Its the one day of the year, St Patricks day where its socially acceptable to be plastered on guinness before the end of breakfast. As a decendant of Irish Ancestry i intend to be taking full advantage of guinness and having myself a fine time although it might get rough. All that drinking and all!.

I don’t really have any suitable images that i can use for the day but i can tell you the story of Martin Cash, an unfortuate Irishman whose grave is pictured here.

Born at Enniscorthy, Wexford, Ireland in 1810, his parents had inherited considerable poperty and Martin grew up partially educated and spoiled. At the age of eighteen he became involved with a young woman named Mary and over the next twelve months he spent a considerable amount of money woeing her. One day he received word that his sweetheart was seeing another man named Jessup and in a jealous rage he took his gun and seeing them together through a window, shot at his rival wounding him in the upper chest. He was shortly thereafter arrested and sentenced to seven years transportation. He left Cook Harbour abourd the Marquis of Huntly and arrived at Bontany Bay on 10 February 1828.

Assigned as a to a property 150 miles from Sydney, he worked as a stockman and when he received his Ticket-of-leave, he continued to work as a stockman and around that time moved in with a woman by the name of Bessie Clifford.

At some point later a man named Boodie recruited Cash to help brand some cattle and whilst carrying out the job, were visited by two men. After they left Boodie informed Martin that the animals weren’t his and that the two men would know that. Concerned for his future and knowing he would be under suspicion, he sold up everything and on the 10th February 1837 he and Bessie sailed on Francis Freeling to Hobart. After staying in Hobart for three months they moved around as a working couple but Martin was soon in trouble and sentanced to a further seven years imprisonment. He escaped and while trying to make his way to Melbourne with Bessie was recaptured and had a further two years added to his sentence and was sent to Port Arthur for his sentance.

(Port Arthur)

Meeting fellow convicts Lawrence Kavanagh and George Jones, the trio escaped from Port Arthur on the 26th December 1842 and became notorious as ‘Cash and Company’ as bushrangers and carried out numerous robberies.

At some point in 1843 Martin learnt of Bessie Clifford’s unfaithfulness and became determined to kill her and Joe Pratt, her new lover. Disguised as sailors Martin and Kavanagh went to Hobart to find Bessie but were recognised and almost arrested. In the fray that followed Kavanagh was injured and gave himself up. Cash returned to Hobart on the 29th August but was again recognised by two constables. He might have escaped but for a wrong turn into a dead end street and Constable Peter Winstanly hearing a commotion stepped out of the bar he was in and seeing Cash with a pistol went to grab him but Cash fired first and mortally wounded Winstanly in the chest. The constables and several civilians caught up with Cash and were forced to knock him out in order to subdue him.

Cash and Kavanagh were brought before Justice Montagu on 14 September where both were sentenced to death. An hour before the sentence was to be carried out, it was changed to transportation to Norfolk Island. Kavanagh continued to be rebellious and was hanged for being part of an unsuccessful escape plan. Cash on the otherhand stayed out of trouble and became a changed man. In 1852 he was considered to be trustworthy and appointed as a convict overseer. With the additional freedom he had he met Mary Bennet, a domestic servant and were married on 24 March 1854.

Norfolk Island was to be closed down and all convicts were now being sent back to Tasmania. Martin was promoted to a Constable on 31 July 1854 and received a ticket-of-leave on 19 September, returning with his wife to Hobart where he chose an appointment to be overseer of the gardens in the government domain.

In 1855 a son, Martin was borned to the couple and on 24 June 1856, the ex-bushranger was granted a Conditional Pardon and a month later a free pardon. He and his family moved to New Zealand for four years before returning to Tasmania with a little money and purchased a 60 acre lot on the outskirts of Hobart on which to retire. During this time he wrote his autobiography Martin Cash, the Bushranger of Van Diemens land, In 1843.

Life for Martin did not stay comfortable and when his son died of rheumatic fever on 6 July 1871, Martin became an alcoholic. He died at the Lord Rodney Hotel on 26 August 1878.

Note: Bushranger is the Australian term for Highwayman.