Arrests in Armagh 29 June 1822 Our Readers in the North who have been contemplating nothing but tranquility around them, will be surprised to find by the following statements that a meeting for treasonable purposes was detected in Armagh on Tuesday last and 14 misguided men arrested on the spot. They are said to be all men of the lowest order but the precise object of their meeting is not stated. We hear that the prisoners have been transmitted to Dublin.
On Tuesday last, 14 men were taken in the city of Armagh and committed to the jail of that county by Colonel BLACKER and a military guard under his command. These men, it is understood, were acting as delegates from several counties in this kingdom and concerned in some conspiracy, which they were endeavouring to organize and bring into operation, against the authority of the government and the peace of the country. We have ascertained their names and places of abode and they are as follows; Michael COFFEY, Dublin Edward CLAFFERY, Fermanagh Thomas BLAKE, do John RICE, Monaghan Peter ROURKE, Longford John KELLY, Tyrone Bernard DOUGAN, Dublin Thomas LAMB, Monaghan Peter KEILLY, Cavan John BRADLEY, Derry Henry COOGAN, Antrim Thomas HUGHES, Dublin Thos. M'GEOGAN, Antrim Thomas BYRNE, Louth Three of these men were from Dublin; 2 from Fermanagh; 2 from Monaghan; 2 from Antrim; and 1 respectively from Louth, Longford, Cavan, Derry and Tyrone. They all seemed respectable from their dress and appearance and are now confined in separate cells in the jail of Armagh. Great praise is due to Colonel BLACKER for his exertions and conduct on the occasion: in detecting the conspiracy and seizing its agents. Several papers were found about the conspirators, which of course will, when made public, throw light on this extraordinary and unlooked for occurrence. We are fully persuaded however, that the conspiracy, whatever kind it may be, is not formidable for the number and still less from the influence and respectability of its emissaries and abettors. All the respectable inhabitants of Ulster are men of loyalty and the agents of sedition are few, and of such a kind, that they will not endanger the peace of society or the safety of the State. Shocking Outrage Mon. 1 Apr. 1822 On the night of Thursday, the 14th inst. a man named Peter M'CRINK and his wife Alice, returning to their home from Newry market, stopped to get some drink at the house of Bernard DUFFEY, within a mile of this town, on the Dublin road; when they left the house 2 fellows who had also been drinking in DUFFEY'S, followed them and robbed M'CRINK of £3 19s, beating him severely.They also committed a rape on his wife, using her in the most shocking manner. We have the satisfaction of stating that they were apprehended on the 24th instant, by John TURNER and John PATTERSON constables and taken before Thomas SERVER Esq. Magistrate of the county Armagh, who committed them to Armagh Jail, to abide their trial for this barbarous and wanton outrage. Their names are George MARMION and Henry RICE, young villains of not more than 18 to 20 years of age and were natives of the place near to where the deed was committed. Transcribed by Teena from the Belfast Commercial Chronicle 5 Aug. 1848 Escape of a Convict from Armagh On Monday night last a man named John MAGUIRE effected his escape from our county prison. He had been tried at Dungannon sessions in February last and sentenced to 7 years transportation, but evaded the ends of justice by escaping from the Bridewell in that town, from which place he proceeded to Portadown where he committed a theft and was again arrested and convicted at the Spring assizes and sentenced to 18 months imprisonment. On the above night, however, he was among the patients at the hospital and having gone to the water closet, he got outside and towards an inner wall of the yard, over which he managed to pass. Up to the present he has kept clear of the authorities, who are not without hope of getting him. transcribed from the Coleraine Chronicle 31 Oct. 1855 Atrocious Outrage Brutal Conduct of the Police On Thursday night we witnessed the most diabolical and unwarrantable outrage on the part of 5 or 6 members of the constabulary that ever was perpetrated by men invested with authority. The unfortunate man who was the victim of cruel, unmanly and beastly violence was Samuel MORROW of this city. It appears that his brother, who lives in the country, had called on him in the evening and remained with him some time, conversing respecting the races and on leaving to go home, Samuel accompanied him far as Thomas street, where they went into a public-house and partook of some whiskey. What took place further, we have not been able to ascertain, but on coming out of the house was arrested by the police; he offered resistance and requested that they should not take him; his sister and other friends remonstrated with the police, assuring them that they would take him home, but remonstrance was useless, for the police, with 1 or 2 exceptions, were almost as drunk as MORROW and though it wanted a quarter of 10 o'clock, they insisted on taking him to bridewell. The police were armed with their carbines and the watchmen, who were also on the spot, with their pikes, they dragged MORROW along the newly graveled street, while the poor man cried out not to kill him. They deliberately laid him down and one policeman threw aside his musket and jumped with his knees on his breast, while another administered 6 or 7 blows on his head and face with the heavy end of his musket, until the blood streamed from him profusely. The other police and watchmen kept back the crowd with their carbines and pikes while this diabolical act was being perpetrated. A storm of execrations and curses burst from the infuriated mob; the women shouted "murder” and MORROW was taken to the ‘cells.” Such is a plain statement of the circumstance, which is certainly not overdrawn. Will the authorities allow it to pass unnoticed? Will they really allow ignorant policemen, excited with whiskey, to beat any man, no matter who or what his character may be, with such instruments as the butt of a musket? We were eye-witnesses of the atrocity. As journalists we cannot allow it to pass without notice. At the moment we write, our indignation is boiling over at this gross violation of all law, justice and humanity. It is the duty of every one who witnessed it, to endeavour to put down this growing intolerance at once and forever. We willingly acknowledge the exertions the police make to detect robbers and bring offenders to justice, but the same laws which punish the burglar and the pickpocket, protect one man from the violence of another. Further Particulars - Since the above was written, we were surprised by a report that MORROW died from the effect of the wounds inflicted on him. On making inquiry, however, we learned that the circumstance having been reported at the police office, the head constable ordered the man to be taken out of the cells and conducted to his own house. This accordingly was done and MORROW is now lying at home in a dangerous state, having a contusion and two deep cuts in his head. We have been told that the policeman who inflicted the wounds does not belong to the Armagh district Transcribed by Teena from the Armagh Guardian Cheers! _______________________________________________ UlsterAncestry@cotyrone.com UlsterAncestry Mailing List Searchable Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/ulsterancestry@cotyrone.com/ http://lists.cotyrone.com/mailman/listinfo/ulsterancestry Website: https://cotyrone.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/CoTyroneIrelandGenealogy/
