A FAMOUS RIBBONMAN.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 214, 3 April 1886, Page 1 (Supplement)

A FAMOUS RIBBONMAN.

On the extreme southern verge of County Armagh, almost on the borders of Loath, there is a district of country, stretching on the one side from the famous Cro*smaglen to the picturesque village of Forkhill on the other, which has had a terrible reputation for agrarian crime during several generations. The lofty range of SljevegUllion dominates the landscape far twenty miles in every direction The country is 'generally diversified by swelling hills, which here and there have an almost conical sharpness ; and land is mostly poor and stony, much of it boggy; and cultivation, except in a few quite exceptional cases, follows the most primitive methods. The population is mainly Catholic. A hundred and fifty years ago a Presbyterian colony from Rathfriland was projected into the district when it was but thinly inhabited, and still exists quite separate and distinct from the surrounding population, though on terms of quite relationship. The diatict has always had a wild naniei The district of Cashel, which lies between Crossmaglrn and Newry, was the haunt, ..as it had QOCeJje^e'n, the, property of Red4nond Oliftn'lon, "the , highwayman. Seventy 1 yeart ago .the Cuj'ders redressed all peasant gjrtevancjs'' in this district' with a bold nand." There it a man still living who remembers th£ execution of •'Jack tho Carder" in a field opposite the Fews Barracks, ter miles west of Ncwry, for the crime ofYobbing a miller of firearms on the very night of the Wild Goose Lodge tragedy. The miller became henceforth obnoxious to the peasantry, and his landlord, Squire Dawson of Dublin, saved his life by granting his tenants leases, , and making him the " life "of every Jease. The device was successful. The miller died quietly in his bed only a few years ago at a great age, but carried pistols to the day of hia death. In this district, within abont two miles of Crossraaglen, there lived till thirty yean ago a very remarkable young man, named Neil Quin, in a comfortable farmhouse, which looked down upon some twenty or thirty acres of good land. The townUnd is called Annamar The father of Quin was a bailiff on the property of Squire Ball, a quiet but fearless man, who knew the risks of, his position, 'but managed to get through 1 life with as little friction as possible. He received his farm from the landlord at the time of his marriage some seventy, years ago. His position was lucrative ; he farmed well and he saved money. Be cherished the ambition of making his only child a priest, and, accordingly, sent, him .to a classic*! master who kept school at Cullyhanna, a little 'village about two miles from Annamar, The boy put his pony up every day at the house of a Protestant farmer, who has often told me of Neil's activity, smartness, and pleasantness, as he grew up , from boyhood into manhood. Neil learned Latin and Greek as well as the .ordinary branches of an English' education, but a sad check was given to bis father's ambition by an intimation from the parish priest that Niel would not be allowed to go forward to the 'priesthood. Popular tradition says no blame attached to the boy as the cause of this bitter dissappointment. In due time the bailiff died, and the widow had to manage the farm with the help of her only son. The early scholastic pursuits of Neil, however, seem to have unfitted him for the steady drudgery of farming. He preferred to spend much of his time in riding about the country ; he attended fairs aud markets ; he was a freqnenter of dance 3 and sports of all sorts ; and, as he was well educated, he was looked up to with great respect by the uneducated peasantry around him. The pinch of hard times had always been much felt in this' district ; it was hard work to make up the rent from year to year, and the agent was often obliged to use the , law to enforce the landlord's rights, Thus, it came to pass that a Ribbon Lodge was established in the district. I have often seen the house where its meetings were held by night. Though Neil Quin was the son of a bailiff, his sympathies were now thoroughly enlisted on the side of the tenants on the Ball property, and he became a member of Ribbou Society at a very "early age. This was the starting point of a career which, was cut short bo ignojniniously thirty years ago by the hand of the publjo executioner in the front of Mooughaa O-»ol. He maintained a fair character before the world for ajvhile ; he Was appointed by the Board of Guardians, pf the Castleblayney district as warden lor his district, empowered to issue, medical relief tickets for the dispensary ; and his relations with his Protestant neighbours wera always of the most cordial description. But he began by and bye to avenge agrarian wrongs with his own hand. He was a young man of a powerful build and a passionate temper ; as a .cousin of bis own once said ,to me, " Neil has a terrible eye in his head," and he seemed to be almost übiquitous in his raids .round the country to punish transgressors against the unwritten, code of Ribbonism. His first disagreeable contact , with the law occurred Si 1840, when' he, was charged with the murder of a bailiff named M'Creish. The evidence was not sufficient to convict him, and he escaped. During, the npxt, ten years he became the terror oi the country within a radius of five miles from his house* 7 Four time* he was a prisoner jlq Armagh Gaol, charged with n^urderqf.," savage,, •ssaulfc Twic§, was,he.convic^B(! of assault and.seuteupMl to, short' tejms of imprisonment. The, grand jury once ignored a till for murder Fa the case of a bailiff. Tfc belief of the country always was tjjat Nei\ had a, hand in the murder, of both bailiffs. A» he was leavipg Artnagh Gaol,' -after, oqe of these imprisonments,, he , remarked to a r warder— "Don't