Such a state of society as this, and such restless activity alone, could give birth to the extraordinary character whose turbulent career I am about inditing; but ere I proceed, it would perhaps be well to allude to the circumstances and emergencies which, on the principles I have laid down, threw such an individual to the surface. Little more than allusion will be necessary; for in these days, when so much has been said and sung about Ireland—while Carleton in his soul-searching tales anatomises the very inmost heart of our countrymen, and Mrs Hall skims the surface of all that is good and beautiful amongst us—while attorneys make fortunes, and lawyers found families, who can be ignorant of the lamentable mismanagement of property which has beggared so many of our oldest families? The history of one will almost tell the fate of them all. Incumbrances accumulating for perhaps half-a-dozen generations, some probably long before discharged, but still allowed to remain on record as if unpaid, through mere neglect and carelessness, until the fact of their ever having been paid falls into oblivion, or becomes incapable of proof; others permitted to continue, in the hope that some lucky accident would some time or other, and somehow or other, transfer them by inheritance to the heir, or else enable him to liquidate them more conveniently than at the present. At last, in the changes of mortal affairs, they fall into the hands of strangers or persons who must have their own. A settlement is demanded—the inheritor finds himself fifty per cent worse than nothing—redemption is out of the question—he plunges into tenfold dissipation and extravagance, knowing that he wastes nothing which it is in his power to retain or retrieve. A short life and a merry one, is his maxim; to protract it, he litigates every claim right and left—seeks to baffle every process of the law—calls his tenantry to his assistance—while they, taking advantage of his distresses, and the confusion of all rights, assume an independent position, playing off the landlord and his adversaries against one another—now rebelling against his weak claims—now affording him protection against the advances of the law, throwing their weight into whatever scale promises the most fun and the most advantage—half-a-dozen bailiffs are maimed or murdered—half-a-dozen examples are made to the offended dignity of justice. Affairs come to their crisis at last in spite of all opposition. The attorneys get their costs—the creditors get the surplus—the unfortunate debtor gets the turn-out—and so ends an old song and an old family.
This terrible ultimatum of the law did not, however, in all cases put an end to the hopes and energies of the discomfited litigant. Another card still remained to be played, by any one reckless and desperate enough to avail himself of it: this was no less than to rise in open opposition to all law, set the sheriff and his subalterns at defiance, and hold possession with a strong hand after the manner of the ancients. Before matters came to this, the tenantry were usually, from the causes I have mentioned, sufficiently demoralized for any purpose; and whatever might have been their previous conduct, those sympathies which seldom fail a ruined master, were of course roused to their highest pitch; in addition to which stimulant, it was manifestly their advantage that the reign of misrule should continue, so that, when a man was thus turned at bay, there was no saying how the matter might end. I believe it very often happened, during the weak and uncertain administration of justice in the past century, that a pertinacious adherence to this desperate line of policy has tired out the persecution of all adversaries, and been crowned with final success. Any money, therefore, for a partizan able and willing to undertake the support of such a desperate cause; one who, while his principal kept in the background, had no fear or shame to prevent him from putting himself forward—drilling the tenants—collecting adherents and information—concentrating all the lawlessness of the district against the operations of the law—holding his own life at nought, and the lives of all others at a lower standard, if possible.
