house, stabbed him to the heart, and then, overwhelmed with remorse, gave himself up as the murderer, to the horror and despair of his father, who foresaw the fearful part that he would have to play in the tragedy.
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Lynch’s Palace, Galway.
The legal inquiry which followed was necessarily short, and on his own confession the unhappy lad was condemned to death. He was, however, as most wild fellows are, a favourite with the populace, who, on hearing the sentence, assembled at the prison, and demanded the reprieve of the criminal. Even the other magistrates of the town, struck with the peculiar situation in which both ather and son were placed, added their entreaties that the life of the latter should be spared; but they, one and all, met with a stern refusal from the lips of the modern Brutus, who declared that as his son’s life was forfeited by the laws of the town, nothing could stay the progress of justice. Whereupon the row commenced with redoubled force, and the people in large numbers blocked up the entrance to the prison, which communicated with the magistrate’s house, so as to prevent the victim being led to the place of execution. But the mayor was equal to the occasion, and rather than justice should be baulked, led his son to an arched window looking out on the street, and then and there hung him with his own hand, to the horror and grief of the townsmen, who nevertheless could not help admiring the stern fortitude of the father in thus vindicating the laws at such a cost to himself. The latter, as in duty bound, shut himself up for the remainder of his life, overwhelmed with trouble. The visitor to Galway will find a portion of building forming part of the wall of the churchyard, on which is carved beneath a window a skull and crossbones, with the inscription “Remember Death. All is vanity of vanities.” It is from this window that the execution is said to have taken place, although some believe that it originally occurred in another part of the town. Tradition, however, is not the only thing left of the Lynches in Galway; for luckily for the antiquarian, there is something more tangible in the shape of a very picturesque and singular house, known as Lynch’s Palace, situated at the corner of Shop and Abbey Gate Streets. Probably a more unique specimen of domestic architecture does not exist in the United Kingdom. It is a square block of buildings, remarkable for the Moorish style of decoration which is so plentifully lavished over the walls and windows. The numerous and rich medallions, containing coats of arms of the Lynch family, together with the minutely cut mouldings of the windows and the corbels carried round under the roof, at once impress the visitor as something belonging to another age and another country. One almost expects to find it tenanted by Moors in all the barbaric splendour of the East, yet instead of this, we find that the lower story is devoted to the selling of tea, candles, and general grocery. Ichabod! how are the mighty fallen! Lynch’s house is by no means the only relic of Galway’s glorious era.
There are many fine old buildings belonging in