Leonard Macnally
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Leonard Macnally (1752- 13th February, 1820), Irish was one of the most important government informants against members of the Society of United Irishmen.
He was born in Dublin, the son of a merchant and studied law. In 1776 he was called to the Irish bar, and in 1783 to the English bar. He supported himself for some time in London by writing plays and editing the Public Ledger. Returning to Dublin, he became involved in political circles, ostensibly as a sympathiser of the United Irishmen, who took him into their confidence by employing him as their barrister. This commission brought him regular work during the period 1793-98 due to the Governments campaign against the United Irishmen and but he simultaneously saw a way to earn more for his work by systematically informing against members of the United Irishmen who engaged his services. His modus operandum was to betray his political clients to the government prosecutors while simultaneously acting out an eloquent and elaborate pretence of defense in the courts. It appears that his motives were purely financial.
Most notoriously, Macnally publicly defended Robert Emmet in court, while selling the contents of his brief to the lawyers for the Crown for £100. When Emmet was convicted to death, Macnally compounded his hypocrisy by cheering Emmet in his last hours before execution, and later pocketed an additional £100 for his services to the Crown during the trial.
After living a professed Protestant all his life, Macnally received absolution on his deathbed from a Roman Catholic priest. His activities were unsuspected during his lifetime. His life as an informer came to light posthumously, when his descendants claimed continuance of a secret pension of £300 awarded for Macnally's services during the period. An inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the awarding of the pension established the details of Macnally's long life of betrayals.
[edit] References
- The (Show?) Trial of Robert Emmet, by Justice Adrian Hardiman (Supreme Court of Ireland), History Ireland , Vol. 13 No. 4 July/August 2005
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