In those days society required Dare-devils, and if old stories be true, Dare-devils galore arose to supply the want. But what were they all to Mick Connell of Thurles? The desperado whose name is still remembered with terror and admiration through the district which was the scene of his turbulent career fifty years ago, was, as my informant described him to me, a man of the most indomitable resolution, endowed with a strength of body truly formidable, though of small stature and mean appearance, and withal one of the most mortal opponents of the king’s writ that ever figured, even in Tipperary. This fellow was not slow to perceive that a more pleasing and profitable occupation could be found for the exercise of the daring qualities which he possessed, than was afforded in the occasional outbreak at fair or pattern, to which he had hitherto in his simplicity restricted himself. A gentleman in the neighbourhood got into difficulties, and, poor man, had not a soul belonging to him who could direct the laudable exertions his tenants and followers were willing to make in his behalf, or show them how even to dispose of a bailiff. Common humanity induced Mick to come forward, and never was an act of humanity more richly rewarded. The most brilliant and unexpected success crowned his labours. Under his guidance the tenants became a phalanx, able to bother the twelve judges themselves, or tire the patience even of a Chancery suit. Writs were sent out, but had no return, and now and then the same might be said of the bailiffs who ventured to bear them. Everything was reduced to the most perfect system; and the attorneys, dismayed and discomfited, declared themselves conquered by a line of tactics hitherto unknown, the discoverer of which deserved to be immortalized. The result was, that the party who had been so fortunate as to awaken for his service the slumbering energies of this determined partizan, was allowed an honourable capitulation, while the discovery of these happy improvements in the noble art of self-defence gained for Connell himself the character of public benefactor of all distressed country gentlemen.
His fame increased, and business came thick upon him. Many a man who was half inclined to die soft before, without one effort to save himself, took courage now, and hastened to avail himself of the prowess and protection of this new and unhoped-for auxiliary; until, at length, in all desperate cases the first step taken was to secure his services. In process of time his sons grew to manhood, fitted in every respect to co-operate with such a father; and of course the extent and boldness of his operations increased along with his family. The local authorities connived at him; many of them probably having received the benefit of his assistance already, while the rest of them knew not what day would fling them upon his protection. Touch Connell!—they would as soon touch the apples of their own eyes; they might as well yield themselves at once to the hated touch of the bailiffs. Gratitude for past services, and a prudent view to those which he might ere long be called to render, procured him an immunity from the harassing regulations which were made for the control of gentlemen of his kidney; and, accordingly, under this reciprocal patronage he grew and flourished, and waxed famous. Gradually he became enabled to form a gang, and, that point gained, he became irresistible. The beauty and simplicity of his system caused it to triumph every where. Debts were at a discount—judgments were condemned—incumbrances ceased to be a burden—and, alas for the mutability of mortal greatness, the sheriff, the very sheriff, was so lightly regarded that not a soul in the place would be bothered bribing him!
Respectable and remunerative as his line of business had become, it was not long until a wider field was opened to his increased powers, and the experience he had accumulated. The representative of an old and considerable family was threatened with an ejectment by some of his relatives, who possessed a clearer claim to the property than he did; while, in addition to the doubtfulness of his cause, he had to bemoan that the improvident manner in which he lived had deprived him of the means necessary to defend it. Nor were his troubles confined to one law-suit. Other parties, conceiving their rights were as feasible as those of his original adversary, determined on a similar assertion of them, and on one day the luckless wight was served with, I believe, no less than four ejectments. I suppose every body is aware of the indiscretions, irregularities, and extravagances which in that facetious process are alleged against the person whom it seeks to disturb. I need not, therefore, say with what amazement the poor man perused the weighty charges of assault and battery so circumstantially laid against him, or how deeply he puzzled his memory in ransacking it to discover when he could, by any possibility, have committed all these outrages. And who the deuce was John Thrustout, that seemed mixed up so much in the transaction?—he was a civil fellow, anyhow, for he warned him fairly of his danger, and advised him to make the best fight he could. “And, by the powers, so I will,” he ejaculated; “since they say we wallopped them, I may as well have the gains as the name—let them do their best. If Mike Connell helps me, I’ll take the hint, and maybe they won’t have truth on their side the next time they complain of me.”