let aqy dicty fellow into that cell till I, come back again " The reply of the warder waa very significant — " The next time. Neil, you come here you will be leaving a door higher up"-— meaning ' the scaffold door. There is a gentleman still living iv the district who ventured .to take, two acres of land from a neighbouring farmer who was obliged to emigrate, but not without paying him for his tenant-right. Neil reaulved, not withstanding, to puuisli this gentleman for taking the land. He ( watched him for months so closcby that the gentleman raiely ventured to fair or market, and nevor left his house at at all' after night. Once, ljowflver,,,it wfas necawary for him to visit Pundallc on business, aud Neil somehow got on hia track as be was returning home in the shade of a November evening. They both rode good hoises. Hall an. hour's pursuit made it probable that my friend would he overtaken. Mr M knew, that his life depended upon his reaching a bye-road leading iuto a bog which he could trA verse without difficulty, bpt which would be quite inaccessible to Neil Quin, on- account of its many deep , holes. This was in reality the mode of hi 3 escape. His pursuer feared to^leave the county road, ani we a obliged to drop the chase. Mr AI has often since said that, after the experience of that night,, he never bad a I moment's peace or rase of mind till he heard that Quin ,wa».' banged lit Monaghan. The time was com* at last when Neil was to commit the great crime that cost him his life. It, was the period after the famine of '47, when Ribbon violence was rife at the t»m«;tiine in many different part* of Ireland* Locd Tttoplctown wm it- ' : I. -

the owner of a considerable property iv the neighbourhood of Caitleblayney, and his agent, Mr Thos. D. Batesou, had a particular desire to ettablish a modelfarm upon it with the view of improving Hie methods of agriculture in the country. It was necessary to displace a few tenanti in order to get the necessary land. This was accordingly done, and Corritanty was soon turned into a model farm, under fclie watchful eye of the agent. But the Ribbon Society was roused by the dis placement of the tenants. There wai a little man named Pat Coomy, who held a farm of twenty acres, uuder Lord Templetown, at Killyorackcn, two miles from CastlebUyney, and in the immediate vicinity of Corritanty. He was generally known as "the mealman," for he sold meal on market days in the street of Castleblayney, and had a repute of having saved a little money. He had a wife and a large family of children. The plot to kill Mr Bateson originated in his brain A year before the murder— that it, in the early winter of 1850 — tbe Ribbonmen had a meeting, at which money wan subscribed to procure assassins for this purpose. But for a whole year the project hung fire. At last arrangements were made to " remove " the agent on the 4th December. 186 h > At usual, on occasion* of tbis soft' the assasiins were broupht from a distance. Neil Quin lived nearly ' six mi)e* from Cattleblayney. About a quarter of a mile frOtn his house lived at the same time a farmer named Bryan Grant, who had twenty acres of land, and another farmer or labourer named Pat Nocher, who had only half an acre, and was even in debt for his small patch of ground. Overtures were made to these three neighbours to kill Mr Batesou. As of them had ever seen the agent, Grant waa taken into the courthouse of Castleblayney a week before the murder that he might have Mr Bateson pointed out to him on tbe bench. This was done at the instance of Coomey. Accordingly, on a dark afternoon of Thursday, the 4th of December, 1851, as Mr Bateson, who resided in the town, was going out alone to visit the model farm, he was watched by the three assassins, who were lying hid in a young plantation that skirted the road about half a mile out on the way to Ready. The wonder was that he was alone He had received due warning from the Ribbonmen of his impending fate. Some days before, in pasting a poor cabin, he was astonished to see an old woman issuing out upon the road with * lighted turf in her band, and, getting down upon her knees, she begau to curse him for his conduct as an agent, ending her malediutions by blowing the sparks of the turf after him. The incident, however, did not disturb him any more than the warnings received from the Ribbon men ; for, though an elderly, grey headed man, he waa perfectely fearless, as well as active upon his feet. About half-past three o'clock, as he was passing along the Keady Road, his pistol in his pocket, Grant came up to him, and, tonching his hat respectfully, began to enter into conversation with him. They walked side by side for nearly fifty yards, when Quin, approaching stealthily from behind, fired a pistol into the agent's neck. The bullet passed through his throat, but he was strong enough to make a powerful resistance. It was all in vain, however, for Grant and Quin battered him to the ground with some sharp instruments, leaving him half dead and completely unconscious. He lived for a day, and died at his lodgings without being able to utter a word. The assassins were observed, three io number, though Nocher was a merelookeron, to escape from the scene of the murder by several persons, who were working in an adjoining field. They made straight for home. I have often seen the road they took along the river bank, for they did not consider it safe to keep to the highway. The police were immedi&tely on the alert, but all trace of the assassins was lost. Two brothers named Kelly were afterwards arrested in mistake and tried twice for the murder, but the juries disagreed. The police were ou the wrong scent. It seemed as if justice was baffled. Neil Quin and his companions lived quietly at their homes for a year and more, imagining, we may suppose, that a}{ danger waa past. Suspicion', however, negan to attach