The Sun. — 1825-08-04 (London, England)

PAT. KIRBY. LIMERICK JULY 29.—After the sentence of death was passed upon this man on the 27th, for murder, he was conducted from the Court-house to the gaol, a distance of more-than half a mile, on foot, handcuffed and accompanied by a guard of soldiers armed with muskets. The scene exhibited was beyond the power of description. There was the unfortunate man, in the midst of the soldiers,•walking firmly, and apparently quite unconcerned ; and there too were his halfnaked relative, to the number of fiftysor perhaps a-hundred, piercing the air with ales as heart-rending as they were terrific. His mother, a poor old woman, was entirely devoid of reason, and absolutely raving with grief. She was almost in a state of nudity. She had no shoes or stockings. A large grey cloak thrown over her shoulders was her principal garment. She had torn her cap from her head, her bosom was bare, and her cloak and grey hair waved wildly in the wind. She sometimes threw her, long and shrivelled arms about her head, and at others violently struck her bosom, and exclaimed in her native language, filogh-bohnit bragil Mogh bragh,!—(Oh I my fine boy ! my fine boy !) There was 'a young woman, one of the prisoner's sisters, whose conduct was not .less remarkable titan his mother's. .Her howlings and screams were horrible ; and it was with difficulty 'she could be • prevented from rushing upon the bayonets of the soldiers, if possible, to 'embrace her brother. The prisoner himself appeared quite Minloved. Hesometimes turned round, and in a mild tone of voice bade them be quiet, othold their tongues. His conduct ht.:Akin/4. to the geol•wast similar to that evinced upon his trial, and during his sentence, firm and unmoved, though apparently not brutally unmoved. Just as the pri-. , soner approached the gaol, and was nearly under the gallows,a woman ran towards the soldiers, exclaiming " Surely you'll let the poor boy take a drink of beer." The soldiers halted for a moment, and the prisoner drank with a good deal of avidity. When he gat to the gaol, as -if weary with the lamentations of his friends, •he snastened through -the passage, when the door immediately-closed, and the howl became, if possible, ten times mote NehementAhan ever. One of the pri= soner's sisters fainted, and fell upon the ground. Water was procured, and in about ten minutes sensibility was restored. She raised her head, and opening her eyes, beheld the gallows just above her, on which her brother, in a few hours, was to fi-4 su.—The short time that elapsed between the-prisoner's sentence and the execution was spent in religious exercises. He was attended by three clergymen of the Church of Rome. Previous to his being btolight out for 'execution, he was married to Bridget Dillon, the woman who was tried with Lim for the murdering Mr. Hurst, and who, it appears, lived in a state of concubinage with that gentleman. Kirby, since his conviction up to the hour of execution, declared-that he was innocent of the murder : his fortitude did not forsake him for a moment when he appeared on the scaffold, the immense crowd that had assembled in front of the jail seemed desirous for him to address them, as it had been rumoured among them that he persisted in declaring his innocence. He was evidently anxious to speak; but instead of addressing the people, he turned round to the gentlemen on the platform and declared, in the most solemn manner, that he was prepared to dies that he did not fear death, and as he should be shortly befote the face of Almighty God, he did not commit the murder, nor was he present at its committal, or any way .concerned in it. The priest then cautioned him as to the consequences of uttering a falsehood on the brink of eternity, but he still persisted in his innocence. After the drop fell, lie did not appear to struggle in the least, but was observed to strike his right hand seven or eight times against his breast, as though he was mentally exclainiing, in the language of the publican, "'God be merciful to me a sinner!" Although this man met his fate with the greatest apparent composure and resignation, and with a declaration of innocence even on his dying lips, no person entertains a doubt of his guilt. Indeed, it is reported, that the woman to whom he was married, and who was supposed to be present at the murder, has declared that Kirby alone was the guilty man. He was a tall, well-made, and good. looking young man.  Ull