Patrick J. Whelan

Life

Whelan was born in County Galway, a younger son of William Whelan and Mary Sullivan of Galway. He became apprenticed to a tailor at the age of 14. Meanwhile, his brother John was alleged to have committed arson against a Royal Irish Constabulary barracks in the Dublin suburb of Tallaght.

By the next nightfall, more than 40 Canadians, predominantly Irish immigrants suspected of Fenian allegiance, had been arrested; most prominent of these was Patrick Buckley, who served as the stable hand to Prime Minister John A. Macdonald, and who gave police the name of Whelan.

He was publicly hanged in front of 5,000 spectators on 11 February 1869 at the Carleton County Gaol. He met his death "with manliness and faith", and told the gathered crowd that he was innocent, although he did know who had killed McGee.

Shortly after the debacle, the revolver Whelan was alleged to have used to murder McGee was lost. It surfaced as a family heirloom in the family of Scott Renwick in 1973, and 32 years later was offered at auction for $55,000. The gun was eventually bought at the auction for $105,000 by the Canadian Museum of Civilization (Now the Canadian Museum of History) and is now part of their collection.

Whelan's case is dramatised in Pierre Brault's 1999 play, Blood on the Moon. His solo performance was filmed for a one-hour special on Bravo television.