Anthony Daly 6

Anthony Daly pleaded that he had only one eye and threatened his accuser, Burke. Sentenced to death for assaulting James Cullen, he was taken to Seafon Hill for hanging. Daly made a final jump and kick at his hangman before being restrained. Refusing to name his accomplices, he died defiantly as a true Daly. Poet Anthony Raftery composed a lament for him, condemning the informers and gentry involved in his execution. The only thing that Daly said in his plea was, I have only one eye, my lord. But if I laid that eye along a gun barrel, Burke would not be here to testify against me. Daly was sentenced to death on the 8th of April, 1820, for the attack on James Cullen of Corhean House. As was common practice, a sentence was to be hung in a distinguishable spot located near where the crime had occurred. Seafon Hill, at Cycrohill, was chosen as the spot. On Saturday, April the 8th, Anthony Daly was transported from Galway Jail to Seafon Hill under armed escort. Daly was placed on a cart drawn by his own horse. He was shackled on the coffin he was to be buried in. His journey to a wretched fate had begun. Upon reaching the village of Cromwell, Daly was allowed to call at a public house for a final drink. He bought a drink for his hangman, Andrew O'Gehiggan, in an act of morbid humour. Crowds of people flocked to witness the execution. The vast concourse of the peasantry had come to witness Daly's fate upon the gallows. Daly's final request was to make one final jump on the hill where he had mastered his athletics as a youth. Granted this, he made a leap, and upon returning to the cart, made an attempt at his hangman turning farmer's life. However, O'Gehiggan anticipated the kick and jumped from the cart. The dragoons that had cordoned the cart to seep him dashed in to restrain the ill-fated man. After rope was put around his neck, the colonel granted Daly freedom if he named his accomplices. Daly's mother, who was among the crowd, shouted, Anthony Daly, you were born a man and die a man. Anthony Daly's final words were, I die a true man, I die a Daly. He died slowly, and the colonel kicked his head repeatedly after it had been cut down. In fencing the hostile crowd, Anthony Daly met his fate with composure and resignation. Since that fateful day, Anthony Daly's life has been remembered and commemorated in many ways. Present that day was the poet Anthony Raftery. He composed a lament for the fallen ribbon man. Written in Irish, Raftery plays his wrath on the informers and the gentry families that brought about Daly's hanging.