Between 1819 and 1825 a man named John Doran acted as executioner in Galway jail. In 1825, he was arrested after being accused of the burglary of a house in Bohermore belonging to a man named Pat McHugh. Doran was brought before Judge Johnston in the Galway Courthouse in March of that year. The main witness against him was a woman named Margaret Hynes, who in today’s terminology, ‘was known to the police’. In his defence, Doran said that he was falsely accused by her and called her a liar and ‘common prostitute’ who had served time in jail herself. He also stated that it was her who had burgled the house and blamed him. Nevertheless, he was found guilty of ‘grand larceny’ and sentenced to seven years transportation to Australia. Doran wrote a letter of appeal to His Excellency Richard Colly, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. However, he didn’t ask for his sentence to be overturned, but rather that he would be allowed to serve his time in the Galway jail.
The reason behind this request was not the fact that he was being sent to Australia, but because he was terrified of having to spend time on a prison hulk while awaiting transportation. Prison hulks were notoriously dangerous places to be held at night. There was some order during the day while above deck where the warden and prison guards had a degree of control. However, at night when the prisoners were crammed below deck in the darkness was a very different matter. Doran had good reason to worry, as being the former executioner he would have to face the wrath of prisoners already serving sentences. He warned the authorities that this would be an end to his existence if he was sent there. It wasn’t uncommon at the time that some prisoners agreed to become executioners to have their sentence commuted by the authorities. Executing your fellow inmates was not something that was accepted in the prison world. Doran was supported by the prison authorities and one of them, John Fitzsimmons, agreed with him about the character of Margaret Hynes. The outcome of the matter is not known for certain, but the tables were certainly turned on the Galway hangman.