Rathcormac massacre

Rathcormac-Gortroe massacre
Part of Tithe War
"The Massacre at Gortroe", a lithographic print depicting the events of December 1834 (published in August 1848)
Date	18 December 1834
Location	Gortroe, near Rathcormac, County Cork 52°02′56″N 8°15′42″W / 52.0488°N 8.2617°W / 52.0488; -8.2617Coordinates: 52°02′56″N 8°15′42″W / 52.0488°N 8.2617°W / 52.0488; -8.2617
Parties to the civil conflict
British Army, Royal Irish Constabulary Irish tenant farmers
Number
~100 ~250
Casualties and losses
0 killed ~12-20 killed (~45 injured)

The Rathcormac massacre or Gortroe massacre was an affray during the Tithe War in Ireland, which took place on 18 December 1834 in County Cork, by Bluebell hill in the civil parish of Gortroe. The incident took place near the village of Bartlemy outside Rathcormac, where between twelve and twenty protesting locals were killed by soldiers enforcing the collection of tithes. This was caused due to the widow Johanna Ryan not paying her tithes. The locals were outraged and threw piles and stones towards the British soldiers, who fired on the crowd.

Background[]

Since 1830, Catholic peasants or tenant farmers across much of Ireland had been withholding the tithes they were obliged to pay to the vicar of the local Anglican Church of Ireland parish. Archdeacon William Ryder was the rector of the parish of Gortroe (then also spelt Gurtroe), and also a resident magistrate (RM). His tithes fell due on 1 November 1834 and on 18 December a distraining party set out led by Archdeacon Ryder and Captain Richard Boyle Bagley, RM, and William Cooke Collis, a Justice of the Peace.

Incident[]

The distraining party was met at Bartlemy, a crossroads hamlet, by a military escort of approximately 100 men.^[1] The escort comprised 12 mounted troops of the 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards under Major Waller; two companies of the 29th (Worcestershire) Regiment of Foot under Lieutenant Tait; and "a very small party" of the Irish Constabulary under Captain Pepper. A crowd of approximately 250 locals began pelting the party with stones before retreating to the plot of Widow Ryan where a barricade had been built. Ryan owed 40 shillings in arrears and the party advanced to collect either the money or produce of equal value. The Riot Act was read and the soldiers advanced, but were beaten back by "spades sticks and stones" and sustained injuries for 45 minutes. Waller ordered them to open fire. Nine were killed at the scene and 45 injured, with at least 3 dying from their wounds.^[2] None of the distraining party or escort were killed, though many were injured by rocks, cudgels and pikes. The crowd dispersed and Ryan paid her tithe.

Aftermath[]

Daniel O'Connell published a legal opinion that forces' action amounted to wilful murder. An inquest was held for the nine who died at the scene. Feargus O'Connor appeared at this to argue O'Connell's points, and 13 of the jury voted for "wilful murder", 2 for manslaughter and 8 for justifiable homicide.^[3] The magistrates were arrested and released on bail. Criminal charges were later dropped.

Higgins-McHugh states that three of those injured later died, whereas Feargus O'Connor claimed that, apart from the nine dead recorded at the inquest, there were two bodies carried away, and nine who died later of their wounds, for a total of twenty killed.^[4]

Henry Grattan caused publication of a letter in which Lord FitzRoy Somerset expressed satisfaction with the soldiers' conduct.^[5]

After Rathcormac, the Dublin Castle administration stopped the automatic assignment of military and police escorts to agents collecting tithes, instead requiring documentary proof that the collectors were endangered. The massacre was "the last battle of the Tithe War", though there were subsequent less severe riots prior to the Tithe Rentcharge (Ireland) Act 1838^[6] which resolved the controversy.

In 1984, a monument was erected in Gortroe to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the incident. The monument describes the event as the "final battle of the Tithe War" and lists the names of 12 people who died.^[2]

See also[]

• Carrickshock incident

References[]

Sources[]

Notes[]