Shane Crosagh Ó Maoláin was an Irish Rapparee/outlaw, who was executed 1722.
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Shane Crosagh was a member of the Derry Ó Maoláin (Mullan) family, who were based in the Keenaght district of County Londonderry, having originally lived in the Laggan district of Donegal, and were followers of the Ó Catháin's.
In the late 1600's, his father, Donal Crossagh Ó Maoláin, a small farmer of Faughanvale, was evicted from his farm for non-payment of rent. Shane Crosagh subsequently became a notorious outlaw, or rapparee.
Many tales concerning his clashes with authority exist. However, he was eventually caught and hanged with his sons in the Diamond in Derry in 1722. The Glenshane Pass, the main road between Derry and Belfast is named after him.[1]
His nickname, Crossagh, meaning pock-marked. It was an ancestral family name, and as such used by his father, probably derived from an ancestor who was scarred as a result of the pox. Possibly it was originally used to distinguish them from other Ó Maoláin's. Shane himself was considered handsome by local women.