Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1914-07-03
An Irish Rebel
A Stosy For St. Patnck's Day
By NOR MCCARTHY
By NORA MCCARTHY

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have always beer the work of the
Catholic party. which lives almost any
where in Ireland except in the province
of Ulster, where many of the people
are Protestants. So Ireland from the
beginning of her reyolts has been In
the position she is now with reference
to home rule. Ulster against the rest
of the island.
One of the most earnest rebels in
this 1898 trouble was Patrick Mulligan.
a young fellow, who. like many an
other Irishman. was named for st.
Patrick. who introduced Christianity
into Ireland.
After the Irish revolt of 1898 Pat
was found to be so deeply dyed in
treason that all his inventive powers.
assisted by those of his friends. were
not sufficient to keep him from fndict-
ment and trial. and he was sentenced
to be hanged by the neck until he was
dead. When the judge put on the
black cap he asked the condemned man
If he had anything to say why sem
tence of death should not be passed
upon him.
"Divil a word. your honor said Pat
with an impressive bow to the judge.
have to say why sentence of death
should not be passed upon me, for I'm
the worst rebel in Ireland. but / have
something to say when l shall be hang
ed. l have the honor to bear the name
of the patron saint of Ireland. This
year st. Patrick's day comes on Fri
day, two weeks from tomorrow. and
l should be obIigedif your honor would
sentence me to die on that blessed
day"
The judge granted this modest re-
quest and after he had passed sentence
asked Pat just why he wished to be
hanged on the saints anniversary. Pat
replied that st. Patrick was stronger
than the king of England and would
have a care for any one who should be
swung off on that day.
The following two weeks were a
series of receptions on Pats part.
everybody he knew coming to the Jail
to see him and bringing him delica-
cies. Instead of acting like a man
who each day was twenty-four hours
nearer the gallows. the nearer drew
the time of his execution the merrier
he grew. When asked by his friends
why he was in such good spirits he
said that he was named for st. Pat
rick. was to be hanged on st. Pat
rick's day and divil a bit would the
saint suffer him to hang at all.
His faith affected his friends to such
an extent that they set about trying to
get a pardon for him. But Pat had
given the government so much trouble,
0 only In tilnes or open reDelllon, Blu
Of unrest, that they were determined
to get rid of him. So Pats friends
were obliged to try another plan. One
of them, a cobbler. riveted together
some straps to go under his arms with
a hook at the back of the neck. An
other told Pat of the plan to save him
from death. while a third the night be-
fore the execution got the sheriff
drunk. and in the morning he was not
In a condition to oficiate on the scat
fold. So he appointed a deputy, and
that deputy was the man who got him
drunk.
When Pat was brought out to be
hanged he made a bow to the crowd
waiting to see him swung of and said:
"Good morning to you. 1t gives me
great pleasure to afford you amusement
on this blessed morning" He was led
up on to the scaffold and, acting on
the instructions he had received. OBJ
jected to the rope on the ground that
1t was not safe. being too light and
might let him down and hurt him. So
another rope vas produced. and the
deputy sheriff when he came to slip
the moose over Pats head contrived to
catch the end In the hook at the back
OF the neck.
Now, there were those present who.
If they had perceived what was going
on, would have reported the fact, and.
though Pat might have been saved for
the time being. he would have later
been strung up In earnest without
waiting for another St Patrick's day
to come around. So the deputy was
Obliged to go through the motions. and
the rope was put around the neck OF
the culprit. It was intended that the
hook should relieve the strain entire
", but it did not work as well as ex-
pected, and Pat was Jared senseless.
bslThe deputy was obliged to let him
hang an hour. but by setting ahead the
hands Of his watch he reduced the
time to forty minutes. Then Pat was
cut down. put into a coffin and driven
away In a cart
The jogging OF the cart resuscitated
him, and he was about to sit up when
he was held down by a friend, and it
was not till the cart struck a wood
that he was taken out of his grewsome
receptacle. He was then given a dis
guise and some money that had been
collected for him and told to make for
the coast and take the first vessel sail
49, 4o~ uoor{oo Dat bado than all