Sheehy, Edmund (1733–66), farmer executed for murder, of Lodge (parish of Ardfinnan, Co. Tipperary), was the son of Ellin Fitzpatrick. He was otherwise known as ‘Buck’ Sheehy, a term indicative of semi-gentleman status, as he had an income of £300 or £400 a year, and was a person of education and birth. He raised the ire of some protestant gentry in south Tipperary because he successfully bid for the farm at Lodge, which one of the Bagwells or Bagnells (the MS source is unclear, and both families were in the locality) was also bidding for. This contributed to his being identified as a target in the purge of catholics in Tipperary in the 1760s.
He was indicted with James Buxton (qv) and James Farrell for the murder of John Bridge, which may have been linked to the ‘Whiteboy’ agrarian protests in the county. Despite his ‘not guilty’ plea and his defence of having an alibi, he was found guilty and hanged 3 May 1766 in Clogheen, Co. Tipperary. In his dying declaration Sheehy maintained that while imprisoned he had been promised a pardon if he would ‘make useful discoveries, by bringing in men of weight and fortune, that there was an intended rebellion and massacre, French officers, commissions and money paid’. After his trial and conviction, he was also promised a pardon if he would ‘put matters in a clear light’.
At the time of his death he left one stepchild; five children (the eldest not above 9 years of age), including a son, Robert; his wife, Margaret (née O'Sullivan), of Ballylegate; three sisters; and an aged, infirm father, who were all entirely dependent on him for support. He was buried in Kilronan churchyard, Co. Waterford, near Clonmel, where the ancestral home at Bawnfune was located. He was grandfather to Marguerite Power (qv), countess of Blessington, and through the Powers he may have been related to the Rev. Nicholas Sheehy (qv).