Loss of a husband and father!

Loss of home!

Loss of hope!

Loss of livelihood and security!

Any one of the above would leave most of us floundering. But Mary (Flannery) Crowe had to pick up her children and leave Ireland forever when her husband John was executed after being found guilty of Conspiracy in the murder of his Landlord's Agent.

The case was notorious and was even reported in the London Times. From reading the recount in the newspapers and the Special Commission Report on the Case, it is possible that he was involved in some degree – however it is debateable as to whether murder was planned. There is a case to be made that a serious assault might have been intended – it certainly ended up with an unsuccessful week long battle for the life of the agent.

Needless to say, when he was found guilty, he would have expected to be transported to Australia , perhaps for life. While a drastic sentence, it would have at least allowed him to be joined by his family in exile. In the event the authorities obviously decided to make an example of him and he was sentenced to hang. The only concession he received was to allow his family to retrieve his body to be buried with his family.

The case itself was a sad procession, involving various nephews and servants giving conflicting evidence at times, and with no apparent right to defend except through a court appointed lawyer. Some aspects of the proceedings would no doubt give rise to vigorous protest by today's standards.

That the court was puzzled by his appearance before them is evident in the preliminary address at his trial – he appeared in a pair of gloves, was well educated and attired and his situation could best be described as comfortable. In addition to operating the farm, he was living in and operating a Shebeen in Killaloe.

Some clue to the trouble may lie in the fact that he had not paid any rent on the farm for the previous five years. His widowed sister-in-law on the neighbouring farm was in no such trouble. He may have been involved in the Terry-Alts, a shadowy group that was involved in rent strikes amongst other activities. It may have had something to do with his earlier employment as a Bailiff for his Landlord. The answer is not at all clear.

Tradition has it that on the night before he died, he ordered his wife to take the family far away from the troubles.

Mary, his widow, tried to fight the loss of the farm without success, and eventually immigrated to the Americas with all but one of her children. Her eldest daughter, Mary, having had to testify at her father's trial, married a John Carroll shortly after and they immigrated to Australia almost immediately. Some of her descendants are still living in this district, 150 odd years on.

Mary (Flannery) Crowe and most of her family finally settled in Crestline , Ohio

To find out more about this family you can go to Ed Glovak's website at http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/g/l/o/Ed-Glovak/index.html