Carrick's death lottery of 1798 — 17 hanged where Flynn's bar now stands

A chilling chapter of Carrick-on-Shannon’s past has been brought to light with the unveiling of a new plaque at Flynn’s Bar, marking the spot where 17 United Irishmen were hanged in 1798 following the Battle of Ballinamuck.

The plaque, commissioned by the Carrick-on-Shannon Historical Society, was opened last week where the old courthouse once stood — a grim site where captured Irish rebels met their fate after fighting alongside the French under General Humbert against British forces led by Generals Cornwallis and General Lake.

Society chair Sean Gill told the Leitrim Observer that the French soldiers were treated as prisoners of war, but the Irish were shown no mercy.

“After the battle, the Irish prisoners were brought to Carrick and held in the old courthouse,” Gill explained. “Captain Kay held a brutal lottery. They rolled up papers — some marked Death, some with the words freedom. The men who drew Death were hanged at the courthouse door. Those who drew a blank were spared.”

Gill said the surviving men were allowed to cross the Shannon to freedom.

“They escaped across the Shannon bridge and went up the hill by Ging’s,” he said. “That hill is still known as The Liberty today — because it represented freedom for the men who survived.”

The Historical Society worked with local stonecutters to create the memorial, which was unveiled earlier this year by a guest from Ballinamuck who helped organise the 225th anniversary re-enactment of the battle.

“People walk past that corner every day without realising the horror that unfolded there,” Gill said. “Seventeen men were executed on that spot. This plaque ensures their story — and their sacrifice — will never be forgotten.”

The United Irishmen, led by General Jean-Joseph Humbert of the French Army, had joined forces to rise against British rule. In early September 1798, Humbert’s small French expeditionary force landed in Killala, Co Mayo, and swept eastward through Connacht in a blaze of early victories — briefly establishing the short-lived “Republic of Connacht.”

But on September 8th, 1798, their campaign came to a brutal end at Ballinamuck, Co Longford, where Humbert’s 1,000 men were overwhelmed by the vastly superior forces of General Lord Cornwallis, the British Commander-in-Chief in Ireland.

While the French soldiers were taken as prisoners of war and later repatriated, no such mercy was extended to their Irish allies.

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