As a second part in the series about my Great, Great Grandfather, Thomas McNulty, I will continue revealing his participation with the criminal justice system in Ireland. My brother, Mark, remarked, "Good or bad, at least he kicked ass!" Well, not really. On March 10, 1866, while on his way back home to Callow from the town of Swinford, he was "violently" assaulted on the road by Michael Walsh and Matthew Conway. Both were later sentenced to prison in the Castlebar gaol. Later that year, he was charged with allowing 15 sheep to trespass on a neighbors property and eat cabbage. As you can imagine, any type of vegetable was needed in post-famine Ireland. In the fall of 1872, apparently Thomas McNulty and his neighbor Michael Kenny were in a feud. There were five (5) different charges of each threatening each others life and preventing each from going to his tract of land in Doonmaynor. Times were tough, back then. Tomorrow, I will relate a story about our Great Grandmother, as well. Apparently, the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.

To my family on the Hillanbrand side, I will be posting a series of stories regarding my Great, Great Grandfather, Thomas McNulty. Previously, I found that he was arrested for threatening a land agent before an eviction. I did some additional research and I found that he had an extensive history with the law. As I relate these stories, you must understand that as a tenant farmer, Thomas McNulty did not have any rights upon the land. On October 8th, 1858 and April 11, 1859, Thomas McNulty was arrested for being drunk and disorderly while in the town of Swinford. On January 2nd, 1862, Thomas was arrested for illegally fishing for salmon in the River Moy. During that time, the fish were owned by the owner of the land next to the river. So, being in possession of the fish would be theft of property from someone else. Often times, the penalty was usually disproportionate to the action. It was often acknowledged that if a fish was taken from a stream, the penalty would be a cow or sheep from the defendant.