyons against the peace’.
The six men were found guilty and sentenced to be ‘hanged by the neck till dead, execution to be done on Monday the fifth day of April next’.
When the news article mentions the charge of digging graves it must be in connection to the supposed plots to murder Francis Stratford and Luke Lyons. It does go on to say that two of the convicted were transported, but if the papers were referring to them as the "Patrick Hore Gang" I don't hold out much hope for Pat.
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