Leonard MacNally

Leonard MacNally (1752- June, 1820)buried in Donnybrook Cemetery, 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 operandi 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. He similarly defended and betrayed the Meath United Irishman and Defender, John Tuite (Captain Fearnought) who, following a well publicised trial was executed in Trim, County Meath in summer 1799.

Leonard first married Frances I'anson daughter of William I'anson of London ; Frances died in 1795 in London and then he married Louisa Edgeworth daughter of Rev Robert Edgeworth .

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.

There seems to be a some historical muddle as Leonard had a son called Leonard who lived at 22 Harcourt Street in Dublin and this Leonard Junior married Anna Maria Fetherston. Leonard Junior died Feb 1820 and Leonard wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper threatening to sue the paper as they had wrongly reported that had died when in fact he was still alive and living at 20 Cuffe Street in Dublin. Leonard Senior actually died June 1820.

Notes

• 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 a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)