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Notes in italics. County Cork placenames in bold type, names of the Whiteboys etc in bold capitals
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THE WHITE COCKADE
King Charles he is King James's son,And from a royal line is sprung;
They up with shout and out with blade,
And we'll raise once more the white cockade.
O! my dear, my fair-hair'd youth,
Thou yet hast hearts of fire and truth;
Then up with shout, and out with blade,
We'll raise once more the white cockade.
My young men's hearts are dark with woe,
On my virgin's cheeks the grief-drops flow,
The sun scarce lights the sorrowing day,
Since our rightful prince went away.
He's gone, the stranger holds his throne,
The royal bird far off is flown:
But up with shout and out with blade,
We'll stand or fall with the white cockade.
No more the cuckoo hails the spring,
The woods no more with the staunch-hounds ring;
The song from the glen, so sweet before,
Is hush'd since our Charles has left our shore.
The Prince is gone: but he soon will come,
With trumpet sound and with beat of drum;
Then up with shout, and out with blade,
Huzza for the right and the white cockade.
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O SAY MY BROWN DRIMIN
O say, my brown Drimin, thou silk of the kine*Where, where are thy strong ones, last hope of thy line?
Too deep and too long is the slumber they take,
At the loud call of freedom why don't they awake?
My strong ones have fallen - from the bright eye of day,
All darkly they sleep in their dwelling of clay;
The cold turf is oe'er them; they hear not my cries,
And since Louis no aid gives I cannot arise.
O! where art thou Louis, our eyes are on thee?
Are thy lofty ships walking in strength oe'er the sea?
In freedom's last strife if you linger or quail.
No morn e'er shall break on the night of the Gael.
But should the King's son, now berefit of his right,
Come proud in his strength for his Country to fight,
Like leaves on the trees will new people arise,
And deep from this mountains shout back to my cries.
When the Prince, now an exile, shall come for his own,
The isles of his father, his rights and his throne,
My people in battle the Saxons will meet,
And kick them before , like old shoes from their feet.
O'er mountain and valleys they'll press on their rout,
The five ends of Erin shall ring to their shout;
My sons all united shall bless the glad day,
When the flint-hearted Saxons they've chased far away.
* Drimin is the favourite name of a cow, by which Ireland is here allegorically denoted. - Silk of the Cows - an idiomatic expression for the most beautiful of cattle, which is preserved in translating.
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THE AVENGER
[Callanan estimates a date of 1708 for this song]
O Heavens! If that long-wished-for morning I spied,As high as three kings I'd leap up in my pride;
With transport I'd laugh, and my shout should arise,
As the fire from each mountain blazed bright to the skies.
The Avenger shall lead us right on to the foe,
Our horns should sound out, and our trumpets should blow;
Ten thousand huzzas should ascend to high heaven,
When our Prince was restored, and our fetters were riven.
O! Chieftains of Ulster, when will you come forth,
And send your strong cry to the winds of the north?
The wrongs of a king call aloud for your steel -
Red stars of the battle - O Donnell, O Neal!
Bright house of O Connor, high offspring of kings,
Up, up, like the eagle, when heavenward he springs!
O, break ye once more from the Saxon's strong rule,
Lost race of MacMurchad, O Byrne, and O Toole!
Momonia of Druids - green dwelling of song!
Where, where are thy minstrels? Why sleep they so long?
Does no bard live to wake, as they oft did before,
McCarthy, - O Brien, O Sullivan More?
O come from your hills, like the waves to the shore,
When the storm-girded headland are mad with the roar!
Ten thousand hurras shall ascend to high heaven,
When our Prince is restor'd and our fetters are riven.
From 'JACOBITE SONGS' [Translated from the Irish], in 'Selections from the Poems of J.J. Callanan,' J. O Mahony, JCHAS Vol. 1A, 1892
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1722 - CAPTAINS HENRY WARD and FRANCIS FITZGERALD, were hanged and quartered at Gallows-Green on Wednesday, April 18th, for enlisting men for the service of the Pretender; they were prosecuted by Maurice Hayes, William Owgan, and Augustus Carey, Esqrs., Sheriffs. WILLIAM ROE stood in the Pillory on Saturday the 19th, and was whipt on Wednesday the 23d May, for repeating the following seditious words: ' May King James the Third enjoy his own again.' (Fitzgerald's Cork Remembrancer, 1783)
1722 - DANIEL MURPHY, on Saturday the 9th, and PATRICK SWEENEY, on Saturday the 16th of June, were executed at gallows-green, Cork, for enlisting men for the service of the Pretender, at the prosecution of Maurice Hayes; they were tried by a special commission. (Edward's Cork Remembrancer, 1792)
1736 - Henry Jacques pilloried for perjury, April 17th; he suborned Daniel Connel to swear false examinations against John Breade,for being a Papist, carrying arms. (Fitzgerald's Cork Remembrancer, 1783)
1746 - WILLIAM FORSTER, for seditious words (he being a post-boy, coming into town with a foreign mail, was asked by William Markham, Esq: 'What news? To which he replied, 'Good news; the Pretender is crowned in Scotland) and DANIEL COUGHLAN for seditious words, by drinking a health to Lord Clare (who was then an officer in the French King's service, at the Rebellion in Scotland) were pilloried at the corner of Broad-lane, on Saturday the 29th of March. (Fitzgerald's Cork Remembrancer, 1783)
1749 - DENNIS DUNN executed near broad-lane,Cork, on Saturday April 15th, for enlisting John M'Fall to be a serjeant in the French army. (Edward's Cork Remembrancer, 1792)
1750 - DENNIS M'CARTHY was executed on Monday May 4th, for enlisting men for the French King's service. Spanish gold prohibited in Ireland, October 10th. (Edward's Cork Remembrancer, 1792)
1751 - JOHN GOLD and JAMES HENNESSY, was fined £5 each, for drinking Prosperity to Pope and Popery, and Confusion to him that would not drink it. (Fitzgerald's Cork Remembrancer, 1783)
1752 - THOMAS HIERLIHY, for enlisting William Towers and Thomas Dove, to serve the French King; executed near Broad-lane, Cork on Saturday April 4th. (Edward's Cork Remembrancer, 1792)
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MORTY ÓG O SULLIVAN
MORTY ÒG O SULLIVAN of Eyeries, born c.1710, son of Muirteach and an O Mahony of Rosbrin, charged with harbouring tories, robbers and rapparees 1738; escaped abroad and served as an officer in the Austrian army; fought at Fontenoy and at Culloden with Bonnie Prince Charlie 1746; returned to Beara; made his living from smuggling and recruiting for the French army; came into conflict with John Puxley who had acquired the ancestral seat of The O Sullivan Bear at Dunboy; shot Puxley dead and escaped to France; outlawed but still managed to pay frequent visits home to his family; betrayed on this final visit home,1754. He left one son, John of Inches, and three daughers, one of whom married a Mr. O Driscoll of Skibbereen.
