Prepare Your Soul for Eternity – The Last Words to Young Patrick McCafferty

The Ballad of McCafferty – A Tragic Tale of an Irish Soldier Hanged at 19

In 1861, a young Irish lad named Patrick McCaffery stood before a judge in Liverpool. He was just nineteen years old. The sentence was swift and final: “Go prepare your soul for eternity.” Within weeks, he was hanged at Kirkdale Gaol in front of a massive crowd.

Today, his name lives on through a haunting Irish ballad — “McCafferty.” But behind the verses lies a chilling true story of poverty, power, and a system that broke the very people it claimed to serve.

From Athy to the Barracks

Patrick McCaffery was born in Athy, County Kildare, in 1842 — a time of famine and hardship across Ireland. Orphaned young and raised in poverty, like many others, he turned to the British Army as a way out. He joined the 60th Rifles (King’s Royal Rifle Corps) at around 17 or 18 years of age, hoping for a steady wage and a future.

Instead, he found humiliation, cruelty, and a rigid system where Irish lads were often treated like second-class men.

Stationed at Fulwood Barracks in Preston, England, McCaffery faced repeated punishments for petty infractions — talking to civilians, being late, disobeying strict orders. Officers, particularly Captain Hanham, were said to have targeted him unfairly.

A Breaking Point

On 26 September 1861, something in Patrick McCaffery snapped.

After being punished once again — this time for taking one name instead of three when asked to identify children near the guardhouse — he returned to his post. But he did so with a loaded rifle, standing near the officer’s quarters.

He waited until Captain Hanham and Colonel Crofton passed by, then raised his weapon and fired.

Both men were hit. The colonel died first. The captain lingered for a time but later succumbed to his wounds.

The ballad suggests he only meant to shoot his captain, and the colonel’s death was accidental. In truth, both were likely targeted. McCaffery was no trained assassin — just a boy pushed to the brink.

Trial and Execution

He was quickly arrested and stood trial at the Liverpool Assizes. Despite public sympathy and his young age, the sentence was inevitable. The military needed an example.

On 10 October 1861, just two weeks after the shooting, Patrick McCaffery was hanged at Kirkdale Prison. Some accounts say as many as 70,000 people gathered to witness the execution — many of them Irish.

He died calm and composed, reportedly forgiving those who had wronged him.

A Song for the Forgotten

The song “McCafferty” was written not long after his death. Like many Irish ballads, it preserves a deeper truth through poetic license. It changes his regiment to the 42nd, and softens the shooting to seem accidental.

But the core remains:

  • A poor Irish lad

  • Abused by officers

  • Driven to violence

  • Executed without mercy

  • Forgotten by history — except in song

Lines like “I had no father to take my part, no loving mother to break her heart” are not just lyrics — they are his lived reality.

Why We Still Sing It

McCafferty is not a rebel song in the traditional sense. He wasn’t fighting for Ireland. He wasn’t part of any uprising.

But it still speaks volumes.

It’s a warning. A lament. A cry from a time when Irishmen were used, discarded, and left with no voice — until someone sang for them.

And over 160 years later, we still do.





LYRICS

When I was eighteen years of age
Into the army I did engage
I left my home with a good intent
For to join the forty-second regiment

While I was posted on guard one day
Some soldiers' children came out to play
From the officers' quarters my captain came
And he ordered me for to take their names

I took one name instead of three
On neglect of duty they then charged me
I was confined to barracks with loss of pay
For doing my duty the opposite way

A loaded rifle I did prepare
For to shoot my captain in the barracks square
It was my captain I meant to kill
But I shot my colonel against my will

At Liverpool Assizes my trial I stood
And I held my courage as best I could
Then the old judge said, Now, McCafferty
Go prepare your soul for eternity

I had no father to take my part
No loving mother to break her heart
I had one friend and a girl was she
Who'd lay down her life for McCafferty

So come all you officers take advice from me
And go treat your men with some decency
For it's only lies and a tyranny
That have made a murderer of Mc Cafferty

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