Much of what has been written about capital punishment in nineteenth-century Mayo has been written without reference to the significant body of records from the period. Hanging was a state enterprise, and the state kept detailed records.
The version of this aspect of our history recorded in oral histories differs in many material respects from the actual history – no less cruel but different. These oral histories have proved to be a fertile source for local historians and others writing about the so-called Bloody Code in Mayo.
This is not history; it is storytelling. With storytelling, the facts should, of course, never be allowed to get in the way of a good yarn. The unifying theme of these stories is that the British were hanging us left, right, and centre, for sheep stealing and robbery; what we did to each other and women and children, in particular, does not feature.
Between 1805 and 1919, 196 death sentences were handed down in the courts of Castlebar and Ballinrobe. Of these, fifty condemned individuals were hanged while 121 sentences were commuted.
As the outcome for twenty-five persons is unknown, the number executed and commuted needs to be adjusted upwards to reflect this unknown element. Of the twenty-five whose final fate is unknown, fourteen are connected to the 1814 Thresher-related attack on the Friarstown home of John Ormsby. The lack of newspaper coverage of the hanging of such a high number of individuals suggests that some or all did not hang. Official papers merely record the death sentences in 1815.
There are four cases of murder and one of attempted murder where the outcome for those sentenced to death is unknown. As these cases were before 1825, all were likely hanged. In the robbery and burglary category, the outcome of two death sentences is unknown. As most death sentences for these crimes were commuted, it is likely that these were also. So, of the twenty-five cases where the outcome is unknown, it is likely that approximately ten persons were hanged. It is also likely that a small number of death sentences and hangings are not revealed in the records.
Accordingly, the overall number of persons sentenced to death needs to be increased by a half dozen or so; most would have had their sentences commuted. Therefore, the overall number hanged in Mayo between 1805 and 1919 is likely to be in the region of 50-65 persons. Though six women were sentenced to death, only one was hanged. At least one child was sentenced to death but likely had his sentence commuted. The names of most of those sentenced to death and hanged are recorded in a database published in Anatomy of a County Gaol (2020 ).
Thirty-five death sentences were imposed for crimes connected with secret societies such as Threshers and Ribbonmen. Over one-quarter of the death sentences recorded were for crimes against women and female children, with rape, abduction, and murder (in that order ) making up the forty-nine known cases. The last two hangings on the Green in Castlebar in 1834 were for rape. The last hanging in Mayo in 1873 was for the brutal murder of a wife. Convict Edward Walsh (photograph ) was hanged in the yard of the County Prison on the Westport Road, Castlebar.
Contrary to widely held belief, no one was hanged for stealing or maiming livestock, though fourteen were sentenced to death for such crimes. Similarly, death sentences for larceny, fraud, and arson were rare, though one person was hanged in 1809 for larceny. Almost ten per cent of the death sentences passed in Mayo after 1804 are attributed to the year 1817, with 1806, 1815, and 1833 also contributing significantly to the overall total. Most of those who had their sentences commuted were transported to New South Wales. Again, contrary to popular belief, few if any of those hanged after 1804 were hanged from the Hanging Tree on the Green, Castlebar.
Its use as gallows was likely restricted to the 1798 Rebellion put-down by the British Military and protestant yeomanry. Of course, the number executed in Mayo during and immediately after the 1798 Rebellion is another matter.
