On 21 September 1797, HMS Hermione was hit by a squall off the coast of Cape Nicola Mole. The storm set in motion a series of events that led to the bloodiest mutiny in British naval history. One account places Castlebar man Patrick Walsh among the ringleaders. During the storm, Captain Hugh Pigot ordered the topsails to be reefed. The topmen struggled to get it done quickly. An angry Pigot screamed—the last man down will be flogged. In the panic, three young sailors fell to their death. Pigot had their bodies thrown overboard. Two boatswain's mates were tasked with flogging the remainder of the topmen for dissent.
Days earlier, Pigot had a popular officer, midshipman David Casey from Cork, flogged and reduced in rank. Pigot noticed Casey failed to pick up a minor error by one of the sailors. Casey immediately apologised, but Pigot insisted Casey go on his knees and apologise to the crew. This was demeaning; Casey refused and, in doing so, effectively ended his career.
On the evening of the day following the storm, the crew stole rum, and several broke into Pigot's cabin. They hacked him with blades and tossed him overboard. The mutineers then worked through the officers, killing eight and two midshipmen. The bodies were thrown overboard. The ringleaders included Lawrence Cronin (Belfast ), Robert McReady (Derry ), and Thomas Nash (Waterford ). The latter was directly involved in killing Pigot.
The ship was sailed to La Guaire, Venezuela, and surrendered to the Spanish. The mutineers received twenty-five dollars each, and several joined the Spanish. In February 1798, one of the mutineers was taken off a Spanish ship at Lisbon and returned to England in chains. Four were captured aboard the French privateer Petite Magicienne in April 1798, and another five were hanged at Cape Nicola Mole the following month. In March 1799, two were sentenced to be hung in chains and were executed at Port Royal. In the same month, two more, Redmont and Slenison, were hanged at Sheerness. Nash was hanged in Jamaica in August 1799.
In Walsh's account, he took the Spanish money and wandered in the colony until it was spent. He then travelled to England and enlisted with a regiment of dragoons but deserted and joined the 42nd (Royal Highland ) Regiment of Foot. He served under Sir Ralph Abercromby in Egypt during the Egyptian Campaign against the French. He again deserted, returned to the navy, and was drafted aboard the Victory under Nelson.
Walsh was committed to Bethlem Royal Hospital in 1811. Notwithstanding that he was kept in irons, he killed two persons there. He features prominently in an 1823 collection of case studies titled 'Sketches in Bedlam or Characteristic Traits of Insanity', where he is recorded as a 'ferocious maniac' who acknowledged killing ten people. He was committed to the new Bethlem Hospital on 6 August 1818. In April 1820, Walsh found a broken blade in rubble brought into Bethlem for construction works. He fashioned the blade into a sharp, pointed knife, stabbed Denis Leonard fourteen times, and killed him. There was a history of disagreements between the pair. Leonard had, according to Walsh, spoken profanely about the 'Almighty and the Blessed Virgin'. He was charged with murder but deemed insane. Due to his size and strength, special handcuffs were crafted to restrain him. Kept separate from other inmates, he had the airing yard to himself.
On one occasion, he took his wooden spoon between his teeth and poked the handle through seventy panes of glass. In 1830, Walsh was recorded as an inmate of the Royal Naval Hospital Haslar. The hospital included an asylum for sailors with psychiatric disorders. Walsh died and was buried there in October 1860. It was reported that he had mellowed considerably in later years.
Walsh's involvement in the mutiny is plausible. Niklas Frykman (Mutiny on the Hermione (2010 ) ) notes that 30-40 Irishmen were on the ship. In Egypt with Abercromby and on the Victory with Nelson, when the two greats of British military history fell seems less likely. It is also possible that the stories were part of a delusional fantasy (Image: Hermione, Thomas Whitcombe, Wikipedia ).
