James Freney

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James Freney (* 1719 in Inistioge, County Kilkenny , † 1788 in New Ross ) was an Irish mugger ( Highwayman ) who worked in Ireland in the first half of the 18th century and who found its way into Irish folk legends.

Life

Freney came from a respected Catholic family who, like many others, lost their land (around Ballyreddy Castle) to the British conquerors in the 17th century. His father was a servant in the house of a Joseph Robbins in Ballyduff, near Thomastown, and in 1718 he married Alice Phelan, a housemaid. Freney was raised in the Robbins home and the local school, and founded a pub in Waterford with his wife Anne in 1742 . He went bankrupt because he could not pay the city's high taxes, which were charged by Catholics, and he moved back to Thomastown, where he joined a gang of robbers around John Reddy (Kellymount Highway Gang). Mostly they made the area north of the Nore River (on which Thomastown was) in County Kilkenny unsafe. He allowed himself to be traded and the victim could make convincing arguments. He was declared an outlaw in 1748 and had to surrender in 1749. Thanks to existing local connections (including the Robbins family), he was able to enter into a deal with the court and was allowed to emigrate. The rest of the gang were hanged. He later returned to Ireland and from 1776 worked at customs in New Ross harbor.

Freney is best known for his autobiography, which appeared in Dublin in 1754 ( The Life and Adventures of James Freney, commonly called Captain Freney ) and was a great success at the time. William Makepeace Thackeray immortalized him as a mugger in his novel Barry Lyndon (and Freney also robbed the protagonist Barry Lyndon in the Stanley Kubrick film of the same name ). He was a folk hero and was known as the Irish Robin Hood . Placemarks were named after him and a ballad ( Bold Captain Freney ) was written about him. Percy French (1854-1920) he inspired the musical comedy The Knight of the Road (1891, later called The Irish Girl ).

literature

  • Michael Holden Freney the Robber: The Noblest Highwayman of Ireland , Cork: Mercier Press 2009
  • Stephen Dunford The Irish Highwaymen , Merlin Publishing 2000

Fiction

  • Donncha McSharry Highwayman , E2 Press 2010

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Website for the book
personal data
SURNAME Freney, James
BRIEF DESCRIPTION irish robber
DATE OF BIRTH 1719
PLACE OF BIRTH County Kilkenny
DATE OF DEATH 1788
Place of death New Ross