1754 - May 4. - A party of soldiers under the command of lieutenant Appleton was sent in pursuit of MORTY OGE O SULLIVAN, one of the murders of John Puxley, Esq. on the 4th. About 12 o clock at night, they arrived at Bearhaven, and in a short time after were discovered by the centinels belonging to SULLIVAN; but the party being too far advanced towards the house, the centinels had not time to warn the inmates of their approach, but made the best of the way to save themselves. The party immediately surrounded the house, but SULLIVAN and his party being alarmed by the barking of a dog which was in the house, took the alarm directly. SULLIVAN being in his shirt, came to the door and opened it with a blunderbuss in his hand; upon which he and his men fired several blunderbusses out of the house at the party, but finding them too strong, he thought of the stratagem of sending out men, one at a time, thinking that the party would have left the house to follow them, by which means he might escape, but he was prevented by the officer, who only fired at the men as they went off. At length SULLIVAN'S wife with her child and nurse, came out and asked for quarter, which was granted; the officer asked her who was in the house; she answered, no one but her husband and some of his men; upon which he ordered the house to be set on fire, which they were a long time in doing, the men's arms being rendered quite useless from the heavy rains; but this being at last accomplished, they were obliged to come out. SULLIVAN and his men behaved with great bravery, he himself snapped his blunderbuss twice at the party, which missed fire; the officer's party also fired at him twice with as little success, but by the third time shot him [a Sam Swete fired the shot that killed him.] and some others dead, some more were wounded, but they only brought away the body of SULLIVAN and two prisoners, JOHN SULLIVAN [JOHN O SULLIVAN of Kenmare] and DANIEL CONNEL [DANIEL O CONNELL of Cahirciveen]; the king's boat at the same time went round and sunk the sloop belonging to SULLIVAN. Had it not been for the wetness of the night, the party would have been discovered sooner, but SULLIVAN had not his usual centinels out, not expecting any thing to disturb him. The two prisoners were put into the south gaol until the assizes, when they were hanged on the wooden gallows and their heads spiked on the south gaol; SULLIVAN'S body was lodged in the barracks until further orders; he was afterwards taken to the county court, his head spiked on the south gaol, and his remains interred on the battery in the new barrack. (Tuckey's Cork Remembrancer, 1837)
1754 - 'It is asserted, but from all I can learn, I believe incorrectly, that O SULLIVAN BEARE was betrayed by his servant, Scully. Be this false or true, the story has given rise to some spirited lines in 'Blackwood's Magazine.' We give the first two verses:-
The voice of her music no longer is sprightly;
No more to her maidens the light dance is dear,
Since the death of our darling, O Sullivan Beare.
Scully, thou false one, you basely betrayed him,
In his strong hour of need, when thy right hand should aid him,
He fed thee, he clad thee, you had all could delight thee;
You left him, you sold him - may Heaven requite thee.'
O SULLIVAN'S body was lashed to the stern of a King's cutter, and towed through the sea, to Cork, where his head was spiked on the South-gate. Some of O SULLIVAN'S followers were killed and others wounded in his defence. One of them, named [DANIEL O] CONNELL, is the reputed author of the following keen, written in Cork gaol, the night before his execution:-
ELEGY ON O SULLIVAN BEARE
‘Murt, my dear and loved master, you carried the sway for strength and generosity. It is my endless grief and sorrow – sorrow that admits of no comfort – that your fair head should be gazed at as a show upon a spike, and that your noble frame is without life. I have travelled with you, my dear and much-loved master, in foreign lands. You moved with kings in the royal prince’s army; but it is through the means of Puxley I am left in grief and confinement in Cork, locked in heavy irons, without the hope of relief. The great God is good and merciful; I ask His pardon and His support, for I am to be hanged at the gallows to-morrow, without doubt. The rope will squeeze my neck, and thousands will lament my fate. May the Lord have mercy on my master. It is for his sake I am now in their power.
Kerryonians, pray for us! Sweet and melodious is your voice. My blessing I give you; but you will never see me again among you alive. Our heads will be put upon a spike for a show; and under the cold snow of night, and the burning sun of summer! Oh, that I was ever born! Oh, that I ever returned to Bearehaven! Mine was the best of Masters that Ireland could produce. May our souls be floating to-morrow in the rays of endless glory.
The lady his wife! Heavy is her grief, and who may wonder at that, were her eyes made of green stone, when he, her dear husband, was shot by that ball. Had he retreated, our grief would be lighter, but the brave man, for the pride of his country, could not retreat. He has been in king's palaces. In Spain he got a pension. Lady Clare gave him robes bound with gold lace, as a token of remembrance. He was a captain on the coast of France, but he should return to Ireland for us to lose him.' (C.B. Gibson 'History of the County and City of Cork,' 1874)
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1756 - (CJ 12/4/1756) - Saturday Night was committed to the County Gaol PATRICK CRONEEN of Black, in this County, being charged with enlisting Men for the service of France.
(CJ 8/4/1756) - …this day PATRICK CRONIN, for enlisting men for the French service, received sentence of death
(CJ 6/5/1756) - Same day [Saturday] were executed at Gallows-green, pursuant to their sentence at our last assizes, PATRICK CRONEEN, for enlisting men for the service of France, and John Lott, for robbery on the high way near Mallow, they behaved very decently at the gallows; Lott owned the fact, but CRONEEN denied he ever had any hand in the fact he was charged with. [Lott, a tailor, later 'came to life' and made his escape.]
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ORIGIN OF THE WHITE BOYS (edited) - from 'Memoirs of the Irish Rebellion of 1798' by Sir Richard Musgrave, 1801.
'IN the year 1759, and under the administration of the duke of Bedford, an alarming spirit of insurgency appeared in the South of Ireland, which manifested itself by the numerous and frequent risings of the lower class of Roman catholics, dressed in white uniforms, whence they were denominated white boys; but they were encouraged, and headed, by persons of their own persuasion of some consideration. They were armed with guns, swords, and pistols, of which they plundered protestants, and they marched through the country, in military array, preceded by the music of bag-pipes, or the sounding of horns. In their nocturnal perambulations, they enlisted, or pressed into their service every person of their own religion, who was capable of serving them, and bound them by oaths of secrecy, of fidelity and obedience to their officers; and those officers were bound by oaths of allegiance to the French king, and prince Charles the pretender to the crown of England, which appeared by the confession and the informations of several of the insurgents, some of whom were convicted of high treason, and various other crimes. The pretext they made use of for rising and assembling was, to redress the following grievances: the illegal enclosure of commons, the extortion of tithe proctors, and the exorbitant fees exacted by their own clergy, though it appeared that they were deeply concerned in encouraging and fomenting them, in the commission of outrages.
They committed dreadful barbarities on such persons as hesitated to obey their mandates, or refused to join in their confederacy; they cut out their tongues, amputated their noses or ears; they made them ride many miles in the night on horseback, naked and bare-backed; they buried them naked, in graves lined with furze, up to their chins; they plundered and then burned houses; they houghed and maimed cattle; they seized arms, and horses, which they rode about the country, and levied money, at times even in the day…..They resembled the modern defenders in every respect, except in the title which they assumed; and their object was exactly the same, that of subverting the constitution, and separating Ireland from England, with the assistance of France…..
….. It is most certain, that the white boy system was at first formed to co-operate with the French, who meditated an invasion of Ireland under Conflans; but when that was defeated, and even during a time of profound peace, the barbarous rabble, free from all moral restraint, elate with the hope of plunder, and fraught with disaffection to a protestant state, continued to commit the most horrid enormities in many parts of Leinster and Munster, for above twenty-five years after.
John Twohy states in his information, that they began to enlist men for the French so early as the year 1756. See Appendix, No.1, 7.
