The Burning of Wildgoose Lodge: Sectarian Terror in 1816 Ireland

In October 1816, a farmhouse in County Louth called Wildgoose Lodge was set ablaze, killing eight people including an infant. This episode unpacks the sectarian feud between the Ribbonmen and the Orangemen that led to the massacre, the legal aftermath, and how the event exposed the raw wounds of the Penal Laws era. We follow the trial that condemned eighteen men to execution, the role of informer Patrick Drumgoole, and the controversial final speech of the convicted leader Patrick Devan. The episode considers how sectarian violence persisted long after the Act of Union, and what Wildgoose Lodge reveals about the fragility of peace in post-1798 Ireland. We also discuss the ballad that commemorated the burning and how it kept the memory alive for generations. This is not a tale of heroes but of ordinary people caught in cycles of revenge that the state could neither prevent nor fully punish. A dark chapter in Irish local history that still echoes in the region's collective memory. #WildgooseLodge #Ribbonmen #Orangemen #CountyLouth #PatrickDevan #SectarianViolence #19thCenturyIreland #ActOfUnion #PenalLaws #IrishHistory #Massacre #BalladTradition #LegalHistory #LocalHistory #History #FexingoHistory #Ireland #Terror Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo