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Posted by Nightowl on October 20, 2003 at 19:35:29: In Reply to: Hanging on the mall posted by Scholar on October 19, 2003 at 23:17:50:
There does not seem to be much on the hanging tree itself, although there is some good information on one of the more notorious people to be hanged there, namely, George Robert Fitzgerald of Turlough who was born in 1748 and hanged on the Mall on June 11, 1786. Famously, the rope broke twice while he was being hanged. If it had broken a third time he would have gone free. It did not and in any event the hangman is supposed to have declared that no matter how often the rope broke, "while there was rope and soap in Castlebar", he would hang the notorious fighting Fitzgerald. The National Museum now has a museum of country life at the former Fittzgerald estate in Turlough. They have interesting information about George Robert Fitzgerald on their website at www.museum.ie. The tree itself was located opposite the current plaque to the Fr Conroy
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