At first they were headed, marshalled, and disciplined, by officers who had served in the Irish brigades, in the French service; but when peace was concluded, their leaders consisted of popish farmers and persons in a mean situation…..
APPENDIX 1, 7 - By one of his Majesty's justices of the peacefor said county. - County of Kilkenny, to wit - THE information of John Twohy, who being duly sworn on the Holy Evangelists, deposeth, That he knoweth one James Herbert, otherwise Thomas Fitzgerald, who calls himself a French officer; that he saw said Herbert at four several times enlist men in Kilfinnan, and Kilmallock, in the county of Limerick, and ship them off at Bantry, in the county of Cork, for the French service, in the year 1756. That he saw said Herbert, on the lands of Ardfmnan, Drumlemmon, and elsewhere, at various times since, swear the white boys under the oath of fidelity and obligation to the French king, and exercise them under arms; that he saw said Herbert also frequently pay them money, in the name and for the service of the king of France; and that your deponent has often received it from him. That he heard said Herbert frequently assure them, thus assembled, that they should soon receive assistance from France, in order to conquer Ireland. - JOHN TWOHY. - Sworn before me this 30th day of March, 1766, - JOHN HEWETSON.
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W.G. Field, 'The Hand-Book For Youghal,' 1896 - '1762 - Agrarian outrage, which a few years before had broken out in the south of Ireland and had rapidly extended itself in the counties of Cork, Waterford, Limerick, and Tipperary, was now in its height in the neighbourhood of Youghal. This insurrection began in 1757, and was attributed to the following cause: The murrain, which the year before carried off immense numbers of horned cattle in England, opened the English markets to the imports from Ireland, and gave increased value to those wastes upon which cottier tenants had been previously indulged with a privilege of pasturage, and induced the landed proprietors to enclose them. In opposition to so invidious an exercise of power, the peasants assembled by night, and levelled the enclosures which had been erected in the day. Hence the insurgents were first called Levellers. Two years after, when their objects had become numerous, they took a new name, Bougheleen Bawins, White Boys, from wearing their shirts outside their clothes to escape detection. Like the Rebeccaites of Wales, they at the same time adopted a pseudonym for their mysterious Chief, and denominated themselves SIVE OULTHO'S Children.
In the 'Gentleman's Magazine' of this year is an interesting paper, entitles 'A Succinct Account of a Set of Miscreants in the Counties of Waterford, Cork, Limerick, and Tipperary, called Bougheleen Bawins, (i.e. White Boys) [Buachaillí Bána, in Irish]. Being an Extract of a Letter from a Gentleman residing in Youghall, to his Son in London.' Its details are evidently those of an eye-witness:
‘Their first rise was in October last (1761) and they have ever since been increasing; they then, and all along, pretended that their assembling was to do justice to the poor, by restoring the ancient commons, and redressing other grievances; for which purpose they always assemble in the night, with their shirts over their clothes, which caused them to be called White Boys. Their number, in the county of Waterford, is computed at 600 or 700. They have done infinite damage in the county, levelling ditches and stone walls, rooting up orchards, etc.
On the 11th ult. (March 1762) I saw several ditches they had levelled, part of an orchard destroyed, and two graves they had dug on the road between Clonmel and Cappoquin; the graves were to hold those that did not comply with their orders. Sometime before this they came by night into the town of Cappoquin, where is a horse-barrack; drew up on the green near the barrack; fired several shots; marched by the sentry, with their piper playing The Lad with the White Cockade.
The 13th I saw a bier near Affane Church which they had caused two days before to be made, to carry people alive, and bury them in those graves…
On the 14th they assembled at Lismore, posted an advertisement on the door of the post-office, requiring the inhabitants to have their houses illuminated, and a certain number of horses bridled and saddled ready for them to mount against next night; which was complied with. On the night of the 15th they mounted, went to Tallow-bridge, where they levelled the ditches of several fine parks, and cut down a number of full grown ash-trees (knee-high). They then proceeded to Tallow; the horse marched to the west bridge, where the commander called out 'Halt - to the right about!' and then proceeded into the marketplace in a smart trot. They broke open the marshalsea, discharged the debtors, sent an advertisement to the justice to lower the price of provisions one half; which he tamely complied with, though a troop and a half of dragoons were quartered in the town.
On the 22nd they came (about 400 in number) to the Ferry Point, opposite this town [Youghal], levelled the ditches of a small park opposite the back-window of my parlour, and a musket shot off the town; they made a large fire, dug a grave, and erected a gallows over it, fired several shots, and at each discharge huzzaed; and sent several audacious letters to the inhabitants of this town, threatening to pull down several houses, particularly a handsome house at a small distance, which they said was built upon the waste. The militia arms were delivered to the Protestant inhabitants, who being joined by two companies of foot from the barracks marched through the town, and made a handsome appearance; 70 men mounted guard that night, a party of which patrolled every two hours to the said house. No attempt was made. One D.C. [DENNIS CONNER] of Tallow, a comber, came here and endeavoured to enlist another of the same trade under SIVE'S banner. He was apprehended and lodged in the barracks; and on the 26th he was sent in the Revenue cruising boat to Cork, to prevent a rescue by land. On the 27th P.R., formerly a smith to a troop of horse, who lived near Cappoquin, was apprehended here, supposed to have made part of their levelling tools; at the same time he gave information against several to Matthew Parker, Esq. He was sent to Cork by the same conveyance. The 29th, the ditches of Tirkelling and Ballydaniel near Tallow, were levelled; 500 men in a day would not repair the damage. The 30th, four pieces of cannon, taken out of our fort, were placed at the North and South Gates charged with cartridge shot. The 31st several alarms.
April the 1st, between seven and eight in the evening, the alarm was beat: after that To Arms!, a false alarm being given that the White Boys were within half-a-mile of the North Gate; the town in an uproar, by nine all quiet. About one in the morning the Mayor (Roger Green), and several other gentlemen, in number 41, well mounted and accoutred, with each a soldier behind him, went from this place to Tallow, eight miles distant, and before sunrise seized 11 White Boys, whom they brought to this town. The 2nd they marched them through it in their uniforms, with drum beating, fifes playing, etc. The 3rd, two brothers of the town of Tallow gave information; upon which the inhabitants, together with the Collector (Matthew Jones), and several Revenue officers, equipped as before, went to Tallow and places adjacent, and brought to town 13 Whiteboys, and lodged a Lieutenant Colonel in Tallow barracks. His name is O BRIEN [? JOHN BRYAN]. It is said he has been some time in the French service. There was another party, with the army from Cork, met at Youghall, and had seized about 25 at Lismore and places adjacent.'
The disturbances grew so alarming, that the government concentrated a large army in Munster, and so disposed it as to prevent the insurgents escaping, while Lord Drogheda's light horse went in pursuit of them. At the same time, from the desire to sever the innocent from the guilty, they dispatched Godfrey Lill, Esq., one [of] His Majesty's Council, and John Morrison, Esq., Crown Solicitor, to examine such persons as should be taken, in order that any, against whom charges did not appear likely to be substantiated, might be permitted immediately to return to their families, and not miss the opportunity of the season for cultivating their fields. In the month of June, Sir Richard Aston, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, and Mr. Serjeant Malone, were sent with a Special Commission to try the insurgents, considerable numbers of whom had been arrested. The judges sat at Limerick, 4 June; at Cork, on the 9th; at Clonmel, on the 16th; and at Waterford on the 21st; at which places more than forty of the Bougheleen Bawins were convicted, and twelve were left for death. But the spirit of the disturbance, even then, received only a temporary check. It was said, that the mistaken clemency of the Chief Justice almost tended to forment the disorders he was expected to put down. The peasantry lined the roads on his return from Waterford to Clonmel, and received him with shouts of joy and acclamation - a reception quite unsuited to One, who had come, in the exercise of stern Justice, to vindicate the majesty of the outraged laws.