It usually happens that where a great many people are endeavouring each to get a blow at one unfortunate, he against whom this united ill will is directed comes off pretty safe in the scramble. In Ireland, at all events, the luxury of thrashing one’s neighbour is so highly prized, that one can bear no interference when enjoying it, and thus a well-meaning auxiliary in the grateful occupation is likely to fall in for worse treatment than was originally intended for the first victim. So it was in the present instance. The discordant interests of the different claimants bred such confusion and disturbance in the several suits instituted, that for a long time the poor wretch whom all sought to disinherit was left in comparative quiet, and leisure was afforded him to overcome the scruples which Connell raised when it was first proposed to him to undertake the piece of unheard-of atrocity required of him, no less, in fact, than to place himself in direct and open outlawry, by seizing possession of the property in dispute, and holding it by force of arms against all comers. But the bribe was too large, and the adventure altogether too tempting, notwithstanding its concomitant perils, for Connell’s virtue or prudence to persist in refusing; so, casting aside all minor matters as unworthy of the bright prospects now opening before him, he gathered his troop of brigands, strengthened it with some new hands, cleared it of all doubtful characters, and, to use a transatlantic term, squatted in full force on the disputed territory, dividing its richest farms between himself and his followers, as the price of his and their services.
Weary on these law-suits!—terminate as they may, they invariably end by sucking away the very life-blood of the fools who rush into them. In the case to which I allude, the unfortunate defendant had not the poor satisfaction of living to see the discomfiture which he had prepared for his assailants. The daily watch for ruin, still deferred, was to him as sickening as ever was the watch for hope under like circumstances; and he died ere it came, leaving his curse among his adversaries on an average, and his strong injunction to Connell to hold out against them all—an injunction he was by no means inclined to disobey; for, now that he had undertaken the job, he was as eager to see out the fun as if he had himself originally concocted it, not to speak of the snug homesteads which he and his gang possessed on the sole tenure of their resistance to all intruders. Accordingly, no sooner had he disposed of the mortal remains of his defunct employer, than he betook himself with almost religious zeal to obey his behests, by strengthening himself against the storm which he foresaw would soon burst upon him. The mansion-house was a strong substantial building, and there, with a judgment that would have been creditable to the most eminent general who ever conquered on a field of battle, he removed his head-quarters, and proceeded to lay in such stores of food, arms, and ammunition as would enable him to meet the danger in a manner worthy of the stake he was playing for. It is needless to paint the dismay which these bold arrangements scattered through the camps of the various claimants, who thus, at the very moment when each congratulated himself upon the immediate prospect of snatching the prize which the operation of nature, anticipating that of law, had thrown into his hands, found this unexpected and formidable opponent start up in their path, with his audacious pretensions, so audaciously, but at the same time so seriously supported. Had there been anything like confidence among them, their co-operation might probably have effected his expulsion; but it was not without reason that the cunning freebooter reckoned upon their mutual distrust precluding the possibility of such a coalition. Each of course sought to make terms with him; and with each, of course, he coquetted as naturally as if he had been bred, born, and reared in the best society, but in vain each importuned him to give up the possession—to all such demands he returned the same modest answer, “Truly it would not become an ignorant simple man like him to pretend to settle a question which puzzled the judges themselves. As soon as the rightful owner was declared, he would be ready to quit in his favour; but until then, it was his duty to keep all out with perfect impartiality.”
