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Periscope by Niall O'Dowd

Billy the Kid's Irish parents would welcome his pardon if New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson does the right thing

Posted on Wednesday, December 29, 2010 at 07:10 AM

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The news that the governor of New Mexico Bill Richardson is on the verge of pardoning Billy the Kid before he leaves office on December 31st is bound to cause waves.

Governor Bill Richardson set up an online poll to see how New Mexico residents felt about the Kid getting the pardon and more approved than disapproved.

As I wrote back here a few months ago a pardon for Billy the Kid would bring to a close a major chapter in Irish American history as well

When Pat Garrett finally tracked down and killed Billy the Kid in 181 a subtext of the killing was the Irish identity of the two famous protagonists.

Pat Garrett was the grandson of Irish immigrants while Billy the Kid was really William McCarty, both of whose parents came from Ireland.

As Wikipedia notes Little is known about McCarty's origins, but many reputable scholars of western history "contend that he was born on the eve of the Civil War in the bowels of an Irish neighborhood in New York City at 70 Allen Street)."

While his biological father remains an obscure figure, researchers have theorized that his name was Patrick McCarty, Michael McCarty, William McCarty, or Edward McCarty.

There is clear evidence that his mother's name was Catherine McCarty, although "there have been continuing debates about whether McCarty was her maiden or married name".

The most reputable accounts say , McCarty was born as William Henry McCarty, Jr., but his mother preferred to call him "Henry" because she did not wish him to be known as "junior".

It is generally believed that McCarty's mother was a survivor of the Great Irish Famine of the mid-19th century.

By 1870 Catherine McCarty had moved with her two young sons, Henry and Joseph, to Indianapolis, Indiana.

There, she met William Antrim, who was 12 years her junior.[13] In 1873, after several years of moving around the country, the two were married at the First Presbyterian Church in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and settled further south in Silver City.

Antrim found sporadic work as a bartender and carpenter but soon became more interested in prospecting and gambling for fortune than in his wife and stepsons. Nevertheless, young McCarty often used the surname "Antrim" when referring to himself.

McCarty's mother reportedly washed clothes, baked pies, and took in boarders in order to provide for her sons. Although she was fondly remembered by onetime boarders and neighbors as "a jolly Irish lady, full of life and mischief", she was already in the final stages of tuberculosis when the family reached Silver City.

The following year, on September 16, 1874, Catherine McCarty died; she was buried in the Memory Lane Cemetery in Silver City.

She never lived to see her son become the best known outlaw in the West and a legendary figure in American history,one who has been wronged by that same history and is now , hopefully, about to finally receive a pardon

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kell7757 | Jan 06, 2011, 11:15 AM EST

This article really demonstrates the moral relativism and decay of the liberal mind. It goes on and on with excuses and extraneous information and never once addresses the central question. If it can be shown he was not guilty, then he should be pardoned. If he was guilty, he should not be pardoned. My great-grandparents lived through the famine. That is something to be proud of. It is not something to be used an an excuse for criminal behavior. The pride and honour of all law-abiding famine survivors is defiled by the type of attitude demonstrated in this article.

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brooklyntirconn | Jan 03, 2011, 12:00 PM EST

Billy the Kid even though of irish descent hated the Irish with a passion the man whose death is what set him and the regulators off on their rampage was a english man Tunstall The SAN JOSE RING WAS ALL IRISH MEN AND TUNSTALL WAS a upstart from England and they were going to have none of that and they took care of him the good ole Irish way shot him and claimed he was a thief it was the same old story the irish and the english except on this side of the atlantic Billy the kid was a thief a cattle rustler we Americans for some unknown reason romantize these guys like him and and us Irish Americans love the fact that some of them are part Irish like ourselves and if he was from NY that was another plus like sundance kid no pardon lets not have another Molly Maguire fiasco pardoning crimnals

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JOLIEJO | Jan 01, 2011, 08:38 PM EST

In case you haven't heard, Governor Bill Richardson turned down the pardon for Billy. One and all are invited to come to Lincoln, New Mexico the first weekend in August and see the oud-door stage production of "The Last Escape of Billy the Kid". If Billy appeared in Lincoln today he would feel right at home. The town has been carefully presersed much as Jamestown has in Va.

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johhnyb | Dec 30, 2010, 11:52 AM EST

Great to see that Irish Central got an interview with Billy the Kid's parents. Or maybe you were just guessing that the parents would welcome a pardon?

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Pittsburghkid | Dec 29, 2010, 07:25 PM EST

Billy was arrogant. He should have went on the lam. In those day there was no Social Security Identification, Driver's License, or computers. He could have went to another part of the country, and started a new life. It was common in those days. Billy was a cocky irishman, who did not know when to run.

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Monsoonman | Dec 29, 2010, 05:46 PM EST

Lucky you Joliejo living in NM...My favorite state to visit. Love Santa Fe and Taos, Las Cruces (good history behind that name)..and the Sangre De Christo mountains are beautiful. Yeah leave Bill alone, he is more profitable as an outlaw

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JOLIEJO | Dec 29, 2010, 04:05 PM EST

A pardon for Billy is ridiculous. The governor of the New Mexico Territory offered him a pardon, but Billy turned it down. George and Wilber Coe, two of the regulators, accepted one and went on to live peaceful lives. Now what all this talk of a pardon has done for us here in Lincoln County is give us publicity as to the likes we could never buy. Leave Billy and outlaw.

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JOLIEJO | Dec 29, 2010, 03:56 PM EST

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kilkenny999 | Dec 29, 2010, 02:06 PM EST

this reminds me of how i miss roy rogers and his horse trigger.of course trigger was the clever of the two.

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jcartmill | Dec 29, 2010, 02:02 PM EST

The IRISH are who got this country up and running!!!!

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haikued2 | Dec 29, 2010, 01:38 PM EST

Plus, exactly what does this do for anyone. The pardon is a farce, as are many that are given the last days of a politician's stay in office...follow the money to see why.

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haikued2 | Dec 29, 2010, 01:34 PM EST

So being Irish forgives all sins? BS in capital letters. He was a killer and outlaw. But then, If President Obama can praise Michael Vick (is Vick also an Irish name?) after the horrible killing of dogs who had done nothing but refused to kill other dogs, I guess America can forgive poor little Willie McCarty who has been wronged by an oppressive society that didn't appreciate robbers and killers.

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Sparklet | Dec 29, 2010, 01:04 PM EST

I always thought Billy the Kid, was William Bonney.

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Searlit | Dec 29, 2010, 10:45 AM EST

It was the Wild West, all of them had guns and defended themselves and their families against gangs of thieves. The worst gangs were the type that came into a town and took over the sheriffs office. Things really don't change much, do they? They had their own brand of ethnic and racial profiling. Go after an orphaned teenager and send another Irishman to hunt him down.

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jamieLM | Dec 29, 2010, 09:55 AM EST

Agree with you GeorgeD. Poor Billy - a son any mother would be proud of - who was killed in "181" deserves a pardon because...??? The pardon is important to Americans today and is worth Gov. Richardson's time and attention because...??? Well, if this pardon is granted, I won't have to worry (it's been so stressful) about this "law-abiding" citizen's exaggerated reputation - since he supposedly didn't kill as many people as history claimed. LOL

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