head-quarters seem to have been Coolcullen Wood, about seven miles from
Kilkenny, but they extended their operations into the King and Queen's
Counties, and even to Galway. They were so formidable that a strong
military force had to be sent against them. This gang committed no
murders, disdained to take anything but money, horses, and sheep;
sometimes divided their plunder with the starving people; and had in the
outset pledged their honour not to rob any of the gentlemen of the
County Kilkenny. They were dispersed, after giving much trouble to the
military; many were taken prisoners, tried by a Special Commission, and
of course hanged; for, while the Government did nothing to alleviate the
horrors of the Famine, it put the law in force with a bloody severity.
The number of persons condemned to death at the Spring Assizes of 1741
was really appalling. There was a sort of small food riot at
Carrick-on-Suir, where a boat laden with oats was about sailing for
Waterford, when the starving people assembled to prevent the food they
so much needed from being taken away. Their conduct was clearly illegal,
but they were at death's door with hunger, and ought to have been
treated with some consideration and patience. A justice of the peace,
with eighteen foot soldiers and a troop of horse, came out and ordered
them to disperse; they would not, or at least they did not do so with
sufficient alacrity. One account, published a fortnight or so after the
occurrence, asserts with a feeble timidity akin to falsehood, that
stones were thrown by the people. Be that as it may, they were fired
upon; five starving wretches were shot dead on the spot, and eleven
badly wounded. To give the finishing touch to this wicked slaughter, the
Lords Justices, Primate Boulter and Lord Chancellor Jocelyn, in the
absence of the Lord Lieutenant, came out with a proclamation, offering a
handsome reward for the apprehension of any of those who had escaped the
well-directed fire of the soldiery.