One of the parties whose demands were thus evaded, happened to be a wrongheaded, positive sort of customer of the old school, who viewed the power and decisions of the wigged brotherhood with almost as much contempt as Connell himself could regard them, and being too impatient to await the slow and sinuous progress of the law, undertook the desperate resolution of forcing that redoubted personage to evacuate, even by force of arms. It never was a hard matter in Tipperary, when a rookawn was on foot, to gather auxiliaries; and at the time of which I write, the facilities were perhaps more numerous than ever; not even the formidable character of the garrison and its commander could deter numbers of the adventurous spirits of that famed region from the enterprize. They entered into the spirit of the thing with heart and soul; and, accordingly, one fine morning, with a goodly band at his heels, and prepared with all the needful appliances, this old-fashioned vindicator of his rights set out to storm the stronghold. It is unnecessary to say that an awful riot ensued—barricades were broken down, outposts driven in, houses wrecked, and numbers of his then majesty’s subjects wofully maltreated; until at length, in spite of all opposition, they reached the house, than which even valour’s self could no further go. Scaling-ladders and battering-rams were in requisition; the fun began to thicken, and the result to grow doubtful. Saragossa was not more nobly defended, nor Badajos more gallantly assailed. It is possible, however, to push a joke too far, even on the best tempered people; and Connell, feeling that this was the case, determined to give a gentle intimation of it to his assailants. A large window had been burst in and ladders placed against the breach—a rush was made to ascend them in defiance of the threats which he denounced against whoever should attempt it, and which he executed by pouring a discharge of fire-arms into the very thickest of the mass. But it was too late to intimidate; the enraged mob rushed over the bodies of the fallen—a simultaneous attack was made upon all points—and, alas for the brave, the post was won. In the melée that ensued, all escaped but the leader; and before the relatives of the slain, or the general mass of the victorious party, were aware of his capture, he was judiciously hurried out of their reach, and handed over to the civil power on a charge of murder. There is no part of the world, however, in which the distinction between killing and murder was so well understood as in Ireland in those days; and in point of fact, I believe the man was free from the legal charge—at least so it appeared to the jury who tried him, for he was acquitted. Short-lived, indeed, was the triumph of his adversaries, and immediately on his liberation they began to tremble for the security of their tenure. He had sworn that though it should cost him his life, he would endeavour to recover the premises of which he had been dispossessed, and they knew him too well to doubt him: a council of war was held, and the question proposed, should the place be defended or evacuated? The latter alternative was adopted, not without good reason; but it was likewise determined that it should never again afford such protection to Connell as it had, or present an obstacle to the entry of the legitimate claimant, when fortune should so far favour him; and in pursuance of this policy the stately mansion was levelled to the ground—house and offices, even to the walled enclosures, every spot that could again harbour a freebooter.
But it was not so easy to baffle that indefatigable customer: half of his resources were not yet expended; his followers, reanimated by his escape, gathered round him again; and before his dismayed antagonists recovered from their disappointment, he was strongly and securely entrenched in an earthen fort of his own construction, in which he displayed as much science and foresight as would have done credit to Carnôt. This was the period of his highest triumph: his insolence became unbounded; and he used, I am informed, to stalk through the streets of Thurles, on the most public occasions, armed to the teeth, and defying the best man in the town “to lay a wet finger on him.” It is not to be supposed that these extraordinary proceedings could fail of reaching the ears of the high functionaries who were called upon to decide upon the rights of the rival claimants, and who, not regarding Connell as the very fittest person to undertake the care of the litigated property, ordered him to be instantaneously dispossessed, and forwarded writs to that purport to the sheriff. That officer, no way astray as to the dangers and difficulties he should encounter in any attempt to dislodge such a desperado, collected as much of the civil and military force of the district as was available, and proceeded to execute his perilous behest. Of course he was resisted, and it was soon found that the most violent measures should be resorted to. An order was given to storm the fort, and the attempt was answered by a volley from within, that tumbled a couple of the assailants, and drove back the remainder. The conflict became deadly, but so securely were the banditti posted, that all the efforts of the besiegers made scarce any impression upon them: cannon alone could be effectual, and a dispatch was sent for it. In the meantime a general assault was given, with partial success, which seemed to dishearten Connell so far us that he attempted a sortie for the purpose of escaping. Two of his sons fell in the melée, but all the rest of the party succeeded in getting off, leaving some half dozen of the assailants half dead or dying. He was now, undoubtedly, within the reach of the law, and warrants were issued for his apprehension; but for a long time no one dared to attempt executing them, notwithstanding that very large rewards were offered. At length, a bailiff who had some private pique against him, to act as an additional stimulant, undertook the dangerous enterprize—succeeded in dogging him to his retreat, and on his attempting to snatch a pistol to defend himself, shot him through the head, and put an end to the career of a real Irish Dare-Devil.
A. M’C.