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Fitzgerald's Cork Remembrancer, 1783 - '1762 - Assizes began Friday March 19th, Lord Chief Justice Aston and Serjeant Malone, Judges; they were also Judges at a Special Commission for trying the White Boys, which began Saturday June 5th, previous to which Commission, and on Saturday the 24th of April, Godfrey Lill, Esq; King's Council, and John Morrison, Esq; Crown-Solicitor, arrived in town to examine the White-Boys, preparative to their trial: nine prisoners were brought the same evening from the County Gaol, and separately examined in the County Grand-Jury Room; four who were confined on suspicion they admitted to bail.
Assizes began Friday, September 10th, Justice Tennison and Prime Serjeant Hely Hutchinson, Judges. - PIERCE BAILEY, for burglary in the dwelling-house of George Montgomery, ROBERT STACKPOLE, and PIERCE MOOR, for killing a Bay Gelding, the property of James Grove, Esq; being convicted on the White-Boy Act, were taken out of the South Gaol, on Wednesday June 23d, escorted by a strong guard of Sir Ralph Gore's Regiment, and a party of the True-Blue Horse belonging to this City, and executed pursuant to their sentence, viz. PIERCE BAILY, at Mitchel's-town, on Thursday the 24th, of June, ROBERT STACKPOLE and PIERCE MOOR, on Saturday the 26th of June; STACKPOLE was executed at Glanworth and Moor at Fermoy.'
‘William Austen was whipt through the Town, on Wednesday the 25th of August, for attempting to vend a speech, said to be made by STACKPOLE, reflecting on the justice of his sentence.'
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(CJ 15/2/1762) - CORKE - Yesterday the following Exhortation was publickly read from the Altars of the different Romish Chapels in this City:- My dear Children and Brethren in Christ, - 'You are not, you cannot be ignorant, that the law of God, and your Religion command you, in the strongest and most explicit terms, to be faithful, dutiful, and obedient to the powers, and governors, his viceregents, which the Omnipotent has placed over you, 'Kings reign thro' me, obey those who are placed over you, give unto Caesar, what belongeth to Caesar, and unto God, what belongeth to God;' this is the law, this is the duty of all of his Majesty's subjects in general, but you, my Roman Catholic Brethren, have yet another call upon you; the highest gratitude for the great lenity and paternal indulgence of his present Majesty's and his Royal Ancestors reigns and government over you, and forget not that the several penal laws in force against you in this kingdom, were enacted in reigns anterior to the accession of his Royal House, to the thrones of these realms; be then grateful and affectionate, be loyal and dutiful, behave in all things and on all occasions as good Christians and as good subjects; and as you are not qualified to do it by other means, at least assist your King and your Country with your hearts, your wishes, and you prayers; …. It has pleased our excellent Lord Lieutenant and the Government, in this time of a combination of enemies, to order a solemn and general Fast to be observed throughout the kingdom on the 12th day of March next; I do earnestly exhort you to observe it exactly according to the tenor of the proclamation for the at purpose, and to offer, not only now, but at all times, to the Almighty, your earnest and fervent prayers for the spiritual and temporal prosperity of our gracious Sovereign King George the Third, and to beseech the God of Hosts to bless his Majesty, his officers, and his troops, to inspire and direct his councils, to grant a glorious and a happy conclusion to this war, and that a solid, lasting, and advantageous peace may restrain the effusion of Christian blood. You are also in duty bound to implore Heaven for all that is good and happy in this and the next life for his Majesty's Viceregent, our chief Governor, whose goodness looks with a tender and impartial eye on all his Majesty's faithful and loyal subjects, and whose extensive charity knows no Distinction of Religions.'
At the same time the different Clergymen exhorted their Congregations in the most pathetick manner, not to aid, abett, or succour any deserters, nor to connive at their deserting: They also recommended in the most expressive terms, to all such of their flock as shall take his Majesty's Royal advance money, not to quit their colours upon any account; as they, on behalf of themselves, and the fraternity of their ministry, disavow in the most solemn manner any such mal-practices, for that such of their flock as should in any wise derogate from this charge, would incur the anathema of the Roman Catholick and Apostolick Church.
Presumably, this letter, which is unsigned, was written by Richard Walsh, who was Catholic Bishop of Cork 1747-63. Due to the circumstances of the time, little is known of Bishop Walsh. A few weeks later, the Catholic Bishop of Cloyne and Ross, John O Brien, issued a similar Pastoral Letter:-
'March 29th 1762. - Reverend Sirs, - I have lately sent directions to all those amongst you, who are situated on the frontiers of the neighbouring counties, that have been first infested with those profligate disturbers of the public peace and tranquillity, who are called WHITE BOYS or LEVELLERS, to exhort and admonish the good people of their respective congregations, against having any hand, or taking the least part, directly or indirectly, in any illegal practice, or holding any sort of conduct, that may give offence to the government, especially in the present general conjuncture of troublesome times, when all the Roman Catholics of this kingdom should rather be more attentive than ever, to manifest their unfeigned disposition of giving our most excellent and noble minded Lord Lieutenant, and all our other great and good governors, the best and most solid proofs in our power, of the just and grateful feeling we have, and always should have of their lenity and indulgence towards us in our unhappy circumstances subjected as we are, according to the disposition of Providence not only to legal restraints and incapacities, but also to penal laws, whose weight and severity we already find to be alleviated in great measure, through the goodness and clemency of our most gracious rulers. to forbid all those of our communion, under pain of censures, to have any communication or society with those night walking disturbers, and that the said censures, should be issued and published as incurred DE FACTO by all such as might have engaged with them people or taken part in their iniquitous practices, unless they immediately desisted.
As to my order concerning the general exhortation relative to those disturbers, I have received sufficient testimony of its having been executed according to directions. But for the censures, the said frontier parish priest sent me a remonstrance desiring they may be excused and dispensed from issuing any menaces of spiritual penalties, until such time as the clergy of the neighbouring dioceses should have proceeded to act in like manner, alleging for their excuse, that as they had been assured and as it really appeared from circumstances, the different bands of those nocturnal rioters were all entirely composed of the loose and desperate sort of people, of different professions and communions, who showed as little regard to religion as to morals, they apprehended immediate danger with regards to the safety of their persons, as if they made themselves singular in proceeding to censure against a multitude of dissolute night walkers, who had already given so many terrifying proofs of their rash dispositions as well as of their disregard of all laws, and contempt of all characters…………Your very affectionate and humble servant, - J. O Brien. - Ballinterry, March 30th, 1762
John O Brien, Bishop of Cloyne & Ross 1748 - 1769. Parish Priest of Castlelyons prior to becoming Bishop. Published an Irish-English Dictionary in 1768. Died in exile in Lyons, in France, in 1769.
