Ireland suffered two major famine (the worst one was in the 18th century) and the infamous potato famine of the 1840s. There was a third potential famine in the 1880s but due to the then large Irish diaspora many Irish sent aid back to Ireland and at that time the British weren’t stupid to blockade the country.

Look up the unjust hangings of Dominic Daley and James Halligan in 1806. There was no evidence whatsoever that they committed the murder they were accused of other than maybe being in the area at the time and even that was based on shaky grounds. The defense even had their closing statement saying that the prosecution had no evidence other than ‘aww come on! They’re Irish! You know how they’re like! Besides, someone has to hang for that murder!’

Private prisons have an incentive to keep people like him in the system as long as possible.