Civil Disobedience in 1825

The latest installment of historian Jonathan Smyth's popular column...

History is filled with all sorts stories involving riots and affray and the year 1825, was no exception. Plenty of punches were thrown and other malicious acts took place with newspaper reports of antisocial behaviour across the county. The police did their best to maintain law and order in the face of such adversity.

Swanlinbar

In May 1825, an unpleasant occurrence took place in Swanlinbar with two large turf-stacks purposely set on fire and destroyed. The stacks belonged to Nathaniel Montgomery, Drumcoske, and a local innkeeper called Andrew Hill. The police under Captain Wray were put through their paces as they searched for the perpetrators. And the fact that it was carried out at such an early hour meant that there were no witnesses. To catch the criminal a subscription was created to gather money to use as a reward for information leading to arrests.

What’s the Story?

Two days later, on May 7, Cranaghan Glebe became the target of an attack. Many of the young trees belonging to the Rev Joseph Story were ‘broke across the middle.’ TheCavan Heraldasked as to why the Rev. Story was targeted , considering the outrage to be of a mysterious nature, since everyone liked him. He was a ‘constant resident and supporter of institutions’, helping the poor. A considerable amount of Story’s fortune was given to charitable causes. As the newspaper saw it, there was no motive.

On Monday night, May 9, a riot broke out on the streets of Ballyconnell during a wedding. A man named Elliot had just been married in the protestant church. On leaving the building with the wedding party, an angry crowd awaited them, but they were not there to wish him well. Almost one hundred or more gathered, and when the public had left the church, the crowd threw a volley of stones and other missiles at the wedding party. The group opposing Elliott were chiefly catholic according to the Cavan Herald. The wedding party maintained their patience for a time, before joining in, ‘in self-defence’. Three constables came down the street to halt the riot. Two of them who were protestant got several blows, one almost being strangled when a man wrapped his hands about his throat. The third constable who was catholic was left untouched and walked away without ‘being the least anxious.’

Certain gentlemen of the town, assisted by a group of revenue police rushed over to help the constables. Some of the ringleaders were rounded-up and peace was restored. The rioters appeared before the petty sessions, one of them, a prominent innkeeper in Ballyconnell, of whom the newspaper asked, will he be able to prove himself a ‘peacemaker or peace breaker?’ According to the newspapers, it had been sometime since such a matter had arisen at a wedding in the town.

Kingscourt

On 23 of May 1825, a huge riot took-out at a fair in Kingscourt. Arthur Spotton, police sergeant was walking down the street when he spotted a thug wantonly smashing a shop window. The woman of the house, fuming, seized the ‘blackguard’ who paid no heed to her, started speaking abusively. The sergeant came to the woman’s aid, telling the man to pay for the damage he’d caused. The man turned and struck the sergeant, a bad move that led to his arrest.

Having arrested the culprit, Sergeant Spotton marched him towards the barracks. The man’s arrest did not go to plan. A riotous mob appeared who then rescued the prisoner. A policeman arriving on the scene got knocked to the ground. And, the sergeant received repeated blows. Two other policemen present, made a quick exit back to the barracks for carabine’s, and loading them went to relieve the other policeman. The policeman however, had managed to escape the gang.

The sergeant and his men located the prisoner and re-arrested him. But, before they could move, the Mob surrounded them. Sticks and stones rained down. The re-arrested prisoner was taken and freed again.

A police sergeant from Meath who was at the fair went to the policemen’s assistance and ended up knocked on the broad of his back. The police began firing shots, but missed, giving the mob courage. The sergeant in self-defence fired another shot, the ball lodging in the forehead of an attacker. The shot man dropped to the ground, and the rioters became furious. The police managed to get away safely in the company of William E. Lee and the military to the shelter of the army barracks.

The police sergeant then surrendered himself, and was lodged in the town jail, awaiting an investigation into the dead rioter. The newspaper wanted it to be known, that it was an ‘imperative duty’ on the part of the magistrates of the county collectively, to investigate into this recent attack on the police, and if the rioters were ‘culpable’, to punish them with ‘severity’.

SHOT DEAD BY A HEN

In March 1914, a Monaghan farmer found himself in the bizarre situation of being shot by a hen. Magpies had been stealing eggs from the hen roost, causing Connolly to grab his gun to tackle the thieving birds. In the hen house, ‘a hen ran across him’, causing the weapon to discharge into Connolly, severely injuring him. He lived for several hours, before succumbing to death, caused by the wound.

Connolly was living between Ballybay and Castleblayney, having returned home from America where he made his fortune. He married on his return, but his wife sadly died shortly afterwards. Lawrence from that time was living with his brother on the family farm, where the accident occurred.