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(CJ 5/4/1762) - A Proclamation has been issued by the Lord Lieutenant and Council of Ireland, offering a reward of fifty pounds sterl. for apprehending and convicting any of the persons concerned in unlawfully assembling themselves in arms, and digging up several acres of land, and levelling several perches of walls and ditches in different parts of the kingdom, and committing many other outrages, to the great annoyance of many of his Majesty's subjects, and to the disturbance of the publick peace and quiet of this kingdom.
Another proclamation has been issued, offering a further reward of one hundred pounds sterl. for each and every of the first five persons that shall be so apprehended and convicted thereof before the 24th day of July next. - Wednesday and Thursday, there was a meeting of the Protestant Inhabitants of this city at the market-house, in order to form an association for their defence against the attempts of private or foreign enemies, when about 2000 persons, subscribed their names, as have many more since.
Last Week was committed to the County Gaol, DENNIS CONNER, Comber, of Tallow, who, it is said, acted as Adjutant amongst the White Boys; he was, through the vigilance of the Inhabitants of Youghall, apprehended, and sent from thence by water. A party of General Douglas's regiment of Dragoons arrived here last Saturday night, from Mallow, and this morning they set out for Dublin, escorting a Messenger with the above DENNIS CONNOR in custody.
Same day (Saturday) was committed to the County Goal, by Abraham Devonsher, Esq; High Sheriff of the County,
JAMES DREW, PETER DYNAN, GARRET NAGLE, JOHN CORCORAN, JOHN MORONY, HENRY SIZE, and NICHOLAS MC GRATH, on suspicion of their aiding and assisting of the Clan called White Boys; they were brought from Kilworth and Rathcormuck, under a guard of the army.
We hear that a party of the army, and some gentlemen of the Youghal militia, marched to Tallow, and made eleven of the above Clan prisoners, who were conducted to Youghal, and are from thence to be transmitted to the County gaol in the city; and as numerous parties of the army, each party attended by a Justice of the peace, are marched against these disturbers of publick tranquility, and that the gentlemen of the country will have their aid and support in apprehending them, it is hoped that a total stop will soon be put to such dangerous practices, and the chiefs of them be brought to condign punishment.
Yesterday all the Roman Catholic Clergy of this City, by order of their superior, exerted themselves in the most pathetic terms, to excite their respective congregations to the just abhorrence of the infamous practices of the persons called Levellers, whom they represented as unfaithful to their God, by giving umbrage to the state; and not only enemies but persecutors of their religion, by provoking the indignation of the most indulgent government.
This day sixteen of the people called White Boys, were brought to town from Lismore and Tallow, under a strong guard of Lord Drogheda's light horse, and a party of foot, and were lodged in South Goal, we are in hourly expectation of more from Youghall.
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(CJ 12/4/1762) - The following is an authentick copy of the oath tendered by the White Boys, otherwise Sive Oultho's children, to those who enlist themselves in their society.
'I do hereby solemnly and sincerely swear that I will not make known any secret now given me, or hereafter may be given, to any one in the world, except a sworn person belonging to the society called, White Boys, otherwise Sive Oultho's Children.
'Furthermore, I swear, that I will be ready at an hour's warning, if possible, by being properly summounted by any of the officers, serjeants, and corporals belonging to my company.
Furthermore, I swear, that I will not wrong any of the company I belong to, to the value of one shilling, nor suffer it to be done by others, without acquainting them thereof.
'Lastly, I swear, that I will not drink of any liquor whatsoever, whilst on duty, without the consent of any one, or other of the officers, serjeants and corporals, and that we will be loyal one to another as in our power lies.'
Friday and Saturday arrived here five companies of the Queen's royal regiment, commanded by General Montague, the remainder is soon expected; they are to remain in garrison here.
Committals. To the County Goal, on Thursday last, by Arthur Hyde, Stephen Moore, William Forward, and Robert Grove, Esqrs.;
FRANCIS STAKPOLE, MATHEW ROCHE, THOMAS FITZGERALD, WILLIAM COTTER and EDMOND DINGINE, being charged with treasonable practices, and aiding and assisting the people called White Boys or Levellers.
Friday, by Abraham Devonsher, Esq.;
JOHN CORBET, DAVID SHEEHAN, JOHN RAYON, and JAMES DENNAHY, for being concerned with the above riotous mob.
This morning, by Mathew Parker, Esq.;
WILLIAM CASEY, WILLIAM SHEEHY, JAMES DENT, JOHN DEA, RICHARD KENT, DARBY MAHONY, PATRICK PENDERGASS, and PATRICK MURPHY, all charged by information on oath of being concerned in the riotous and rebellious proceedings of the unlawful mob called White Boys; they were brought in the King's bo.. from Youghall, guarded by a party of the Militia, and on their arrival at Cove, were escorted to town by Robert Newenham, Esq.; Surveyor of Cove. There are now confirmed in the above Goal, forty of those infamous rioters, which will soon be augmented to upwards of sixty, when joined by those at Youghal, which are soon expected.
[Advertisement] - WHEREAS Outrages of various kinds have lately been committed, and are still daily committed, in divers parts of this kingdom, by unlawful and riotous assemblies of people, known by the name of LEVELLERS. And Whereas it is the duty of all loyal and well-affected subjects, to contribute in the most effectual manner in their power, to the dispersing and suppressing of said assemblies.
NOW We the undernamed Roman Catholic Inhabitants of the City of Corke, in order to shew our utter detestation and abhorrence of all such enormities, and our earnest desire that the perpetrators thereof, and all concerned therein, may be discovered and brought to justice, do hereby offer a reward of TWO HUNDRED POUNDS Sterling, for apprehending and prosecuting to conviction, each and every of the first five who officiate or act as leaders under him, provided said chief and leaders be seized and convicted within the County or County of the City of Corke, within three calendar months after the date hereof. - Corke, April 7, 1762 .[List of signatories not included here]
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(CJ 15/4/1762) - Tuesday, JOHN [RIORDAN?] was committed to North-goal for drinking Long Life and good health to the White Boys.
This day was brought to …. from Mallow escorted by a party of the Earl of Drogheda's Light Dragoons, JAMES [LEDDIN?], charged with being …, and uttering words which tend to stir …… up to disaffection; and seditious. He was lodged in the County Goal.
[Advertisement] - WHEREAS by Proclamation of the Government, it appears that there are several Seditious Assembles of People in diverse parts of this Kingdom, in a Riotous and Tumultuous manner convened. And Whereas; since the issuing said Proclamation, there is Reason to apprehend that said Assemblies are headed by some Persons who act as Principals amongst them.
NOW in Order to suppress such unlawful Assemblies and bring the Offenders to Justice, The PROTESTANT INHABITANTS of the City and County of the City of Corke, hereby offer a Reward of Three Hundred Pounds Sterling for apprehending and prosecuting to Conviction, the Person who acts as Chief to said Assemblies; and also the Sum of Fifty Pounds for apprehending and prosecuting to Conviction, each and every of the first five who officiates or acts as Leaders under him, provided said Chief and Leaders be seized and convicted within the County or County of the City of Corke, within three Calendar Months after the Date hereof. - N.B. The above Rewards will be paid at the Bank of Messers. Falkiner and Mills in Corke. RIGGS FALKINER, Treasurer.
