Lifer’s family didn’t know he was in prison

SPIKE ISLAND cast a dark shadow over the life of Patrick Tierney, alias Edward O’Connor.

Tierney was confined at Spike Island prison for 13 years. He was arrested in 1866, and charged with stabbing with intent to kill John Warner, an informer. When he was 18, Tierney had joined the 87th (Prince of Wales’s Irish) Regiment of foot soldiers, a unit where a revolutionary spirit prevailed.

When Tierney discovered that Warner had infiltrated the Fenian brotherhood, and his information had resulted in convictions of members, Tierney stabbed Warner. But the wound was not fatal, and Warner gave evidence against him in court.