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{{Use dmy dates|date=SeptemberJanuary 20192024}}
'''Francis Magan''' (24 May 1774 – 1843) was a [[barrister]] and the [[informant|informer]] who procured the death of [[Lord Edward Fitzgerald]] through felon-setting.
 
==Early life ==
He was born on 24 May 1774 in [[Dublin]], descended offrom an ancient Catholic family from [[Co.County Westmeath]], the Magans of Umma-more (Emoe). His grandfather, James Magan, established a medical practice in Dublin, where he was succeeded by his eldest son, Richard. Thomas Magan, James's second son, became a woollen draper, establishing himself at 49 [[High Street, Dublin]]. Active politically, Thomas represented [[Dundalk]] at the [[Catholic Convention of 1792]]. He was named wool draper and mercer to King [[George III of the United Kingdom|George III]] in 1794, an honorary title he probably owed to his friend [[Francis Higgins (1726-1802)|Francis Higgins]], a notorious scoundrel known as the "[[Sham Squire]]", owner of a well-known government "print" (newspaper), ''[[Freeman's Journal|The Freeman's Journal]]''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Dictionary of Irish Biography|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-63331-4|year=2009}}</ref>
 
Magan was admitted to [[Trinity College, Dublin]] in 1788, although he did not attend before 1791. He joined the [[College Historical Society]] but was never active. In May 1794, he signed the [[Oath of allegiance|oath of loyalty]] to the British monarch required of any Catholic barrister and went to [[London]] to study at [[Lincoln's Inn]].
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Magan's historical notoriety originates from a single act. During April–May 1798 he informed the British government several times of the whereabouts of [[Lord Edward Fitzgerald]] on Thomas Street, just as the latter prepared to take the field at the head of thousands of [[Croppy|Croppies]] during the [[Irish Rebellion of 1798|1798 Rising]]. Lord Edward's arrest on 19 May deprived the [[United Irishmen]] of their most charismatic leader, on whose head the British had put a price of £1,000, equivalent to £1.5m in 2015.
 
Magan passed this to the Castle without being discovered or even suspected during his lifetime, probably because of his otherwise unremarkable life. He had found out Lord Edward's whereabouts through his involvement with the [[United Irishmen]], being a member of to its committee responsible for Dublin. He hosted a meeting of this committee on the night of 17 May 1798. Lord Edward attended and may have passed the night in Magan's house. Magan sold this information on to [[Dublin Castle]] the next day, provoking [[Henry Charles Sirr (soldier)|Major Sirr]] with a body of soldiers to apprehend Lord Edward as he departed from the rear of 20 [[Usher's Island (Dublin)|Usher's Island]] at dusk. Given further information by Magan, Sirr found Lord Edward suffering from fever in 153 Thomas Street and shot him during a struggle, and he died in Newgate Prison, Dublin, some days later.
 
It was only with the publication of [[William John Fitzpatrick|W. J. Fitzpatrick]]'s ''Secret Service Under [[William Pitt the Younger|Pitt]]'' a century later in 1892 that Magan was unveiled as the traitor. Francis Higgins was paid the £1,000 for betraying Lord Edward, and Magan got £300 a year.<ref>{{Cite journal|jstor = 30100877|title = The Man Who Betrayed Lord Edward Fitzgerald|journal = Dublin Historical Record|volume = 41|issue = 4|pages = 152–156|last1 = De Burca|first1 = Seamus|year = 1988}}</ref>
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==Notes==
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