[Advertisement] - WHEREAS a threatening Letter dated at Clashmore (Co. Waterford?), the 1st of April, 1762, drafted to GEORGE BAGNELL, Printer in Cork, signed A.B.S.L.M.C. was received by the said George Bagnell on last Sunday from the Post Office in Corke, with the Youghal Post Mark on it, NOW WE the PROTESTANT INHABITANTS of the City of Corke, do hereby offer a Reward of Thirty Pounds Sterling to such Person or Persons as shall within three Calendar Months from the Date hereof, apprehend and prosecute to Conviction, the Author or Authors of said Letter.
N.B. The above Rewards will be paid at the Bank of Messers. Falkiner and Mills in Corke. RIGGS FALKINER, Treasurer.
[Advertisement] - WHEREAS a threatening Letter, dated from head quarters at Ballyporeen (Co. Tipperary), the 2nd day of April 1762, directed to Mr. Nicholas Haly of Macroom, signed Mr. Nobody, and Sheelah Ni Veakil, was received by the said Mr. Haly on Tuesday last, by the Bye Post, and having the Corke Post Mark on it.
NOW I the said Nicholas Haly, do hereby offer a reward of TWENTY POUNDS Sterling, to such Person or Persons, as shall within three Calendar Months, from the date hereof, apprehend and prosecute to Conviction, each of any other two of the Profligate wretches that might have been concerned in writing the said Letter. Macroom, April 9, 1762 NICHOLAS HALY
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(CJ 22/4/1762) - Tuesday the 13th the Youghal Militia, took one of the Levellers in the county of Waterford, and found in the house of a Papist, two guns and a case of pistols loaded, with a small quantity of powder and ball.
Committals - Last Saturday, MAURICE GUFFON, of Ballymacsimon, [parish of Aghern, Conna], to the county goal, by Arthur Gufford, Esqr., being charged with harbouring the White boys.
Yesterday were brought from Youghall to this city escorted by a party of Lord Drogheda's light horse,
JOHN and WILLIAM FAKY, JOHN FARRELL, JOHN KIRBY, MARK JACKSON, DERBY COLEMAN, JAMES LANDERS and CORNELIUS HURLY, and lodged in the South jail, for being of the party called Levellers.
As the above prisoners were passing through Mallow-lane, a large mastiff dog ran out of a house, seized a young girl by the arm, and tore here in so dreadful a manner that her life is despaired of. The same dog bit several other persons before he was killed.
(CJ 26/4/1762) - Saturday. Godfrey Lill, Esq; a member of parliament for the borough of Fore, and John Morrison, Esq; Crown Solicitor, arrived in town, on their [misson?] to enquire into the late disturbances and riots, caused by the levellers.
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(CJ 10/5/1762) - Whereas it has been published in the Cork Evening Post, (dated Monday May 3, 1762,) that I fled from justice, as a member of that gang called Levellers, otherwise, White Boys, I think it incumbent upon me, in vindication of my character, to acquaint the public, that the charge made against me is quite destitute of foundation. The lenity of the Government did not inspire me with fear for my person, and my conduct has been, and I hope will ever be such, as to merit a continuance of that lenity, for which I shall always testify the most grateful acknowledgment. I was particularly at the time, when it was published that I had fled, engaged, according to the instructions of my Superior, in exhorting my flock to the most peaceable deportment, and an utter abhorrence to the practices of the Levellers, whose iniquitous proceeding, I think, no man more heartily detests than I do; and should not, for that, be traduced as an abettor, much less a member of so profligate a party. I hope this declaration, the truth of which can be attested by many persons of known integrity, will be a sufficient voucher of my adhesion to, rather than flight from justice. - JOHN DOYLE, Ardfinan ( see below, 24/6/1762), May 6,1762
Last Wednesday night, a number of villains dressed in white broke into the house of the Revd. Mr. John Oliver, of Rockvale, in the county of Corke, and robbed it of a considerable value….
Last Friday, JOHN CONNELL, JAMES KEEFE and JOHN BRYAN, were committed to the county goal, by Mathew Parker, Esq.; charged with being levellers.
This morning, one troop of Lord Drogheda's light horse marched out of this city for Feathard; and tomorrow morning the rest are to follow to the same place.
(CJ 24/5/1762) - Yesterday, WM. NUNAN, JN. POWER, T. FORCHANE, ANTH. DWYER, DAVID and JOHN FOWLUE and JOHN FLEMING, charged with assembling in the dead time of the night, and setting fire to houses, levelling ditches, throwing down walls, and killing cattle, about Ballyhooly, were committed to the county gaol by Arthur Hyde and William Forward, Esqrs., and conducted thither by a party of the army.
(CJ 27/5/1762) - Last Tuesday, three companies of col. Sebright's regiment marched into this city. - Same day eight covered waggons, and thirty-nine cars, loaded with camp equipage, passed through this city for Kinsale.
Same day JOHN TRACEY and MICHAEL DOOLIN otherwise DOOEL, were committed to the county gaol by Robert Grove and Michael Creagh, Esqrs., being charged with being white boys, and shooting a horse belonging to James Grove, Esq.; and burning a barn and an out-house belonging to Michael Adams.
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(CJ 24/6/1762) - CORKE - Yesterday morning, PIERCE BAILY, ROBERT STAKPOOL, and PIERCE MOOR, otherwise ANDREW MOOR, were carried out of town, under a strong guard of the army and Horse Militia of this city, to be executed pursuant to their sentence, as mentioned in a former paper.
(CJ 28/6/1762) - Last Thursday, PIERCE BAYLY was executed at Mitchelstown pursuant to his sentence. - And, on Saturday ROBERT STAKPOOL AND PIERCE, OTHERWISE ANDREW, MOORE were executed pursuant to their sentence, one at Glanworth and the other at Fermoy.
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George Bennett, 'History Of Bandon,' 1869, - Chapter XX - 1762 - Upon the proclamation of war between England and Spain, in the beginning of this year, a lot of disaffected in this kingdom banded themselves together, and under various names - as Fairies, Redboys, Whiteboys, Levellers, &c. - they traversed the country, principally between sunset and sunrise, attacking the houses of peaceable inhabitants, and doing serious injury to life and property. Their avowed object was to level the fences recently constructed round waste lands or commons in various parts of Ireland, and which lands, they alleged, belonged to the poor; but their real object was to co-operate with Spain, and, if possible, restore the Pretender. Many of them were taken prisoners; and in the pockets of several were found military commissions, lists of the names of many of their confederates, and the following ballad:-
Away with all doubt, and away with all fear!
To freedom we call you - a Stuart shall reign
Usurpation shall vanish - accept aid from Spain.
Chorus - Right royal is our prince, right royal our men
In the cause we are ready - steady, boys, steady! -
We'll fight till we die, or restore him again.
No longer we'll wait for assistance from France,
Nor again shall they lead us a wandering dance;
For Spain, on whose word we may surely depend,
Has the power and the will our rights to defend.
Chorus
The offspring of Brunswick or Strelitz - poor lords!-
Shall never usurp or command our brave swords.
For the sword shall again be adorned by a king,
Of whose great ancestors our Druids shall sing.
Chorus
Come cheer up, my lads, for the time it draws near
When the land of all whelps and true-blues shall be clear;
When Prince Charles as king, my boys, toasted shall be,
And our bondage reversed into grand liberty.
Chorus
No blue-livered whelp, or Cromwellian black boor,
In grandeur shall ride, or in splendour shall move.
Of their titles we'll strip them, and enslave 'em, my boys.
Their sorrows we'll heighten, and retrieve our own joys.
