Tag: Petitions

1854 Petition for Tenants’ Rights Co Tipperary Ireland

In 1854 John fanning and Joseph Fanning from Kill signed a petition for tenants’ rights in Co Tipperary Ireland.

“Nov. 25th 1854 We, the undersigned Clergymen and Electors of the County of Tipperary, feeling a strong conviction that, whilst the present unnatural state of the land Laws in Ireland is permitted to continue, there can be no security or contentment on the part of the Tenant Class, no material improvement in the land and no real prosperity in the Country-notwithstanding even the ephemeral high prices that now exist for agricultural produce: and seeing that the present is the grandest opportunity ever offered us for securing the redress of this fundamental grievance, as well as of our other manifold wrongs, and being fully persuaded that any neglect or apathy at this favourable moment, in making our just claims thoroughly known and properly pressed on the Legislature, would be a disastrous error which we might never able to repair, and which, for centuries to come, might be fatal to the dearest interests of Ireland – Do hereby require a Public Meeting to be held in the Town of Thurles, on Sunday the 26th inst., for the purpose of advancing the cause of Tenant Right as propounded by the Irish Tenant League, and as recommended by the National Conference held in Dublin in the years 1852,1853,1854, and to petition Parliament in favour of same.”

Among the signatories : From Kill: John Fanning and Joseph Fanning

Fannings on The Smith O’Brien Petition 1848 Co Tipperary Ireland

Edward, John and Patrick Fanning of Thurles Co Tipperary Ireland signed the petition for clemency for William Smith O’Brien in 1848-9.

 

In July 1846, William Smith O’Brien joined the Young Irelanders. As the crisis of the Famine in Ireland worsened, the Young Irelanders refused to adhere to the Repeal Association’s basic rule that physical force in politics must be avoided under all circumstances.

In January 1847 the Young Irelanders formed the Irish Confederation Club, to press for effective famine relief. In 1848 William Smith O’Brien was arrested in Ireland, on the grounds that he had traveled to Paris earlier that year in support of the leaders of the new French Republic. He was tried, but released when the jury failed to agree on a verdict. On 26th July 1848 the Irish Confederation Club was proclaimed illegal and warrants were issued for the arrest of the leaders of the Young Irelanders.

On 29th July William Smith O’Brien led an abortive rising in Ballingarry, Co.Tipperary, otherwise known as ‘the battle of Widow McCormack’s cabbage patch’. He was arrested on 6th August 1848 and tried for treason at the district court at Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, found guilty and sentenced to death. The sentence caused great consternation among all segments of the Irish community. Between the finish of the trial in October 1848 and May 1849 various petitions in favour of clemency for William Smith O’Brien were collected around Ireland. (These were the years of the Great Famine in Ireland.) On 5th June 1849 Smith O’Brien’s death sentence was commuted to transportation for life.
He was not transported and was given a conditional pardon on the guarantee he not return to Ireland.
He eventually received a full pardon.
He died in Wales in 1864.

Edward Fanning of Holycross and Thurles (two addresses) Oct 24 1848, John Fanning and Patt Fanning also of Thurles signed the William Smith O’Brien Petition 1848-49.

The total number of signatories to this petition was over 80,000. Tipperary county had the third highest number signing with 4,393 names on the petition.

Fanning and Darmody the Cormack Petition 1858 Co Tipperary Ireland

A list of Co Tipperary Fanning and Darmody signatories to the Cormack Petition 1858.

The brothers, Daniel and William Cormack, from Loughmore Co Tipperary were publicly hanged outside Nenagh Gaol on May 11, 1858 after being found guilty of the murder of John Ellis, a land agent in Loughmore.

Daniel and William always maintained that they had played no part in the crime, and they were supported by some 2,357 people who signed a petition protesting the brothers’ innocence. The commonly held view at the time was that a local landlord had shot Ellis in a crime of passion involving Ellis’ sister, and that the Cormack brothers had been framed for murder.

Motivated by growing unease at the convictions and executions, a petition was organized for presentation to Parliament that requested the setting up of an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the conviction of the Cormack Brothers and into the administration of criminal justice in Ireland generally.

Andrew Darmody Hollyford, Darby Darmody Hollyford, George Darmody Moyne,
John Darmody Holycross, John Darmody Clerihan, Owen Darmody Hollyford, Thomas Darmody Hollyford, Tobias Darmody Hollyford, Jeremiah Darmody signed the petition.

Fannings who signed this petition were Daniel Fanning Thurles, Jeffry Fanning Thurles, William Fanning Thurles, Edward Fanning Drom, John Fanning Drom, Thomas Fanning Drom, Edward (Edmond) Fanning Two-Mile-Borris, Edmond Fanning Two-Mile-Borris, John Fanning New Birmingham, Joseph Fanning Moycarkey, William Fanning Moyne, William Fanning Roscrea, John Fanning Borrisoleigh.

The complete Cormack Petition list.

In 1910 Daniel and William’s remains were removed from Nenagh Gaol and brought home to Loughmore in a major ceremony, with two hearses drawn by plumed horses and followed by huge crowds. After the procession arrived in the village, the Cormack brothers were buried in a large mausoleum in the local churchyard, where people still go to see the original oak coffins and the inscription proclaiming the brothers’ innocence.

Source for this list was from: http://www.censusfinder.com/irish-census-records5.htm