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the terms of amnesty offered to the rank and file of the United
Irishmen. This meant that they were always on the run in an attempt to evade capture. This "quasi-rebel" group were claimed to have attacked loyalists and participated in common crime. It is believed that McCorley was caught whilst in hiding, having been betrayed by an informer.
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After the rebellion, McCorley joined a notorious outlaw gang known as Archer's Gang, made up of former rebels and led by Thomas Archer. Some of these men had been
British soldiers (members of the Irish militia) who changed sides in the conflict, and as such were guilty of treason and thus exempt from
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His body was given up to dissection and afterwards buried under the gallows…thus of late we have got rid of six of those nefarious wretches who have kept this neighbourhood in the greatest misery for some time past, namely, Stewart, Dunn, Ryan, McCorley, Caskey and the notorious Dr. Linn. The noted
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in the parish of
Duneane, County Antrim. A few years before the 1798 rebellion, McCorley's father is believed to have been executed for stealing sheep. These charges may have been politically motivated in an attempt to remove a troublesome agitator at a time of great social unrest. Following his
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called "Roddy McCorley", written in the 1890s. Historian Guy Beiner uncovered earlier references to Roddy McCorley in
Presbyterian folklore, which he showed to have been repeatedly forgotten and obscured on the background of mainstream Presbyterian identification with Unionism.
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on 20 February 1800 and sentenced to be hanged "near the Bridge of Toome", in the parish of
Duneane. His execution occurred on 28 February 1800. This bridge had been partially destroyed by rebels in 1798 to prevent the arrival of loyalist reinforcements from west of the
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As a warning to others, it is proper to observe that the whole of his life was devoted to disorderly proceedings of every kind, for many years past, scarcely a
Quarter-sessions occurred but what the name of Roger McCorley appeared in a variety of criminal cases.
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Upon Friday last, a most awful procession took place here, namely the execution of Roger McCorley who was lately convicted at a court-martial, to the place of execution, Toome Bridge, the unfortunate man having been born in that neighbourhood.
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Despite a lack of contemporary evidence of McCorley's actual involvement in the United
Irishmen rebellion, he became a major figure in nationalist-republican martyrology due to a song by
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a few days after McCorley's execution gave an account of the execution and how McCorley was viewed by some. In it, he is called Roger McCorley, which may be his proper
Christian name.
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There is uncertainty as to whether McCorley was actually actively involved with the predominantly
Presbyterian United Irishmen or the predominantly Catholic
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An account of McCorley's career compiled in the early twentieth century from local traditions and correspondence with his descendants,
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His body was then dismembered and buried under the gallows, on the main Antrim to Derry road. A letter published in the
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Guy Beiner, "'The Enigma of “Roddy McCorley Goes to Die': Forgetting and
Remembering a Local Rebel Hero in Ulster" in
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Guy Beiner, "'The Enigma of “Roddy McCorley Goes to Die': Forgetting and Remembering a Local Rebel Hero in Ulster" in
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75:. McCorley's role in the 1798 rebellion itself is unrecorded. In a poem written 100 years after the rebellion by
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434:, edited by Éva Guillorel, David Hopkin and William G. Pooley (Routledge, 2017), pp. 327–57.
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and has also been recorded by other contemporary artists, such as Heather Dale on her 2006 album
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210:. It contains an edited version of an early 19th-century ballad about Roddy McCorley's fate.
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239:, edited by Éva Guillorel, David Hopkin and William G. Pooley (Routledge, 2017), pp. 327-57.
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Rhythms of the Revolt: European Traditions and Memories of Social Conflict in Oral Culture
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Rhythms of the Revolt: European Traditions and Memories of Social Conflict in Oral Culture
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Belfast Newsletter: Extract from a letter from Ballymena, Sunday 2 March 1800.
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poem bearing his name in 1902, where he is associated with events around the
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Forgetful Remembrance: Social Forgetting and Vernacular Historiography
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Carbery's ballad was re-popularised (without attribution) by
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After McCorley was arrested he was tried by court-martial in
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father's execution, his family were evicted from their home.
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The Summer Soldiers: The 1798 Rebellion in Antrim and Down
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Roddy McCorley was the son of a miller and was born near
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The melody for "Roddy McCorley" was reused in 1957 for "
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Francis Joseph Bigger, "Who fears to speak of '98?",
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file, F.J. Bigger Archive, Central Library, Belfast.
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129:Archer will soon be in our Guard-room.
51:and claimed as a participant in their
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392:. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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39:. Following the publication of the
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466:Executed people from County Antrim
312:Roddy McCorley, Belfast Newsletter
59:Early years and the 1798 rebellion
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348:50 Great Irish Fighting Songs
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360:Who Fears to Speak of '98?
204:Who Fears to Speak of '98?
143:Irish War of Independence
87:Archer's Gang and capture
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424:The Belfast News-Letter
197:IRA's "Border Campaign"
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350:, Music Ireland, 2005
208:Francis Joseph Bigger
139:Irish Republican Army
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23:nationalist from the
384:Beiner, Guy (2018).
133:His great-grandson,
287:Irish Music Daily.
254:Irish Music Daily.
114:Belfast Newsletter
476:People from Toome
406:A. T. Q. Stewart
171:The Kingston Trio
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455:Categories
214:References
193:Sean South
175:folk music
107:River Bann
184:The Snake
102:Ballymena
73:Defenders
338:, p. 71
294:16 July
261:16 July
141:in the
37:Ireland
29:Duneane
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96:Death
65:Toome
21:Irish
412:ISBN
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.