Chorus
The loyalist party here had a poetaster, too; and he replied in a song of similar style and metre, and well known in this neighbourhood at that time:-
Let's support well our rights, our religion, and laws;
In spite of the power of the hard-hearted crew'
Who their hands in our blood, would most gladly imbue.
Chorus - The Protestant cause now calls for our aid.
To defend it be ready - now's the time to be steady -
We'll conquer or die ere slaves we are made.
They say they'll enslave us - Oh, subjects so rare!
More savage in nature than India's wild bear.
The aid that must come is expected from Spain;
For which they may hope and long wish for in vain/
Chorus
Their treason they speak 'gainst our gracious, good King;
And malice they went on his great noble kin.
Of Brunswick and Strelitz, of mighty descent;
For which they in time will most sadly relent.*
Chorus
Their Prince Charles, they say, on the throne they will fix;
But can they forget the great year forty-six.
Then let rebels dare not think him to bring in,
For we'll die before a Papist be king.
Chorus
My Protestant boys, the time is now come,
When we should be ready at the beat of the drum,
To support our good King, and the old English cause -
So famed for its rights, its religion, its laws.
Chorus
In another loyalist ballad, which was very popular here, Prince Charlie is spoken of with great acrimony. Speaking of King George, it says:-
A vagabond, whose parents are unknown:
Pretender to three kingdoms not his own.'
‘An epitaph for the Levellers (commonly called the White boys)' shows the bitter feelings entertained by the loyalists for these freebooters:-
Die, die, you must, in numbers odd and even.
You purchase shrouds, Great George provides the rope
In spite of France, the Spaniards, and the Pope.
In heaps within this hole, you lie together,
Rebellious crew - you birds all of a feather.
Secure them, devil; let you bolts be tight;
Loose them by day, but guard them well by night.
Poor Satan thinks, perhaps, their number few;
But hundreds of them shall the same steps pursue,
Since living is the Light-horse and the Blue.
They're fixed with you for evermore to dwell.
All that I fear - not big enough is hell."†
* "When are they going to be hanged," is the remark made in a foot note of the old MS copy which was kindly lent to us.
† We know of no species of composition more calculated to give one a correct idea of the feelings possessed by the contending parties than the popular ballads of the times. They were written when the blood was up, and they
express in unmistakeable language what the writers thought and felt at the time.
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1763 - [Advertisement] - WHEREAS TIMOTHY HALLAHANE, Labourer, with the assistance of his wife ELINOR, late of Cullcollotha, in the barony of Kinnalea, and county of Corke, has threatened, and intends to burn my house, by putting fire in the thatch, for which examinations are lodged against him, and a warrant issued for apprehending him; this is therefore to give notice that I will give five pounds reward to any person or persons, who shall within six calendar months from the date hereof, apprehend the said TIMOTHY HALLAHANE, and lodge him in any of his Majesty's goals, in order to his being prosecuted according to law. Given under my hand this 31st day of Oct., 1763. William Barter (Corke Journal Nov 1763)
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1764 - At the March assizes, in the city-court M'NAMARA, a Taylor, received sentence to be executed on the 26th of May, for enlisting men for the French King's service, but he afterwards received his Majesty's free pardon. (Fitzgerald's Cork Remembrancer, 1783)
1764 - This day was committed to the City Gaol, by Richard Fitzgerald, Esq; DANIEL MAHONEY, charged with several capital crimes and offences against his Majesty's crown and dignity, and for which bills of indictment were found against him at the last assizes. (Corke Journal, June 1764)
1764 - Yesterday was committed to the city gaol, by Usher Philpot, Esq; DANIEL GRIFFIN, charged with carrying arms, heading unlawful assemblies, and assaulting the wife of Patrick Buckley. (Corke Journal, July 1764)
1764 - Last Saturday JOHN DINANE, a linen weaver, was whipp'd thro' this city, for unlawful combinations; he is to be confined for some time, and whipped again on two market days. (Corke Journal, August 1764)
1764 - Corke, June 2. Last Sunday Night as Mr. Thomas Brabazon, Parish Clerk of Ardagh, in the Neighbourhood of Youghall, was going to attend Divine Service, he was most inhumanly knocked down and assaulted, by some Persons as yet unknown; when after a short space of Time, he had recovered his Speech, they illegally forced him to make Oath, that from that Day, he never more would frequent said Church, or Demand any Dues or Salary whatsoever as Clerk of said Parish. (Freeman's Journal 26/6/1764)
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1765 - WHEREAS a riotous Mob did assemble after Night on the 18th of November last in the Town of Bantry, and rescued a Horse with two Ankers of Brandy, seized by … Revenue-Officers…[usual rewards, etc, offered for information on the perpetrators ](Corke Journal, Feb. 1765)
1765 - Last Saturday Mr. Daniel M'Carthy, Under-sheriff of the County of Corke, went with five assistants, by virtue of his Majesty's writ of injection upon a custodian to take possession of the lands of Fuller's-Park, in said county, where he was opposed by a riotous mob, some in arms; and for the safety of their lives were obliged to fire at them, after the mob had fired at him and his people, and dangerously wounded one of them. CARTHY, the ringleader of the mob, was killed, and several of his party wounded. (Corke Journal, Feb. 1765)
1765 - Committed to the County Goal..CORNELIUS COUGHLAN, charged with being one of the Levellers, or Whiteboys, concerned in the killing of a horse belonging to Robert Grove, Esq. (Corke Journal Feb. 1765)
1765 - The number of Persons against whom Bills of Indictment for HIGH TREASON were found, at the Assizes of Clonmel amount to Thirty-two; mostly Men of good circumstances and considerable influence. - A new proof that the poor deluded People, called WHITE-BOYS, bore no marks of Disaffection to his Majesty's Person or Government. (Corke Journal, March 1765)
1765 - Committals to the County Jail, June 19…By Richard Tooker, Esq; DARBY KEALY, for carrying Arms, he being a Papist. (Corke Journal, June 1765)
1765 - On the 26th of Novr. last JOHN SWEENY, JOHN KENNY, and others, reputed Papists, came to and entered the house of Maurice Kennedy of Aghaconinge [?Aghacunna, parish Kilnamartery]in this County, each with five arms, in the nature of whiteboys, assaulted and extorted a note from him of £2 5s 6d payable to said SWEENY and KENNY, which the publick are cautioned not to receive, and plundered his house of about £5 in cash, as by his information will appear Dec 28th 1765. Maurice Kennedy his Mark X (Corke Journal December 1765)
1765 - WHEREAS Several quantities of Corn and Potatoes, that were set apart as TYTHE due to the Rev. Richard Bullen, in the Great-Island, and County of Cork, and demised to Benjamin Hall of Cove, have been burnt or otherwise destroyed, by some evil minded Persons, and immediately after the committing this illegal act, an Advertisement was affixed to the Mass House door at Cove, containing determined Threats to any Person or Persons of being served in the same manner, that should presume to take Tythes….[usual rewards, etc, offered for information on the perpetrators ] (Corke Journal, Oct. 1765)
‘A Protestant minister named Austin came hither, it is said, from Cloyne with twelve bailiffs to collect tithes, but was unsuccessful, having been driven off by the people. A schoolmaster named William Burke, of Carrigaroin, near the East Ferry, composed an Irish song in honour of these tithe collector's defeat, some fragments of which are still extant. But that a minister from Cloyne should come to levy tithes here appears difficult of belief, except that he represented the Dean and Chapter of Cloyne, whose name is still attached to one of the Townlands, as before shown.
