Justice was anything but back in 1840 with many deported in Mayo for stealing goats
by Auld Stock
MAGISTRATES at a Quarterly Session in a Mayo town on April 22, 1840, had a busy day when several cases were listed for hearing.
According to the The Telegraph, a J. McLoughlin was found guilty of stealing eight goats and was sent to the County Jail in Castlebar for one month, later to be deported for seven years.
P. Hefferan, found guilty of stealing potatoes, was imprisoned for three months with hard labour.
A. Kelly, found guilty of stealing a petticoat and a small sum of money, was transported for seven years.
M. Newell, found guilty of stealing calico, was sentenced to two months hard labour. Calico was extensively used in the making of clothes in those days.
J. Bourke, found guilty of assault, was fined six pence and discharged.
E. Bourke and T. Gibbons, found guilty of stealing sheep, to be deported for fourteen years.
O. Ryder, who pleaded guilty to stealing a sum of money, sentenced to 12 months hard labour and one week in every two months to be kept in solitary confinement.
M. Sweeney, found guilty of stealing calico, sentenced to two months hard labour.
E. Gibbons, found guilty of a rescue, imprisoned for two months and pay a fine of ten shillings to the Queen of England.
The above court cases were each dealt with in a matter of minutes.
One magistrate described the cases before the sessions as a ‘damned nuisance’.
This was typical of the manner in which the poor people of Ireland were treated by ruthless magistrates at the time.
In the 1800s the Christian name Patrick, shortened to Pat, was often spelt Patt.
In those days deportation meant being sent to Van Diemen’s Land, a British crown colony, later named the island of Tasmania.
The trip to Tasmania took ten weeks and the unfortunate people being deported had to endure shocking conditions during the trip. On landing in Van Diemen’s Land the deportees were subject to much abuse.
Johnny Brinklow, a painter by profession, has lived in Tasmania for forty years.
He is son of the late Harry and Annie Brinklow, McHale Road, Castlebar, and brother of Marie Brinklow, McHale Road, an accomplished artist.
My son James, who has spent 34 years in Australia, is currently based in Tasmania and describes the island as a splendid place in which to live, nice weather and a strong Irish influence.
Those appearing before the sessions in the 1840s were poorly dressed, destitute, illiterate and didn’t fully understand the English language and legal jargon.
They had no one to defend them and their futures were thrown to the winds and the weather by unscrupulous magistrates made up of the landed gentry of the day who showed no mercy towards the impoverished people who came before them.
I was intrigued by an offence mentioned above, rescue.
It apparently means taking back property seized as a prize from the possession of the captors by the party who originally lost it, a bit complicated.