20/10/2026
WERE YOUR ANCESTORS EXECUTED IN KILFINANE IN THE LATE 18TH EARLY 19TH CENTURY.
KILFINANE COSHLEA HISTORICAL SOCIETY are trying to identify the human skeletal remains found in the Market Square in Kilfinane in 2006.
The remains were unearthed by machinery during works being carried out during an urban renewal scheme and after osteoarchaeological analysis they have now been deposited with the National Museum of Ireland.
They were found in a spot named locally as the "Croppy Hole", a mass grave where victims of ex*****on were buried during those turbulent years of the late 18th early 19th century. We believe the grave was situated in the square adjacent to the gaol/bridewell for the district. During recent tests on the human skeletal remains it was determined that up to 8 people were present in the assemblage found in 2006. The possible remains of at least one woman were amongst them.
Here is a list of people we know, or believe to have been buried in the croppy hole.
On July 5th 1798 Patrick Staker Wallis was executed in Kilfinane, after which his severed head was spiked above the Market House as per his sentence.
After his ex*****on his body was buried in the Croppy Hole. Local accounts say two other men named Leen and Connery (or Connolly) suffered the same fate as Wallis that day. Stories vary but it is also suggested Wallis’s head was buried in his mother’s family grave in a nearby graveyard.
Two years later in 1800 two men named Timothy MacMahon and John O Donnell were found guilty of the murder of Rodger and James Sheedy. Rodger Sheedy was the man who captured Staker Wallis on that fateful day in March 1798. Both he and his father were killed when a group of 6 masked men broke into their house in a reprise attack. Both men were shot dead.
After a court case and subsequent ex*****on Timothy MacMahon and John O Donnell were buried in the croppy hole.
In 1814 a group of people described as disturbers of the peace were gathered at the chapel in Kilfinnane.
Members of the Sligo Militia attempted to apprehended them. A scuffle broke out during which two of the Sligo Militia were injured. During this scuffle the Militia opened fire and an unnamed man and woman were killed. It is possible that these two were also buried in the Croppy hole.
In April 1823 an attack was made on the RIC Barracks in Glenosheen county Limerick, about 10km south of Kilfinnane near the estate of the Oliver landlords who were pivotal in local politics at the time. A man from Doneraile named Eddie (William) Doyle was killed during this attack. His remains were brought and put on public display in the Market Square in Kilfinane. His mother having heard of his fate travelled to Kilfinane to see her deceased son. She walked past his remains a few times but didn't dare to claim the remains for fear of the repercussions that might be in store for her or her family.
The body being unclaimed, was apparently thrown into the Croppy Hole.
Since the unearthing of the remains in 2006 Kilfinane Coshlea Historical Society have been researching the story of the Croppy Hole and of those people who came to find themselves buried in it.
Those buried in the Croppy Hole were buried without dignity or care. Times were different then – this broader Limerick/Cork/Tipperary area was in the grip of land agitation and violence ultimately leading to the War of Independence one hundred years later. Those buried in the Croppy’s Hole were part of those rough times and their burial outside consecrated ground was a deliberate action by the powers-that-be; let us now try and give them the dignity they deserve.
It is the hope of Kilfinane Coshlea Historical Society to have those remains brought home for a proper Christian burial in consecrated ground. Buried with insult, found by accident, we’d like their future treatment be part of a considered process and consultation. To do so would require potentially identifying through DNA those people found in 2006. Before considering DNA though we intend to dig into the historical sources and use local knowledge to try and piece the jigsaw together. With that in mind we are looking for anyone that may have any clues or links to the above people and for any possible family members to come forward. All information will be treated discretely and there’ll be no drum banging.
Also any historians or genealogists that may have anything to offer to come on board. It is a long shot but we think it is a shot worth taking.
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