Of the Whiteboys' doings, all remembered is that they punished a farmer named Garret Condon, who lived at Belvelly, for merely paying his dues to his Parish priest.' ('History of the Great Island, Ancient Cove and Modern Queenstown', Dennehy & Coleman, 1923)
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1766 - WE, the undernamed having seen an Affidavit taken before ARTHUR HYDE of Castlehyde, and PETER CAREY, of Carey's-ville in the County of Cork, Esqrs., given in by DANIEL GERAN of Donmahon in said County, Gent., setting forth that a number of persons riotously and unlawfully assembled themselves with arms and other weapons at the house of the said Daniel Geran, on Thursday the 19th of December last, in the dead time of the night, and then and there most barbarously and inhumanly assaulted and abused him, and compelled him to take several oaths contrary to his intentions, and particularly swore him not to possess himself of any of the Lands of Crinachtane, Lyre, or Ballyvena in said County, which were soon to be let by the said Peter Carey, Esq.. [usual rewards, etc, offered for information on the perpetrators ] (Corke Journal, Feb. 1766)
1766 - The Party of the Cameronian Regiment, which marched from hence last Monday Morning for Cloyne, we now hear, was sent for, to suppress Tumults and Rioting in that Neighbourhood, and to enforce the due Execution of a Precept in Law against a Person, who had been rescued from the hands of the Civil Officer. (Corke Journal, Feb. 1766) (Tuckey's Cork Remembrancer, 1837) - 1766 - Feb 24.- A company of the 26th regiment marched to Cloyne, where it was reported the white boys had committed some outrages, a company of the royal Scotch were also ordered from Kinsale.
1766 - Feb 6. - A man employed by archdeacon Browne at upper Glanmire to watch tithe potatoes, was abused in a most inhuman manner, the following night his house was set on fire. (Tuckey's Cork Remembrancer, 1837)
1766 - We learn that a parcel of fellows, (after the example of the White-boys in other parts of the kingdom) at Upper Glanmire, within a few miles of this City, have taken on them the redressing of grievances, in consequence of which on the night of the 14th ult, they abused a Man that was employed to watch some tythe potatoes that had been set by the Rev. Archdeacon Brown to one Murphy, in a most inhuman manner, and on the night of the 28th ult finding information had been given against some of them, they set fire to and entirely consumed said Murphy's dwelling house which he held from Richard Tooker, Esq.; the gentleman before whom the informations were lodged. It is not much to be wondered that these kinds of gentry have the impudence to extend their outrages so near the second city in this kingdom, when crimes, little short of high treason, have been suffered to pass here. Last year, unpunished, and the authors let escape with impunity, tho' bills of Indictment were actually found against them for such crimes by the Grand Jury of this City. (Corke Journal, Feb. 1766)
1766 - WHEREAS on the night of Thursday the 5th inst., several persons assembled together in a riotous manner at Inniscarra, in the County of Corke, and did assault William Scott and Thomas Moore, who were aiding and assisting Samuel Forsayeth, in seizing several Horse Loads of Tea, and also rescued the same after seizure was made, and robb'd said Scott and Moore of a brass Blunderbuss and Pistol, and whereas none of said persons have yet been discovered…[usual rewards, etc, offered for information on the perpetrators] (Corke Journal, June 1766)
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1767 - We have the pleasure to see that a number of Gentlemen of this County, of distinguished rank and spirit, have resolved to detect and punish all persons, who, for the future, shall presume to commit any outrage, or disturb the public peace and order of the County. - In particular, Rewards are offered by them for discovering and prosecuting the persons concerned in a late flagrant Insult on the Laws in the Person of the Revd. Mr. Edward Delany, while in the Execution of his office at the Parish Church of Kildorrery.
[Advertisement] - WHEREAS it appears to us by the information of the Rev. Edward Delany, and by other concerned Testimonies, that a most outrageous insult was offered to the Laws of this Kingdom by a riotous POPISH MOB, who assembled in the Church-yard of KILDORRERY, in the County of Cork, at the funeral of the late Mr. MICHAEL BRIEN, on the 26th of May last, and prevented said Mr. Delany from performing his Duty [not specified, usual rewards offered, etc, and advertisement signed by various local gentry.]
1767 - This day was committed to the county goal by Richard Fitzgerald, Esq.; WILLIAM DILLON, MICHAEL DILLON AND THOMAS SULLIVAN, charged with treasonable practices
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1768 - July 1.- Being the anniversary of the battle of the Boyne, "about a dozen fellows, to use the language of a Cork Newspaper, paraded the city with white lilies in their hats to exhibit their dislike of the above memorable event, but were soon dispersed by some gentlemen who gave them a good canning. An ignorant little fribble, who exhibited himself in Paul-street and Brown-street, with his bosom thus decorated, narrowly escaped a severe discipline, from which nothing but his insignificancy could have protected him." (Tuckey's Cork Remembrancer, 1837)
1773 - artólaoghaire.htm
1774 - SIMON SULLIVAN, a Roman Catholic, being convicted of carrying arms, was sentenced to be imprisoned for twelve months and fined £50. (Tuckey's Cork Remembrancer, 1837)
1777 - Richard Townsend, John Townsend, Samuel Jervois and Daniel Callaghan, magistrates, with several gentlemen of the county and their servants, well mounted and armed, set out at two o clock in the morning to the mountains above Bantry, in the neighbourhood of Murdering glin and Glanunbannoul, where they apprehended several persons, charged with cutting off the ears of a horse. (Tuckey's Cork Remembrancer, 1837)
1780 - ROBERT BIBLE was executed at Gallows Green on Whit-Saturday the 13th of May, for keeping forcible possession of part of the lands of Kilrush [Townland of Kilrush - Mogeely or Desertserges]. He was convicted on the White-Boy Act. (Fitzgerald's Cork Remembrancer, 1783)
1786 - July 29 - A desperate skirmish took place between thirty of the volunteers and upwards of six hundred Whiteboys near Inchigelagh, in this county, in which three of the latter were killed, two drowned in endeavouring to make their escape across the river, several wounded, and nine taken prisoner. (Tuckey's Cork Remembrancer, 1837)
1786 -'Unlawful assemblies and trade combinations were rife at this period. Indeed so much so, that our corporation felt it their duty to express themselves strongly on these matters, as appears by a resolution dated June 7th , in this year; in which they state that they will give every assistance in their power to suppress all unlawful assemblies and combinations, and bring the authors and all persons in any way concerned therein, or in aiding or abetting the same, to justice.
The audacity of some of those who took part in those unlawful assemblies may be surmised from the circumstance that, upon one occasion our chief magistrate was assaulted in the execution of his duty by a leader among them - one JOHN DAVIS – ‘in contempt of the law and in open defiance thereof;’ and, as if ‘that most daring outrage and insult’ was not enough to canonise DAVIS in the eyes of the mob, he absolutely had the effrontery to rush on the provost's rod, and break it in two. So indignant were the respectable townspeople at this wanton injury and display of contempt for the authority of their chief magistrate, that they called a public meeting, and collected subscriptions fro the purpose of having the offenders speedily brought to justice.' (George Bennett, 'History Of Bandon,' 1869)
NEXT - Captain Right & The Whiteboys
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