to Coomey, but after he had made a declaration before a magistrate, which inculpated nobody, he thought it wise to betake himielf to Liverpool, where for a year he made his living by sellii.g ropes along the quays. At last the Government got upon the right scen£, a 1 d arrested Quin, Grant, Nouher, and Coomey. They were tried twice, but tho juries disagreed. At last Nocher, after a year's imprisonment, and a terror of his own life, resolved to give Queen's evidence. He believed he had been badly treated iv getting very little money for his share in tho murder- Quin got above £6 for his share. As sopu as Quin heard of NocheYs betrayal, be said, with a cry of anguish, " Oh ! I'll never see Annamar again." He was right. The trial came off at the Spring Assizes of 1854, more than two years after the murder, iv the Court-house of Monaghin. before tho late Baron Greene. The present keeper of tho Irish Records, Sir Samuel Ferguson, and the late Mr Ross More, were the counsel for the prisoners. The reporters noticed the fine intellectual appearance of Quin in the dock, as he stood by the aide of bis more rustic confederates, Grant and Coomey. The trial lasted seven days. The prisoners were convicted and sentenced to be hanged on tbe 11 to April. None of them then, nor at apy subsequent time, professed their innocence of the crime tor which they were doomed to suffer.' The execution took place on the Mon< day, which was market day in tbe town of Mxraaghan. The circumstances created a great- s*imtion at the time. All the three convicts had parting interviews with their v ivea on the previous week. Quiu's wif«- departed from him without any display of emotion on either side He bad often beaten her, for he had a savage temper. This parting took place on Snnday evening. Cooraey was the most dressed of the three, and was allowed the luxury of his pipe. Jusr as they were about, to be locked up for the night, he asked Mr Temple, the gove>not, "When will that come off to-morrow? ' The aisw>r wwat? t "Twelve o'clock' Neil asked the to^ernor at the sa ntime. " Will we all go down together?" "No; the scaffold accommodates only two." "Then," said Neil. "Bryan and I will go together." And this was arranged according to his wish. On the following morning Neil surprised evt-ry-j body by skipping about in bis shroud — for all three men were hanged in their shrouds— as if in a state of hysterical exultation, Baying he would not accept * pardon if it were offered him, and that it was the happiest day of his life. Grant was fearfuly depressed. When the two white figures appeared on the scaffold, there was a cry from the crowd which thronged the space before the gaol that will never be forgotten by those who heard it. Tbe hangman " worked them off" in due course, and Grant died instantl", but Neil struggled terribly for fourteen minutes. The priests in attendance left the scaffold and sought ont the hangman in iti*' room to see if be could not' shortea> the' agonies of the dying man, hut 'they only received the gruff reply, "every man doe*' not die alike " Strange to say. NfcH had *xprwsod a hope that he would suffer long as au ttoneratnt for hii rim, Coomty

was hinged ufterwards. About the v«ry time of the execution, the wretched mother of Neil was pasing up aud down the square of Orossmaglen, wringing her hands aud tearing her hair in the auguUh of her grief. This was the end of the terrible tragedy. But there are two or three facts to he gathered up at the close. The hangman who officiated on this occasion was a red-haired, red eyed Limerick man,' with a large bony frame. I have teen him, and have heard him apeak. He wu far too nervous for the business. The only remark I remember from him was, "Inthroth, it is pure murder to hang Pat Coomey." B.iron (Jrewne held a very different opinion, for lie said that the murder plot originated with Coomey, though h<> hai nothing to do with the actual murder. Lord TV mpletown swept all the Coomey s off his property so titat his seven cliil lieu were thrown upon the world. A daughter became servant in the house of a friend of the writer. But Neil Quin was sunn forgotten by His wife. ' She married a respectable firmer shortly afterward", and lives still withia three miles bf her old home at Annamar/ The exewtiou of her firat husband doet not seem to havo struck her as entailing any discredit upon his connections. Otto Sundiy about t?n yasrs after Neil had closed his striking career she *as on her , way to chapel to Cullyimrjia, when a woman of the Presbyterian lajth accosted her as a stranger, "Are you for meeting, to-day ?"' '• No," said Mrs Quiu, striking an attitude on the road. "God forbid! Nothing so bad us that could ever be kid to any of my connection." It is curious to think how different the career of Nell has been regarded by his frinnds and his enemies. Landlords and agents and failifls breathed more freely after the scene in the front of Monaghan t«aoL Bat some twenty years ago I was talking to a cousin of Neil, a poor farmer named Quin who was digging potatoes in a bog on a cold winter day, and his remark to me was—" Well, air, before Neil was put down, we could not get a living in the counti'y ; but now we are not troubled by either landlords or agents. A poor man has a chance now of making a living. ' It is quite true that Neil, whether living or dead, did lay a restraint upon the , ejecting power of the landlords in that district, and that the tenants were but little ' interfered with for many years after the execution. Yet the wild spirit of the Orossmaglen neighbourhood was not exercised by the extreme severity of the law, for it is still, as we know, in another generation proparrd for fresh outbreaks, either in St. Patrick's Brotherhood or in the more familiar shapss of old Ribbon conspiracies. But a whole generation had to die out before the J»ssOn was forgotten. — Sigma.