In the United Kingdom and Ireland the most popular means of execution was by hanging. It originated from Persia some 2500 years ago when the son of a noble man was hanged for piracy. Before this, hanging had only been used as a means of inflicting indignity on a person who had been executed by some other means. This was known as gibbeting and in the countryside it was common to see the gruesome spectacle of a rotting corpse hanging at some cossroads. Gibbeting continued in the United Kingdom to as late as 1834.Through history the number of capital offences have varied. In 1500 there were only a few capital crimes such as murder, larcency, rape, treason and arson. In 1810 the number had risen to a stagger 225 crimes. It was a bloody period of history in the United Kingdom when children as young as 7 were being executed.Ireland was by no means any different and political conflicts helped to ensure a steady supply of victims to the hangman. One of the bloodiest periods in Ireland was during the reign of Henry VIII when over 2000 people were executed. Minor transgressions of the law were dealt with harshly and many ended up on the gallows constructed in our countrys towns. The existence of the gallows are remembered in street names. At Gallows Green in Carrickfergus three stone pillars erected in a triangular shape supported wooden beams. From each of these beams, three prisoners could be executed at the one time. In Downpatrick at Gallows Hill a similar apparatus was erected. These were both copies of the famous 'Triple Tree' of Tyburn. Over 5000 people died on the gallows at Tyburn and the last was in 1783. After that executions took place at scaffolds erected outside the county gaols. In Northern Ireland the gaols where at Downpatrick, Belfast, Enniskillen, Armagh, Omagh and Londonderry.In the early part of the 19th century a campaign was launched to reduce the number of capital offences.In the first decade of the century, 126 people were hanged in London. Just 10 years previously, the total stood at 531. In 1820 the number of capital crimes reduced to 43 and by 1830 they stood at a mere 6. But by the time the death penalty was abolished in 1965, a further 1500 people met their death at the end of a rope.
Executions in Northern Ireland
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