Patrick O'Collun facts for kids

Patrick O'Collun, also known as Patrick Cullen or Patrick Collen, was an Irish soldier and a teacher of sword fighting. He was put to death in 1594 because he was accused of planning to kill Queen Elizabeth I of England. This crime was known as treason, which means trying to harm your country or its ruler.

Early Life and Connections

Not much is known about Patrick O'Collun's early life. We know he was from Ireland and was a Roman Catholic. He first came to London in the late 1580s. There, he worked as a fencing teacher for Sir Florence MacCarthy. Sir Florence was a powerful Irish chief, and some people already suspected he might not be fully loyal to the Queen. Later, some of his enemies even claimed he was involved in O'Collun's plot.

The Plot to Harm the Queen

Around 1590, O'Collun traveled to the Spanish Netherlands. This area was controlled by Spain at the time. There, he joined the service of Sir William Stanley. Stanley was an English Catholic soldier who had turned against England. Stanley and his friend, a Jesuit priest named William Holt, were known for planning many attempts to kill Queen Elizabeth.

The main person behind the plot to kill the Queen was Stanley's helper, Jacques de Francesci. He was also called "Captain Jacques." The English government believed he was one of the Queen's most determined enemies. Francesci was the one who got money to pay O'Collun to kill Elizabeth. He also promised O'Collun a regular payment, called a pension, from the King of Spain as a reward.

O'Collun later said he felt bad about the plan. He asked Father Holt if killing the Queen was morally right. According to O'Collun, Holt told him it was okay because it was an act of "tyrannicide." This means killing a ruler who is seen as cruel or unfair. Holt supposedly gave him forgiveness in advance for the sin of murder. This story might be true, as Holt truly believed Elizabeth deserved to die. "Captain Jacques" also thought "no action could be more glorious." Other people who tried to kill the Queen, like Edmund York, also said Holt had given them forgiveness for the same act.

Arrest and What He Said

O'Collun returned to England in November 1593 with two helpers, John Annias and William Polwhele. They were both soldiers from Stanley's group. O'Collun's actions soon made people suspicious. For example, he had a copy of a Jesuit paper that said killing a cruel ruler was justified.

O'Collun, Annias, and Polwhele were arrested and questioned. O'Collun and Annias "confessed after a fashion." This likely means they were questioned very harshly, possibly even under torture. Polwhele, however, decided to become an informer, meaning he told the authorities what he knew in exchange for a lighter punishment.

There is some doubt about how true O'Collun's confession was. The people questioning him, as was common in cases of treason, often pressured suspects to say what the government wanted to hear. At first, O'Collun and Annias only admitted to planning to kill "The Spaniard." This was probably Antonio Pérez, a former Spanish official. Pérez had escaped from prison in Spain and fled to England. The Spanish government wanted him dead, so he was a likely target for O'Collun.

However, the English government put a lot of pressure on O'Collun to admit his real target was Queen Elizabeth. He eventually did confess to this. This allowed the government to charge him with planning to kill the Queen, which was a much more serious crime than just planning to kill Pérez.

It's hard to know for sure if the Queen or Pérez was the real target. O'Collun's claim that Father Holt gave him forgiveness for killing a "heretical tyrant" suggests the Queen was the target. It's less likely Holt would have given forgiveness for killing Pérez, who wasn't considered a cruel ruler or someone who went against religious beliefs.

The government might have wanted O'Collun to confess to planning to kill the Queen to help their case against Dr. Rodrigo Lopez. Lopez was the Queen's doctor and was also accused of a similar plot. His trial happened the day before O'Collun's.

Trial and Punishment

Patrick O'Collun was put on trial in Westminster on March 1, 1594. Even though he had supposedly confessed, he said he was not guilty. The main person who spoke against him was William Polwhele, his helper. Polwhele said that Stanley and Jacques Fraunces had hired O'Collun, Annias, and himself to kill the Queen.

O'Collun was found guilty. He was sentenced to be hanged at Tyburn, a place where executions happened. He was executed in July of that year, along with Annias. By then, he was so sick with a prison illness called gaol fever that people said he was barely alive anyway. By chance, Antonio Pérez, the man O'Collun had admitted planning to kill, walked by just as O'Collun's head was being put on a spike after the execution.

Around the same time in 1594, there were many investigations into plots against the Queen. This led to a "panic" about Irishmen in London. Some historians suggest that powerful figures like Lord Burghley and the Earl of Essex might have used this information to make the Queen believe there was a serious threat to her life. They might have done this to gain more favor with her.

What Happened Next

Queen Elizabeth was worried enough by the plot, even if it didn't succeed. She wrote to the Spanish authorities in Brussels. She complained that they were letting the Spanish Netherlands become a safe place for people who plotted against her. She demanded that Holt and other plotters be sent back to England, but she was not successful.

The Lopez Case

The government openly connected "the O'Collun plot" with "the Lopez plot." The arrests, questioning, trials, and executions for both cases happened very close together. There was also some shared evidence during the trials. However, there is no proof that O'Collun and Lopez knew each other. Lopez probably knew, in a general way, about a plan to kill Antonio Pérez. Unlike O'Collun, Lopez always said he had not planned to kill the Queen. While it seems clear that O'Collun was paid to be an assassin, historians still debate whether Lopez was truly guilty or innocent.